If there are not sufficient funds to award loan repayment assistance for all eligible nursing faculty whose applications are received by the published deadline, priority shall be given to renewal applications. Initial applications shall be ranked in a manner that takes into account the following information, provided by the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies:(1) the number of vacant nursing faculty positions, as a percentage of the total number of nursing faculty positions at the eligible institutions; and(2) the degree of difficulty in recruiting and retaining nursing faculty at the eligible institutions, indicated by the period of time nursing faculty positions remain vacant at the institutions.