As used in the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance Act:
A. "department" means the higher education department;
B. "eligible institution" means an accredited institution of higher education that offers a doctoral degree-granting program in the fields of engineering, physical or life sciences, mathematics or other academic disciplines in which ethnic minorities or women are demonstrably underrepresented;
C. "loan" means a grant of money pursuant to a contract between a recipient and a lender requiring repayment of principal with interest. A lender may include the federal government, a bank or the state; and
D. "recipient" means an individual who is a member of an ethnic minority or is a woman and who has successfully completed a doctoral degree-granting program at an eligible institution in the field of engineering, physical or life sciences or mathematics or another academic discipline in which ethnic minorities or women are underrepresented.