Category: Loan Forgiveness

Loan Forgiveness For Radiologic Technologists

There are loan forgiveness programs for radiologic technologists available. The selection criteria are as follows for one programs which is titled the Faculty Loan Repayment Program. In exchange for educating tomorrow’s clinicians, health professions faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds can apply for a maximum of $40,000 from the government to pay back their student loans.

The applicants must agree to serve on the faculty of an accredited health professions for two years. Matching funds should be available from their educational institution. The applicants must also be US citizens, nationals or permanent residents, have a degree or be enrolled in an approved graduate training program in radiologic technology.

The application is on the FLRF website and funding is distributed based on need, to full time or part time faculty with matching funds from their employers funded first, then hose applicants without access to matching funds next, and part time faculty lastly.

The FLRF is a federally funded program, but there are other loan forgiveness programs on a state level that can be applied for contingent on where you live. Any state that receives federal money, and all states do, have to varying degrees loan repayment plans in force to encourage current graduate students or recent graduates in radiologic technology monetary incentives to work in disadvantaged areas in exchange for loan forgiveness.

The basic requirements for these state programs are to have financial need, be currently working in the field and be licensed in the discipline of radiologic technology and be willing to serve in a medically underserved area. The monetary amount of these programs varies. As a general rule the programs offer loan forgiveness of outstanding federal loans, providing the applicant agrees to work for a minimum of two years in the medically underserved area.

The pay scale in these medically underserved areas is often appreciably less than they would make in private practice or working in an adequately medically served community. The desire to have loan forgiveness often supersedes the need to make a larger salary at last for a few years. Debt is something everyone has to deal with to the best of their ability.

Educational debt from pursuing a degree program in radiologic technology, which generally is a two year program, can run as high as $30.000, depending where you get your training, and if you choose to specialize. There is a good feeling to start your work life without educational debt hanging over you. Thais is the rationale behind the Federal and some state governments from offering loan forgiveness programs for radiologic technologists. There is another rationale behind loan forgiveness; it is ostensibly cheaper for medical institutions to recruit full time radiologic technologists than to depend on temporary inconsistent floaters who cannot provide a continuity of care to their patients. Reliability and consistency are what leads to efficiency in the delivery of medical services. Constant turnover does not lead to efficiency; it is much more efficient to have permanent staff than to have to scrounge for staff, offering wage bonuses, engaging in bidding wars which goes on intermittently by radiology managers in attempts to secure permanent reliable staff.

Loan Forgiveness For Nurse Practitioners

Loan forgiveness for nurse practitioners is part of the loan repayment program that is offered by the U.S. Government. The program is called the Nursing Education Loan Program and is designed to help lessen the burden caused by the critical shortage of Registered Nurses. This is a selective program offers a tiered repayment of educational loans to RNs and RNs with higher advanced licenses.

How The Programs Work:

These programs work in an exchange pattern. Nurse practitioners would receive compensation equalling 60% of their total nursing educational loans. Educational loans would need to be qualified before they are considered in the compensation. The pay-off for receiving compensation for educational loans is that the practitioner would need to work full time for 2 years in a critical shortage facility. An additional 25% compensation package is available if the practitioner works an additional year. The 25% is based on the original total qualified educational loans. So for three years of service the total compensation would equal 85% of the total qualified education loans. These compensations are in addition, to whatever the salary and benefit packages that the nurses have with the facility. There is also a program that is identical to the one that is outlined here for practitioners that are faculty in a qualified, accredited school of nursing.

Eligibility:

Licensing: The main eligibility factor is being a RN or an advanced license holder such as a Nurse Practitioner, or Nurse Pratitioner working as a Nurse Faculty.

To be eligible, Nurse Practitioners must have completed their training and be in possession of a qualifying document. Qualifying documents would be a diploma, an AA degree, a BSN, etc.

Work Eligibility: The Nurse Practitioner must be employed for a minimum of 32 hours per week at a critical shortage facility. The critical shortage facility may be public, private, or non-profit. The nurse practitioner must also be qualified to work in the United State and be able to show documented proof that they are a U.S. citizen, National, or Permanent Resident.

How Facilities are Deemed Eligible:

One of the eligibility factors for being accepted into the loan repayment program is working at a qualified facility. The facility may be publically run, private facilities, non-profit, or non-profit school of nursing. These facilities are located in a designated Professional Shortage Area. The facility may be primary healthcare oriented or Mental healthcare orienet.

Qualifying facilities range from Hospice and Nursing homes to Critical Access Hospitals and Public Hospitals and include Indian health Service centers, Rural Health Facilities and Clinics, Home Health Agencies, etc.

Application Procedure:

The program is begun by submitting an application. Part of the application is a contract that spells out the details of the 2 or 3 year contract. This is a critical document that potential applicants should read over carefully. Failure to fulfill your obligation results in significant financial penalties and consequences.

