Nurse Corps Loan Repayment 2016 Cycle

tgonzalez · Feb 25, 2016

I have applied for this before and received it. I was denied the first time and approved the second time! It truly is an amazing gift. I have continued to work at a rural health facility because I love what I do and I decided to apply again. I wish everyone good luck!

tgonzalez · Feb 25, 2016

When I received it, I was 140%.

DeanaB · Feb 25, 2016

Hi everyone! Just FINALLY got my application submitted and felt like I need to leave a few words for those looking at this site for insight for next year's application cycle. I apologize in advance for a long post.

This will be my FOURTH time applying. Yikes I know. The first few times my HPSA score was only a 9, but I still felt the urge to apply anyway. Too little work to miss out on a slight chance of such a great reward. This year I have some confusion of what they will consider my HPSA score to be. I work at Eskenazi Health in Indpls, IN which is under Health and Hospital Corp. When you search Eskenazi by address, a 9 is still listed. However when you search Health and Hospital Corp by State and County we have a 17. Not sure what score will be used, but with a chance of a 17, I decided to apply again. Debt to income ratio is 140%. I have experienced THE MOST headaches with this application process than ever before. Mostly due to a name change and consolidating my loans. That being said, I have some advice for future applicants whether or not I receive the award:

-START EARLY!!: They stress this and I did just that. However I still ran into every obstacle imaginable and was pressed for time. Because statements have to be 30 days recent (and my billing cycle is right around the 22nd, I had to either submit early, or wait until the last minute to submit so I had a more recent statement). Know where to find all of your supporting documents and talk to banks early because it can take 10-14 business days to get promissory notes.

-Ensure your name is up to date with loan servicing companies: This just really streamlines things and was my first hiccup when trying to transfer my federal loans. Your name/SS# on your application need to sync up with the federal database. If you have a maiden name listed with NSLDS, you will not be able to transfer over your federal loans.

-Get an FSA ID before the application cycle: This was new to me and added a few extra days to the application process.

-Try different internet browsers: Another few more days were added to my application process because chrome kept saying that I hadn't answered to "is your loan under federal judgment" when I had selected "no" and would not let me move on to the next page. I ended up going with internet explorer because it let me move on and had to do this the rest of the application process as chrome continued to have the issue.

-Submit your app early even if you're not done: I know it seems kind of risky but get whatever is required done on your app to be able to submit even if you have more work to do just so you can lay eyes on that employment verification. This ended up being my biggest headache!! My POC completed it a month ago and had done it the several years before correctly, so I didn't have much concern regarding its accuracy. I went to submit my app the other day and it said INELIGIBLE! I almost had a heart attack. Most of the reasons the site gave were due to the employment verification. I took a look at it and it was incorrect saying "no" to whether or not we were a non-profit which indeed we are. Thankfully I was able to get this quickly fixed and was successfully able to submit.

I'm sure there are more suggestions I could list but these are just a few. Although I still might not be awarded, I thought I could help others in the future so you don't have some of the obstacles I came across this year.

Good luck to everyone!

