Public Service Loan Forgiveness

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

since repaying student loan debt is an ongoing concern i wanted to post this information.

the public service loan forgiveness program has several restrictions:

term: the forgiveness occurs after 120 monthly payments made on or after october 1, 2007 on an eligible federal direct loan. periods of deferment and forbearance are not counted toward the 120 payments. payments made before october 1, 2007 do not count. likewise, only payments on a federal direct loan are counted.

what is forgiven? the remaining interest and principal are forgiven.

employment: the borrower must be employed full-time in a public service job for each of the 120 monthly payments. public service jobs include, among other positions, emergency management, government (excluding time served as a member of congress), military service, public safety and law enforcement (police and fire), public health (including nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time professionals engaged in health care practitioner occupations and health care support occupations), public education, early childhood education (including licensed or regulated childcare, head start, and state-funded prekindergarten), social work in a public child or family service agency, public services for individuals with disabilities or the elderly, public interest legal services (including prosecutors, public defenders and legal advocacy on behalf of low-income communities at a nonprofit organization), public librarians, school librarians and other school-based services, and employees of tax exempt 501©(3) organizations. full-time faculty at tribal colleges and universities, as well as faculty teaching in high-need subject areas and shortage areas (including nurse faculty, foreign language faculty, and part-time faculty at community colleges), also qualify.

eligible loans: eligible loans include federal direct stafford loans (subsidized and unsubsidized), federal direct plus loans, and federal direct consolidation loans. borrowers in the direct loan program do not need to consolidate in order to qualify for loan forgiveness. borrowers in the ffel program will need to consolidate into direct loans.

at http://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml

[greeniebean]

Thank you for sharing this info!

[elprup, BSN, RN]

there is also the nursing education loan repayment program through the federal government health and human services (info below) link http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/loanrepay.htm

i realize their application deadline passed, but they do this every year, you can have them send you an email when it comes up again next year. also, if you search on scholarship at their site, their nursing scholarship is awesome if you qualify (i received it for 3.5 years, they paid everything plus a monthly stipend! they rock! and pretty much every hosp qualifies for their program here in california (even the kaisers in the bay area))

application deadline for 2009 was 5 p.m. et, march 16

• applicants selected to receive nursing education loan repayment program awards will be notified by september 30.
  
• applicants not selected for awards will be notified in october, provided they submitted a complete application.
  
• nelrp expects to accept new applications beginning january 2010
  
• sign up to receive e-mail notification when the next nursing education loan repayment program application is available
  

on february 17, president obama signed into law the american recovery and reinvestment act ("recovery act") of 2009. the recovery act provides substantial additional funding for the nursing education loan repayment program (nelrp). more about the recovery act

due to the availability of the additional funds, the bureau of clinician recruitment and service expects to be able to assist in the recruitment and retention of a significantly larger number of rns dedicated to providing health care in facilities with a critical shortage of nurses or considering a career in such facilities.

there is no guarantee that rns selected to participate in the nelrp will receive an amendment contract to serve for a third (optional) consecutive year. funding for optional 1-year amendment contracts is subject to the availability of future appropriations.

about nursing education loan repayment

nelrp is a competitive program that repays 60 percent of the qualifying nursing educational loan balance of registered nurses (rns) selected for funding in exchange for 2 years of service at a critical shortage facility. participants may be eligible to work a third year and receive an additional 25 percent of the qualifying nursing educational loan balance.

the nelrp is authorized by section 846(a) of the public health service act, as amended. the purpose of the nelrp is to assist in the recruitment and retention of professional rns dedicated to providing health care in facilities with a crucial shortage of nurses and to provide an opportunity for rns to consider a career in such facilities. the program offers rns substantial economic assistance to repay a portion of their qualifying nursing educational loans in exchange for full-time service at a health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses.

if you are selected to participate in the nelrp, you enter into a contract with the u.s. government. there are serious consequences for breaching this contract. please read the 2009 applicant information bulletin carefully before deciding to apply to the nelrp.

you may be eligible to apply if you meet all of the following requirements by the next application due date:

• has received a baccalaureate or associate degree in nursing (or an equivalent degree), a diploma in nursing or a graduate degree in nursing from an accredited school of nursing in a state;
  
• has outstanding qualifying educational loans obtained for qualifying nursing education leading to a degree or diploma in nursing as specified above;
  
• has completed the nursing education program for which the loan balance applies;
  
• is a u.s. citizen, u.s. national, or a lawful permanent resident of the u.s.;
  
• is employed full-time (32 hours or more per week) at a critical shortage facility;
  
• has a current permanent unrestricted license as an rn in the state in which he/she intends to practice or is authorized to practice in that state pursuant to the nurse licensure compact (please refer to the nurse licensure compact state listing ; and has submitted a complete electronic application and banking information through bcrsis, all required supplemental forms (including the "bcrsis receipt of submission"), and all required supporting documentation by the nelrp application deadline.
  

you are not eligible to apply if you:

• has any judgment liens against his/her property arising from a debt owed to the united states. debtors with judgment liens for federal debts are ineligible to receive federal financial assistance. please be advised that a credit check will be conducted as part of the application process;
  
• has an existing service obligation (see definition of terms) that will not be satisfied by the application deadline;
  
• has defaulted on any federal payment obligations (e.g., health education assistance loans, nursing student loans, fha loans, federal income tax liabilities, etc.) or non-federal payment obligations (e.g., court-ordered child support payments), even if he/she is currently considered to be in good standing by that creditor;
  
• has defaulted on a prior service obligation to the federal government or a state or local government, even if he/she subsequently satisfied that obligation through service, monetary payment or other means;
  
• had any federal or non-federal debt written off as uncollectible or had any federal service or payment obligation waived;
  
• is currently excluded, debarred, suspended, or disqualified by a federal agency from participating in a covered transaction;
  
• works for nurse staffing agencies or travel nurse agencies;
  
• works on an "as needed" basis (this includes prns, pool nurses, or other rns who are not scheduled in a full-time capacity by nelrp definition);
  
• has a temporary or inactive rn license;
  
• is a licensed practical/vocational nurse;
  
• is a nursing faculty member employed full-time in an educational institution; or
  
• is self-employed.
  

past awards

during the past three funding cycles, all funded applicants were employed under first funding preference, which is awarded to applicants with greatest financial need who work in:

• disproportionate share hospitals
  
• nursing homes
  
• federally designated health centers
  
• federally designated migrant health centers
  
• public health departments
  
• rural health clinics
  
• indian health service health centers
  

in fy 2008, nelrp received 6,078 eligible applications and made 232 initial (2 year) awards and 203 amendment (3 year) awards. total obligated funds: $18,898,427.87 this includes $1,342,990.95 employer tax paid. fy 2008 awards by state

in fy 2007, nelrp received 4,711 eligible applications and made 315 initial (2-year) awards and 271 amendment (3-year) awards. total obligated funds: $18,373,815.48 this includes $1,300,734.43 employer tax paid. fy 2007 awards by state

in fy 2006, nelrp received 4,222 eligible applications and made 373 initial (2-year) awards and 242 amendment (3-year) awards. total obligated funds: $18,134,846.19 this includes $1,109,807.27 employer tax paid. fy 2006 awards by state

in fy 2005, nelrp received 4,465 eligible applications and made 599 initial (2-year) awards and 204 amendment (3-year) awards. total obligated funds: $19,033,673. fy 2005 awards by state

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

public health (including nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time professionals engaged in health care practitioner occupations and health care support occupations)

thank you for posting this, hm2

this section isn't clear to me. i wonder if this means only nurses working for public health departments, or nurses working in any clinical capacity serving the public, including private hospitals.