(1) (a) The board shall establish a loan program to defray the cost of tuition, fees and expenses for residents of this state enrolled in a program that prepares persons to be licensed as teachers of visually impaired pupils or as orientation and mobility instructors, as defined by the board by rule, at an accredited institution of higher education in this state or in a physically adjacent state, as defined in s. 175.46 (1) (d) . To the extent possible, the board shall give preference, to persons who are likely to return to this state to work with visually impaired persons. (b) The board shall make loans under this section from the appropriation under s. 20.235 (1) (cx). The maximum amount of a loan for a person during any fiscal year is $10,000. The maximum amount that a person may receive under this section is $40,000. The terms of the loan shall provide that a loan recipient is not required to repay the loan while the loan recipient is enrolled in the preparatory program described in par. (a). (2) (a) After the recipient of a loan under sub. (1) has completed the preparatory program described in sub. (1), the board shall forgive 25 percent of the loan’s principal and interest for the first fiscal year, 25 percent of the loan’s principal and interest for the 2nd fiscal year and 50 percent of the loan’s principal and interest for the 3rd fiscal year that the recipient is licensed and employed full-time in this state as a teacher of visually impaired pupils or as an orientation and mobility instructor by a school district, the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired or a cooperative educational service agency. The board may forgive loans on a prorated basis for persons employed less than fulltime. (b) The board shall promulgate rules to administer this section.
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