Chapter 2 INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATION IN THE LDS PROGRAM
Chapter 2 INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATION IN THE LDS PROGRAM
Schools in the LDS program must conform to the HPSL eligibility criteria. Health Professions, HPSL, Chapter 2 describes the requirements for these criteria.
Certain LDS requirements differ from those under the HPSL program. These consist of:
Schools must have recruitment and retention programs for disadvantaged students and minority faculty in place at the time of the first application for LDS funds. To continue as LDS institutions, they must put the remaining requirements in place within one year of having received their first Federal Capital Contribution (FCC) for the LDS program. Note that funds awarded to a school under the LDS program may not be used to carry out any of these required activities. In addition, a school must continue to carry out all these activities as long as the LDS program is in operation at the school.
The following pages contain more detailed information about these requirements. There is also a discussion of special consideration for funding given to schools with underrepresented minority enrollments that exceed national averages.
To qualify for participation in the LDS program, schools must carry out a program for recruiting and retaining students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
An individual from a disadvantaged background is defined as someone who:
The Department of Health and Human Services publishes the requisite income levels in the Federal Register periodically.
LDS schools must have an active program for recruiting and retaining minority faculty. Faculty who are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Filipino, Korean, Pacific Islander or Southeast Asian are considered minorities if the total supply of practitioners in the applicable health profession is below that group's percentage in the total population.
[Section 724(b)(2) of the Public Health Service Act]
Schools in the LDS program must ensure that adequate instruction about minority health issues is offered in their curricula. This does not include normal course work that by definition includes health issues (e.g., sickle cell anemia in a pathology class). Instead, instruction about minority health issues refers to course work reflecting an institutional awareness of the special health needs of minority populations.
[Section 724(c)(1) of the Public Health Service Act]
To participate in the LDS programs, schools are required to enter into arrangements with one or more health clinics that provide services to a significant number of individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including members of minority groups. These arrangements allow students at participating schools to gain experience in providing clinical services to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
[Section 724(c)(2) of the Public Health Service Act]
LDS schools must enter into arrangements with one or more public or nonprofit private secondary educational institutions and undergraduate institutions of higher education. The purpose of these arrangements is to:
[Section 724(c)(3) of the Public Health Service Act]
LDS schools must establish mentoring programs that assist disadvantaged students, including minority students, in completing the educational requirements needed to obtain a health professions degree. In developing a mentoring program, an institution may include the services of students, community, health professionals, faculty, alumni, past recipients of Health Career Opportunity Program (HCOP) funds, and faculty/staff of feeder schools. Services would include activities such as tutoring, counseling and summer/bridge programs.
[Section 724(c)(4) of the Public Health Service Act]
Special consideration will be given to eligible schools with an underrepresented minority enrollment that exceeds the national average for its particular discipline.
[Section 724(f)(2) of the Public Health Service Act]
Since 1991, Congress has authorized and appropriated funds to be used for the LDS program. In addition to the Federal Capital Contribution (FCC) earmarked for LDS, borrower repayments from LDS will also provide a source of funding.
In 1986, Congress gave the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to redistribute FCC funds returned from institutions to the Department. When redistributing funds, the law requires the Secretary to give preference to health professions schools of the same discipline as the schools returning funds.
[Section 724(f)(1) of the Public Health Service Act]
Applications and instructions for schools seeking to establish an FCC fund for the LDS prgram are available from the Division of Student Assistance, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 8-34, Rockville, MD 20857.
The Division reviews the eligibility of the school and determines the amount of Federal support an institution will receive. The Division may require the applicant to submit additional data for these purposes.
A written agreement between the institution and the Secretary of Health and Human Services specifies the terms and conditions for institutional participation. The terms and conditions are synonymous with those of the Health Professions Student Loan (HPSL) program which are specified in Health Professions, HPSL, Chapter 2.
The program contact person is the individual who will be responsible for distributing DSA program mailings to the appropriate offices and individuals within the institution and will be responsible for ensuring the return of material. Any changes to the contact person, refer to Appendix I.
The statutory procedure for awarding FCC funds for the LDS program is the same as the procedure for the HPSL program. The procedures require individual institutional awards to be made in proportion to the student population at all schools. However, awards never exceed an institution's request for funds. More detail on the HPSL procedures appears in Health Professions, HPSL, Chapter 2.
In addition to these basic procedures, the Department of Health and Human Services may use funding preferences to make institutional awards. The annual application announcements for the LDS program specify the preferences. Any funding preference defines the order in which institutions would be considered for FCC.
Funds are awarded on a per capita basis by comparing the enrollment of each eligible school-weighted with any special consideration--with the total enrollment of all eligible institutions. A school with an above average underrepresented minority enrollment will be given double credit--that is, its enrollment will be doubled for awarding purposes.
Students who are considered racial and ethnic minorities for the purpose of calculating underrepresented populations at an institution include American Indians or Native Alaskans, Blacks and Hispanics. Definitions of these populations appear below:
(Note that Asians and Pacific Islanders are not considered underrepresented student populations, but certain Asian subgroups are considered to be underrepresented in the health professions and are included as minorities for the purpose of program requirements related to faculty recruitment.)
[Sections 724(b)(1) and 724(e) of the Public Health Service Act]
Each year, the Department sends a Notice of Award to the designated school official notifying the school of the amount of Federal funds awarded for the LDS program.
The overview of how institutions must manage their HPSL funds applies to the LDS program as well. Refer to Health Professions, HPSL for more information. Information about institutional management of funds appears in Fiscal Management.
The rules and procedures for termination and withdrawal of institutions participating in the LDS program are the same as those for schools that distribute HPSL funds to their health professions students. Health Professions, HPSL, Chapter 2 addresses what happens to program funds for schools that are terminated or choose to withdraw.
Fiscal Management, Collections, Chapter 5 describes procedures for remittance of collections.
