(1) Subject to available appropriations, the department of higher education shall provide financial stipends annually, not to exceed four thousand dollars per student, to offset tuition costs for individuals in approved educator preparation programs who agree to student teach in a rural school or rural school district of the student teacher's choice. The financial stipends awarded should, to the extent practicable, include persons with disabilities and take into consideration the geographic, racial, and ethnic diversity of the state. Money for the stipends must be allocated from the department of higher education to the institution of higher education to be credited to the student's account and does not constitute student financial assistance. A student teacher who receives a financial stipend pursuant to this section must agree to work in a rural school or rural school district for at least two years, unless he or she can demonstrate extenuating circumstances that such employment would impose a hardship on him or her. If a recipient of a financial stipend awarded pursuant to this section does not accept an offer of employment to teach in a rural school or rural school district after the completion of his or her student teaching, he or she may, as determined by the department of education on a case-by-case basis, reimburse the department of higher education for two-thirds of the amount of the financial stipend that he or she received. If a recipient of a financial stipend awarded pursuant to this section accepts an offer of employment to teach in a rural school or rural school district but only teaches in a rural school or rural school district for one year and not the required two years, he or she may, as determined by the department of education on a case-by-case basis, reimburse the department of higher education for one-third of the amount of the financial stipend he or she received. (2) For the 2020-21 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, of the total amount appropriated to fund the programs described in this article 76 and the teaching fellowship programs described in part 3 of article 78 of this title 23, the department of higher education shall allocate to the stipends described in subsection (1) of this section twenty-five percent of the amount remaining after the teaching fellowship programs described in part 3 of article 78 of this title 23 are fully funded for the applicable fiscal year; except that the department may adjust the percentage allocated based on the demand for the stipends described in subsection (1) of this section and for the stipends described in section 23-76-106 and on input received from representatives of rural schools or school districts.
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