Repayment of state higher education loans; collection

(a) All loans made under the state higher education loan fund shall bear interest at five per cent simple interest. Repayment of principal and interest charges shall commence nine months after graduation or after a borrower ceases to be enrolled at least half-time in a degree program and shall be paid in periodic installments within a ten-year period. The university may charge late fees and all other reasonable costs for the collection of delinquent loans. The board of regents, upon application by the student and upon a showing of good cause, may defer repayment of the loan and commencement of interest. Liability for repayment of a loan shall be canceled upon the death or permanent total disability of the borrower. (b) The university may spend out of the state higher education loan fund up to two per cent of the total amount of loans outstanding for collection and administrative expenses. In accordance with chapter 103D, the university may enter into written contracts with collection agencies for the purpose of collecting delinquent student loans. All payments collected, exclusive of a collection agency's commissions, shall revert, and be credited, to the state higher education loan fund. (c) A collection agency that enters into a written contract with the university for the collection of delinquent student loans, pursuant to this section, may collect a commission from the debtor in accordance with the terms of, and up to the amounts authorized in, the written contract.