Expanded Eligibility Allows More Rural Clinicians to Qualify for Loan Repayment

Date: January 5, 2022

Webinar Date: January 13, 2022

Time: 1:00PM CT

Are you a rural clinician that needs help paying off your student loans? There’s help. For qualified healthcare clinicians you could receive student loan repayment in return for serving at National Health Services Corps (NHSC) approved sites. Successful NHSC applicants can either receive loan repayment funding while working at a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) site, or receive funding while in school in exchange for service in a HPSA after their graduation, depending on the NHSC program. In FY 2020, approximately 14,000 primary, dental, and mental healthcare providers served in NHSC programs, receiving federal funding in exchange for providing care in a health professional shortage area.

Learn more about each of the three loan repayment programs

  • NHSC Loan Repayment Program – awards up to $50,000 in exchange for a two-year commitment to provide primary medical, dental or mental/behavioral healthcare at approved sites in high-need, underserved areas. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has removed the two-tier scoring, allowing all applicants to receive up to $50,000 in awards regardless of HPSA score. NHSC Loan Repayment Program recipients are eligible to extend their service and potentially pay off all of their educational debt with continuation contracts.
  • NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program – provides up to $75,000 in exchange for a three-year commitment to healthcare professionals who provide substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services at NHSC-approved SUD treatment facilities. Clinicians with DATA 2000 Waivers can receive award preference.
  • NHSC Rural Community Loan Repayment Program – Providers in rural communities may apply to the NHSC Rural Community Loan Repayment Program, which awards up to $100,000 for three years of service. You are eligible for preference if you work at an NHSC-approved Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) Consortium member facility.

For help with your application, attend one of the NHSC Loan Repayment Program Q&A Sessions or watch the NHSC LRP Webinar recording.

Additional Resources

NHSC Basics

Program Specific Information

Registration

This webinar is free. High-speed internet is required to participate. A recording will be available on the Rural Health Information Hub website after the live event. Connection details will be emailed to you immediately upon registration.

If you have questions or problems with the registration process, please contact RHIhub Webinars at webinars@ruralhealthinfo.org.