Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program Finalist 2016

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in critical care, med-surg, home health.

Hi everyone! I thought I would start this forum to provide information about my own journey on being a finalist for the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program beginning Sept 30, 2016. I was notified yesterday that I was a finalist and had to accept the terms of the contract (which I did!). I will provide updates as to how this works as I receive further information because that's what I would have found helpful!

As for the application process, they are usually due in late February each year. I started my application in January and didn't submit it until the day it was due. I checked it a billion times to make sure it was correct because that is what they stressed was important. Any error and you get knocked out of the process. Once your place of employment meets the criteria, then it's based on your debt to income ratio. If I calculated correctly, mine was like 176%. In any case, it really is all based on who else is turning in applications because that's how they order the applicants. Since you won't know that, you might as well apply!

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Specializes in critical care, med-surg, home health.

Just an update to my original post: Two days ago I received a "welcome letter" which asked me to log on to the HRSA site and review the Welcome Kit. There were lots of forms there: contact info, award info, etc. My 2 year contract date (meaning I have to stay with the same employer for those two years) is Sept 8, 2016-Sept 8, 2018. Every 6 months I have to do a Service Obligation form that verifies I am still with the same employer. HRSA will notify me near the end of my second year if I am eligible for a 3rd year. Right now I am just pretty grateful for any help I can get!

The way it works is that they will pay me an amount each month which I will then pay directly to my student loan. They check up on this so you want to make sure you do that. Everything they pay you is added to your annual income, fortunately, they withhold federal income taxes but, unfortunately, do not withhold the state. You then have to save up the amount that your state will require. I'm going to call my accountant to help me figure that out.

The first payment is supposed to take place 45 days after the beginning contract date and will occur near the end of the month. So I guess that is supposed to occur at the end of October. I'll check back in at that time to let you know how that worked out.

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Specializes in critical care, med-surg, home health.

Well, I meant to post about this but did not. Here is how it all worked out and my advice for others thinking about doing this. I did this for 2 years (I had the option for another year with a lower amount but opted out). It was helpful in that it really did cut what I owed back. However, the money they give you gets added to your W2 (even though you paid it into something) so you end up having to pay lots of taxes. In order to pay the amount, I had to dig into my 401K. In addition, since that amount got added to my original income, I no longer was able to take the deduction for paying student loans! Since I am also participating in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program where they do not care how much you pay each month, just that you make so many qualifying payments, it did not make sense to continue this program. If I weren't a part of PSLF, it might make sense to continue.

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hi kelly--I just received the NCLRP and am trying to figure out how much in state and city taxes I will need to expect to withhold from my loan disbursement. how did you figure this out when you were going through it?

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