(a) There is established an information technology loan reimbursement pilot program administered by the Board of Regents for Higher Education.

(b) Within available appropriations, the program shall provide a student loan reimbursement grant for persons who meet the eligibility requirements for the information technology scholarship program pursuant to section 10a-169a, and (1) attended an institution of higher education in this state, (2) majored in an information technology related field, and (3) are newly employed on or after January 1, 2001, by a company in this state in an information technology related position.

(c) Persons who qualify under subsection (b) of this section and meet any additional requirements established by the Board of Regents for Higher Education pursuant to this subsection shall be reimbursed on an annual basis for qualifying student loans. Such reimbursement shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars for each year of employment and for no more than a total of two years per person. A person qualifying under subsection (b) of this section shall only be reimbursed if such person is employed by a qualifying company at the time of application for loan reimbursement pursuant to this section. The Board of Regents for Higher Education may develop additional eligibility requirements for recipients. Such requirements may include income guidelines. Persons may apply for grants to the Board of Regents for Higher Education at such time and in such manner as the president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities prescribes.

(d) The recipients of reimbursements pursuant to this section for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, shall constitute a cohort and reimbursements for succeeding years shall only be available for members of such cohort.

(e) Any unexpended funds appropriated for purposes of this section shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year but shall be available for expenditure during the next fiscal year.

(f) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, the Board of Regents for Higher Education may use up to five per cent of the funds appropriated for purposes of this section for program administration, promotion and recruitment activities.

(P.A. 00-187, S. 31, 75; P.A. 01-173, S. 39, 67; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-1, S. 40, 54; P.A. 11-48, S. 285; P.A. 16-15, S. 33.)

History: P.A. 00-187 effective July 1, 2000; P.A. 01-173 amended Subsec. (b) to make a technical change, effective July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-1 amended Subsec. (b) to apply the eligibility requirements for the information technology scholarship program pursuant to Sec. 10a-169a to the loan program, to require attendance at an institution “in this state”, to change the employment requirement by allowing employment for a company in this state in an information technology related position rather than an electronic commerce or information technology intensive company, and amended Subsec. (c) to require persons to meet any additional requirements established by the department, to eliminate limitation on reimbursement to an amount equal to the loan payments made by the person for the previous taxable year and apply only the existing cap of $2,500, to require the person to be employed by a qualifying company at the time of application, to change “shall develop eligibility requirements” to “may develop additional eligibility requirements” and to make technical changes, effective July 1, 2001; pursuant to P.A. 11-48, “Board of Governors of Higher Education” and “Commissioner of Higher Education” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Board of Regents for Higher Education” and “president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education”, respectively, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 16-15 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education” with “president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities”, effective July 1, 2016.

See Secs. 32-8a, 32-8b re duties of Commissioner of Economic and Community Development with respect to this program and cooperative internship program for students majoring in information technology fields.