Loan Repayment

[collinsRN]

Hi. I am currently in NP school with about a year left. I was just curious if anyone had any luck getting the hospital they are working for to pay off their loans or a portion of them. I know some facilities have, but I was just wondering how common it was. I am of course willing to relocate to wherever necessary and sign a contract. If you did get loan repayment did in decrease your salary and how long was your contract?

Thanks in advance

:-)

[zmansc, ASN, RN]

Many get loan repayment through HRSA, they have a website of gazillions of jobs available throughout the US. The repayment is not guaranteed, you have to apply for it once you are at a site, etc. You can research it in detail on their site and here.

You can also try to negotiate a contract with a private employer, as always with negotiations, your mileage may vary....

There are also other government job options, with varying levels of repayment. The feds have a website where they list VA, IHS, and many other federal agency jobs, I think it's something like usajobs.gov. Various state jobs are harder to find, because each state advertises them differently. Different states also have different loan repayment programs, with different rules, etc.

As for salary reduction due to loan repayment, if you are talking about a private entity, they are obviously going to have a certain amount of money to invest in you as a resource. They can divide that money into salary, bonus, loan repayment, benefits, etc. You can make one bucket get bigger, but it will almost always be a the expense of another bucket getting smaller. As they say, there is no such thing as free money, so when you are negotiating, you always want to look at the big picture as well not just focus on the one issue you are trying to win.

If you are talking about HRSA, or other programs where the government pays the loan repayment not the organization, the rules usually stipulate that the employer cannot reduce your salary in relation to you getting the loan repayment. However, in practice I know of several places where their salaries are less than their competition's salaries because they expect the loan repayment to make up the difference. I don't believe that is the case with all HRSA qualified agencies, but it is definitely something to keep an eye out for...

[honeykrown, MSN, NP]

IHS does both HRSA and IHs loan repayment programs. Hose who don't qualify for HRSA may qualify for IHS loan repayment. They are based on a ranking of the sites. Sites closer to the city has lower scores and usually people at those sites only get them if funds are left

Getting loan repayment should not affect your pay at all.

[collinsRN]

Thanks for the replies. My husband and I are looking to relocate to wherever necessary for a few years just to get all these paid for. So I am hoping to find a good opportunity once I graduate. It is crazy how much debt you have to go in just to further your degree.