(a) The authority shall maintain a service cancelable loan fund to which shall be credited:

(1) State funds appropriated for use by the authority for service cancelable loan purposes;

(2) Unrestricted moneys received by gift or otherwise and other moneys available for and determined by the authority to be used for the purposes of the fund; and

(3) Outstanding educational loans held by the authority under this subpart as to which the borrower has a right to repay and cancel the loan through services rendered.

(b) To the extent that the General Assembly may provide and designate in annual appropriations Acts, state funds appropriated for service cancelable loans shall be used to the greatest extent possible by the authority for the purposes designated in accordance with rules and regulations of the authority and the following provisions, where applicable, or otherwise as may be specified by the General Assembly in annual appropriations Acts:

(1) Paramedical and other professional and educational fields of study.

(A) The authority is authorized to make service cancelable educational loans to residents of Georgia enrolled in paramedical and other professional and educational fields of study, including selected degree programs in gerontology and geriatrics, as defined and approved by the authority and in accordance with regulations of the authority, with the exception of the program leading to the degree of doctor of medicine. The authority is authorized to determine fields of study and areas in which shortages of trained personnel exist and specific services are needed, establish any necessary eligibility or priority requirements, interview applicants or recipients of loans as may be necessary, consider other financial aid resources known to be available to applicants for a loan, consider the academic performance of students, determine loan amounts, and establish reasonable requirements and standards relative to applicants for loan assistance. The authority shall determine the academic levels of study at which loans may be made to students in any approved field. Educational loans made under this paragraph need not be limited to students attending a school located within the state but shall be conditioned on the student's understanding that the educational loan is to be repaid by the student, if the student completes the approved program of study, by practicing in the approved field at a site of employment or in a community or city in this state approved by the authority for a period of one year for each academic year of study or its equivalent for which a loan is made to the student under this paragraph, or otherwise in cash with interest thereon in accordance with the terms of the promissory note executed by the student.

(B) Any other provisions of this subpart and of Subpart 1 of this part to the contrary notwithstanding, the authority is authorized to make service cancelable loans to students pursuant to provisions of this paragraph even if such loans do not meet all requirements of the federal act and even though such loans may not be eligible for guarantee by the corporation. In this event, the terms and conditions of such loans as prescribed by the authority shall, to the maximum extent deemed practicable, be the same as otherwise prescribed in Part 2 of this article relative to loans made pursuant to the federal act.

(C) The authority is authorized to make service cancelable educational loans to residents of this state enrolled in a course of study leading to a baccalaureate or advanced nursing degree to practice as a registered professional nurse for the Department of Human Resources or any county board of health, it being found by the General Assembly that a shortage exists of such personnel. The maximum loan amount under this subparagraph for full-time students shall not exceed $10,000.00 per academic year. Such loans shall be conditioned upon the student's understanding and agreement that the educational loan is to be repaid by the student, if the student completes the approved program of study, by practicing as a registered professional nurse as an employee of the Department of Human Resources or a county board of health for a period of two years for each academic year of study or its equivalent for which a loan is made to the student under this paragraph, or otherwise in cash with interest thereon in accordance with the terms of the promissory note executed by the student.

(2) Georgia National Guard members. To the extent that funds are appropriated, the authority is authorized to make service cancelable educational loans to residents of Georgia who are eligible members of the Georgia National Guard and who are enrolled at the undergraduate level in a private or public college or public postsecondary technical or vocational school located in the state. Members of the Georgia National Guard who are in good standing according to applicable regulations of the National Guard shall be eligible to apply for a loan. Such loans shall be on the terms and conditions set by the authority in consultation with the Department of Defense, provided that any such loan shall not exceed an amount equal to the actual tuition charged to the recipient for the period of enrollment in an educational institution or the tuition charged by the University of Georgia for the period of enrollment at the university, whichever is less. Students eligible for the HOPE scholarship or HOPE grant at an eligible public or private postsecondary institution are not eligible to receive this loan during a school term in which they are receiving HOPE scholarship or HOPE grant funds. A loan recipient shall not be eligible to receive loan assistance provided for in this paragraph for more than five academic years of study. Educational loans may be made to full-time and half-time students. Upon the recipient's attainment of a baccalaureate degree from an institution or cessation of status as an active member, whichever occurs first, the loan provided by this paragraph shall be discontinued. The loan provided by this paragraph may be suspended at the discretion of the authority for a recipient's failure to maintain good military standing as an active member or failure to maintain sufficient academic standing and good academic progress and program pursuit. Such loans shall be repayable in cash, with interest thereon, or, upon satisfactory completion of a quarter, semester, year, or other period of study as determined by the authority; graduation; termination of enrollment in school; or termination of this assistance with approval of the authority, shall be canceled in consideration of the student's retaining membership in the Georgia National Guard during the period in which the loan is applicable. The adjutant general of Georgia shall certify eligibility and termination of eligibility of students for educational loans and eligibility for cancellation of educational loans by members of the Georgia National Guard in accordance with regulations of the authority.

(3) Doctors of veterinary medicine. The authority is authorized to make service cancelable educational loans to residents of Georgia who are enrolled in school in the field of doctor of veterinary medicine, including veterinary surgery, obstetrics, dentistry, and all other specialties of veterinary medicine. Loans may be made to students enrolled in a veterinary college or in a veterinary division of a university or college accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association who are pursuing a program of study leading to the degree of doctor of veterinary medicine or its equivalent. The authority is authorized to consider, among other criteria, the need for veterinarians in the field of specialization of interest to the student, the home area of the student, and the likelihood, if determinable, that the student will practice his profession in an area of the state which might entitle the student to repay the loan through services rendered. Educational loans made under this paragraph need not be limited to students attending a school located within the state. Such loans shall be conditioned on the student's understanding that the loan assistance is to be repaid by the student, if the student obtains a doctorate degree and is licensed to practice veterinary medicine in the state, by practicing in the approved field at a site of employment or in a community or area in this state approved by the authority for a period of one year for each academic year of study, or its equivalent, for which a loan is made to the student under this paragraph; provided, however, that repayment through services rendered shall not be approved unless the recipient practices his profession in a rural or sparsely populated area of the state or in a community of 10,000 population or less according to the United States decennial census of 1970 or any future such census, as the case may be, which community is in need of the services of a licensed veterinarian substantially for purposes of meeting the needs of owners or producers of farm animals used for or in connection with the production of commercial food products. If the loan is not repaid by services rendered, it must be repaid by the student in cash with interest thereon in accordance with the terms of the promissory note executed by the student.

(c) The amount of loans made to students which may be canceled in consideration of services rendered shall be limited to the amount of authorizations for such loan purposes specified in annual appropriations Acts, which authorized amount, for cancellation purposes only, shall be cumulative. Such cancelable loan funds as may not be used for the purposes designated during any fiscal year shall become a part of the general loan fund account.

(d) If the corporation, pursuant to Code Section 20-3-273, pays or has paid interest to the authority on a service cancelable loan made under this Code section, and if the borrower repays all or a portion of the loan through services rendered as provided for in this Code section, then the authority shall, in accordance with its regulations and in consideration of the services rendered by the borrower, repay to the corporation on behalf of the borrower all or a portion of the interest paid to the authority by the corporation under Code Section 20-3-273. To the extent that this subsection does not apply to all service cancelable loans made to a borrower pursuant to this Code section, the authority is authorized, for purposes of this subsection, to consider the loans made that are the subject of this subsection as being the earlier loans made to the borrower.