perkins

gaspassah · Nov 22, 2003

i just attended a perkins counseling session and according to the person leading the session if you work in an underserved area after graduation you dont have to pay it back. she then went on to say that nursing in general usually counts as underserved no matter where you work. during our exit interview with the perkins dept at fullerton when you graduate, they will inform us if it has to be paid back. that's how i understood it.

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javajunkie · Nov 22, 2003

Visit the Department of Education's website: http://www.ed.gov and check out the "student" section. Very helpful.

icurn96 · Nov 23, 2003

During my undergrad, I received Perkins loans as well. The catch was that if you remained employed full-time for 5 consecutive years in an underserved public or county-type facility, you could have the loan completely cancelled at the end of the 5th year. It was a requirement to send in proof of employment signed by a supervisor and stamped with the hospitals seal (done in administration usaully) at the end of each year. That was my experience when I graduated in 1996 and I'm thrilled to say that mine were finally cancelled 2 years ago.....just in time for me to go back to CRNA school and take out MORE LOANS. Oh well, c'est la vie! Check with your financial aid office at your University. They are really knowledgable about the specifics. Best Wishes!

athomas91 · Nov 23, 2003

thanks!!

mednurse · Nov 23, 2003

My perkins loan gets cancelled for each year I work full time for up to five years. I worked at a suburaban community hospital and they did not care that it was not an underserved population, my supervisor just had to sign that I worked there full time. Good Luck with school.

zman · Nov 23, 2003

As with everything, check the fine print. On my Perkins paperwork, the fine print is in our favor 100%.

My Perkins promissary note states that the loan is forgiven for work as a nurse, over a period of about 5 years, with no specifics on where I practice, as long as it is full time. The 'underserved' areas, on my Perkins note, pertain to social work/social services type grads. There are also provisions to forgive the loan for polic officers, etc. so there is quite a bit of fine print.

Ask to read over the promissary note before signing, as that is the definitive answer.