Student Loan Forgiveness For Nurses

Student loan forgiveness for nurses, from the feds, is available for 2010.  The deadline for funding in this years program is March 4th.  So if you know any nurses who may need this assistance, please send them a link to this post.

Loan forgiveness programs have been around for years.  I took advantage of a state program, similar to this, years ago-practicing 5 years in a rural community, for loan payback-They got their money’s worth-as I never left!!!!

The Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program or NELRP, as it is know by acronym loving bureaucrats, is a loan repayment program funded by the federal government to help with nursing shortage in under-served areas.

An overview of the program can be found here at the Federal Governments Health and Humans services site. A few points about the program:

• You receive 30%/year of your eligible loan forgiveness for the first two years of service.
• If you agree to serve an additional year, they will pay another 25% of your loan off-so if you serve three years, they will have paid 85% of your loans for you.
• You have to work for what is known as a Critical Shortage Facility-these are public non-profit institutions that meet certain criteria.  They have to serve a population that is high in medicaid/medicare, critical access,  or indigent population.
• The money you receive is wired to your account, and then has to be used for loan repayment.
• Many types of student loans, such as Stafford, and private loans qualify.  Student loans for parents, do not qualify.

Cautions if you decide to apply:

• If you hate nursing, and quit, the money with interest will have to be paid back within 3 years.
• The money is considered income, so you will definitely need to be prepared for a higher tax bill-don’t wait to April 15th and realize your taxes are double what you thought.
• If you transfer or move to another eligible facility, that is not a problem, but must be approved-IN ADVANCE!

A pdf file, with application and frequently asked questions, is located here. Like most government programs the application appears complicated.  So make sure you start your application process well in advance of the March 4th deadline.

You may want to talk to your nursing school, your student loan holder, and your potential place of employment to get additional information. Now if anyone has taken advantage of this program, please leave us a comment with your opinion about the program.

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