deediaz · Feb 25, 2016

Hi everyone! Just FINALLY got my application submitted and felt like I need to leave a few words for those looking at this site for insight for next year's application cycle. I apologize in advance for a long post.
This will be my FOURTH time applying. Yikes I know. The first few times my HPSA score was only a 9, but I still felt the urge to apply anyway. Too little work to miss out on a slight chance of such a great reward. This year I have some confusion of what they will consider my HPSA score to be. I work at Eskenazi Health in Indpls, IN which is under Health and Hospital Corp. When you search Eskenazi by address, a 9 is still listed. However when you search Health and Hospital Corp by State and County we have a 17. Not sure what score will be used, but with a chance of a 17, I decided to apply again. Debt to income ratio is 140%. I have experienced THE MOST headaches with this application process than ever before. Mostly due to a name change and consolidating my loans. That being said, I have some advice for future applicants whether or not I receive the award:
-START EARLY!!: They stress this and I did just that. However I still ran into every obstacle imaginable and was pressed for time. Because statements have to be 30 days recent (and my billing cycle is right around the 22nd, I had to either submit early, or wait until the last minute to submit so I had a more recent statement). Know where to find all of your supporting documents and talk to banks early because it can take 10-14 business days to get promissory notes.
-Ensure your name is up to date with loan servicing companies: This just really streamlines things and was my first hiccup when trying to transfer my federal loans. Your name/SS# on your application need to sync up with the federal database. If you have a maiden name listed with NSLDS, you will not be able to transfer over your federal loans.
-Get an FSA ID before the application cycle: This was new to me and added a few extra days to the application process.
-Try different internet browsers: Another few more days were added to my application process because chrome kept saying that I hadn't answered to "is your loan under federal judgment" when I had selected "no" and would not let me move on to the next page. I ended up going with internet explorer because it let me move on and had to do this the rest of the application process as chrome continued to have the issue.
-Submit your app early even if you're not done: I know it seems kind of risky but get whatever is required done on your app to be able to submit even if you have more work to do just so you can lay eyes on that employment verification. This ended up being my biggest headache!! My POC completed it a month ago and had done it the several years before correctly, so I didn't have much concern regarding its accuracy. I went to submit my app the other day and it said INELIGIBLE! I almost had a heart attack. Most of the reasons the site gave were due to the employment verification. I took a look at it and it was incorrect saying "no" to whether or not we were a non-profit which indeed we are. Thankfully I was able to get this quickly fixed and was successfully able to submit.
I'm sure there are more suggestions I could list but these are just a few. Although I still might not be awarded, I thought I could help others in the future so you don't have some of the obstacles I came across this year.
Good luck to everyone!

Wow.... Thanks for all the info. I applied for this year... This is my first time. Fingers crossed and praying!!

RN4KU · Feb 29, 2016

Just and FYI I believe the next thing you will see is a credit inquiry. I don't know if everyone gets a credit check or only those that qualify.

deediaz · Mar 1, 2016

Did you already receive one?

RN4KU · Mar 1, 2016

Nope I just know from previous years.

deediaz · Mar 1, 2016

Nope I just know from previous years.

Thanks! Hoping for good things for us all!

RN4KU · Mar 1, 2016

I saw a post from last year someone got a credit check on March 24th. But looks like most people get one. My HPSA is 17 and my D/I is 150%, i feel like from previous years the process is a little different, and its more about the D/I as long as you are in Tier 1, and not your HPSA score. I know there is a person who had a D/I of 200% and a higher HSPA like 20 that was not awarded, but since they won't tell you if there was an error in your application its just crazy to me. It depends a lot on whether you are faculty or or non faculty RN. I saw some faculty in Tier 2 even got awarded but so far i have not seen a non faculty in Tier 2 get it. Previous years your were in Tier 1 with D/I > 20% so it has changed.

deediaz · Mar 2, 2016

I saw a post from last year someone got a credit check on March 24th. But looks like most people get one. My HPSA is 17 and my D/I is 150%, i feel like from previous years the process is a little different, and its more about the D/I as long as you are in Tier 1, and not your HPSA score. I know there is a person who had a D/I of 200% and a higher HSPA like 20 that was not awarded, but since they won't tell you if there was an error in your application its just crazy to me. It depends a lot on whether you are faculty or or non faculty RN. I saw some faculty in Tier 2 even got awarded but so far i have not seen a non faculty in Tier 2 get it. Previous years your were in Tier 1 with D/I > 20% so it has changed.

Interesting.... How many years have you applied?

RN4KU · Mar 2, 2016

Interesting.... How many years have you applied?

Just 1 year before, but my D/I is more now because I went back to school. I just read a lot too much !! I just need to wait now and put it out of my mind.

a1icia8415 · Mar 2, 2016

Does anyone know if the HPSA score must match your specialty? My facility is a 17 for mental health, but not considered in a shortage area for primary care. I work as an acute care NP, so really neither of these fits my specialty.