Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Workforce Development Nursing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bill would let nurse educators pursuing master’s degrees use Career Builders loan-repayment program
Summary
Senate Bill 2221 would make nurses pursuing a master’s degree and teaching clinicals eligible for the state Career Builders scholarship and loan repayment program; witnesses said the proposal plugs a gap in existing eligibility and would not add new appropriation dollars.
Senate Bill 2221, presented to the Workforce Development Committee, would expand eligibility under the state Career Builders Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program to allow nurses who are pursuing a master’s degree and who teach clinical units to participate in loan-repayment and scholarship components.
Sponsor Sen. Christian Rohrs said the change is intended to increase the pool of qualified clinical instructors for nursing programs. He told the committee that North Dakota’s current rules require clinical instructors to hold a higher degree than the students they teach and that the state has a shortage of instructors who meet both education and recent clinical-experience requirements.
Brenda Zastepo of the North Dakota University System’s financial aid office explained how the Career Builders program currently works: it covers certificates, associate degrees and, since the 2023 session, bachelor’s degrees (limited to the last two years of study). "Our office administers the North Dakota Career Builders Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program," Zastepo told senators, and she said the program generally uses the workforce development council’s in-demand-occupations list for eligibility.
Zastepo said master’s-level nursing is not presently included in the scholarship portion of the program, and the bill is aimed at creating a carve-out so nurse educators pursuing a master’s would be eligible for loan repayment or scholarship support tied to clinical-teaching commitments. She also noted the program contains both a loan-repayment piece and a scholarship piece and that the record shows no new appropriation is included in the bill text.
Committee members asked about how many clinical units an eligible instructor would teach and whether the bill would limit which clinical courses a master’s student could teach. Zastepo said the Career Builders scholarship rules require specific course load language and that the committee could choose whether to impose further limits. Sponsors emphasized they were open to working with the University System and the Board of Nursing on precise implementation language.
The hearing closed with no committee vote recorded.