Preference and Application Weights:

Preference is given to applicants with the highest financial need. Preference is also given to teachers who work at nursing school with 50% or greater enrollment of disadvantaged students. The type of facility that is listed on the application also plays a large part in determining who is approved and who is not approved for the program. When choosing a facility, understand that preference for the facility is based on need. Practitioners who work at facilities with the greatest need are more likely to be approved than those that work at facilities with marginal needs.

How To Apply:

The application process is one time per year for the following year. Each year the governement updates the criteria within the application. The application can be reviewed on the HRSA.gov website. It needs to be read carefully because the penalties for not fulfilling the contract are severe. Check this site to see the required documents, “http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/currentmembers/loanrepaymentrecipients/requireddocumentation/index.html”

Pros of The Program:

The pros of the program are great. They equate to upwards of 85% of the total qualified reimbursement of student loans. This is a significant amount of financial reimbursement. The program reimbursement works in addition, to regular wages and benefits paid by the facility.

Cons of The Program:

The cons of the program included the financial penalties for failing to fulfill the programs contract.

Unfortunately, as of August, 2012 Loan Repayment Program For Nurse Practitioners is closed as per HRSA.Gov, But will open again after January 2013.

“How to get a loan without a job and bad credit for nursing students“

Stafford Loan Forgiveness

How Does Stafford Loans Forgiveness Program Work If I’m Going To Be A Nurse?

If you apply for direct Stafford loan and are going to school to become a nurse, there is a “Stafford loan forgiveness program for nursing”. Some states specifically will get special permission to forgive loans to those nurses who graduate from a program and serve in a public service job as a community health nurse or in non-profit programs that aid families and children who are high-risk for health problems and diseases. Maryland is one such state.

Essentially a nursing student can apply for this just like any other student whose profession can take them into the civil service arena or the military. Just like those other students too, only the final 120 payments on loans not defaulted upon and even consolidated can be and are forgiven. It is the student’s responsibility to pay the rest; however if your loan amount(s) are high, 120 payments is a pretty substantial chunk of change.

On the other hand, if you die serving the military before time is up, your loans are forgiven anyway. Hardship deferments can be applied for if you would prefer to avoid death and injury until you can get your career under way. Working as a nurse in a regular hospital or hospice care does not count unless you volunteer forty hours or more a week of your time taking care of patients that normally you would be paid to care for. You also have to work forty hours a week, paid, to qualify in any forgiveness program, nursing or other. If you are also volunteering rather than taking a career path to loan forgiveness, this is an eighty hour plus work week and you best be prepared to miss out on everything else in life to accomplish your goal.

Continue reading about “NELRP” known as “Nursing education loan repayment program“.

Also find details on Student loan forgiveness for nurse practitioners too.

Student loan forgiveness for nurse practitioners

If you are a student or a practicing nurse who has mostly funded the fees through education loans and is now finding it difficult to payback the loans then there is definitely some time to rejoice. This is mainly because of the student loan debt forgiveness. In student loan forgiveness, either your employer or a government agency pays off the loans for you. One such agency that provides loan forgiveness includes the National Health Service Corps or the NHSC.

Who is the NHSC?

The NHSC is a department of the US Department of Health and Human Services and is established under the Health Resources and Services Administration. The NHSC provides medical professionals who serve in the undeserved areas with loan forgiveness and various other facilities. The undeserved areas can be mostly classified into places where very few people are willing to work such as prisons.

What does the NHSC offers to nurse practitioners?

The NHSC repays up to $25,000 annual of the health professionals’ students loans.  However, this is not applicable to anyone and every medical professional as the program has a strict qualifying criteria, which it follows before providing any kind of loan forgiveness assistance to the nurse practitioners. Thus, to seek loan forgiveness through the NHSC, you first need to qualify for loan forgiveness under their program.

Qualifying for the loan forgiveness

To qualify for the loan forgiveness it is very important for you to be serious about your work. This is mainly because; after all the agency is going to pay for the money you had used for your education. The following are some of the criteria that you need to fulfill to qualify for the loan forgiveness offered by the NHSC.

1. You need to be a citizen of the United States

2. You need to be licensed in your field

3. You need to work in the under-served areas

4. You need to be a full-time practitioner and should commit yourself towards working in an undeserved area for at least a minimum period of two years

Other facilities offered by NHSC

Apart from the loan forgiveness, once you qualify for their program, you are also entitled to the several other facilities that the NHSC provides to the medical professionals. These additional facilities mostly include a competitive salary package and some vital tax benefits.

So if you are wondering about how you are going to pay back your educational loan then it is time to look whether you qualify for the NHSC program so that you can avail loan forgiveness.