Student Loan Forgiveness For Healthcare Workers 2023

Nearly 70% of medical school graduates have student loan debt. Many nurses and other medical professionals have monthly student loan payments as well. If you’re a healthcare worker who has federal loans, you may be able to qualify for loan forgiveness.

There are special repayment assistance options available for professionals in the medical field. In this article, we cover the top loan repayment forgiveness options for these workers, and provide more information about bringing down and reducing your monthly payments by seeking out student loan repayment assistance.

Let’s get started.

What are Federal Student Loans for Healthcare Workers?

Federal student loans for healthcare workers include Federal Perkins Loans, Pell Grants, and Direct Loans, among others. These loans originate from the federal government and are designed to make higher education accessible for healthcare professionals who wish to attend a health professions school.

There isn’t a difference in the loans that are available for health professionals like nurse practitioners and doctors. The same federal loans that are available to the general public are available for these workers as well.

How Does Student Loan Forgiveness for Healthcare Workers Work?

There are many different types of student loan help available for healthcare professionals who are willing to work in underserved areas and specialties. 

For this type of loan assistance, the professional needs to spend a certain amount of time working in the under-served practice area or region. Then, once they’ve reached the specified time period, they can apply to have their loans forgiven or a portion of their loan balance reduced.

But these workers can also access the same student loan forgiveness options that other college graduates have available to them. For example, you can enter into a loan repayment program based on income and have your debt wiped clean after 20-25 years. There’s also public service loan forgiveness available for healthcare professionals who work in public service for at least 10 years.

How Could Healthcare Workers Apply for Student Loan Debt Forgiveness?

Applying for student loan forgiveness requires first having an understanding of the student loan forgiveness programs that you want to take advantage of. Once you know that, you can navigate to the organization’s website and apply for forgiveness there.

For example, the public service loan forgiveness application is available through the federal student aid website. But if you’re entering into a loan repayment program designed specifically for a certain kind of healthcare worker, you may need to visit that organization’s website.

Some loan repayment program options require you to apply well in advance of when your student debt can be forgiven. While others provide student loan forgiveness with an immediate loan forgiveness process.

We cover the different types of loan assistance options for healthcare workers in a later section. Review these, select the one that works best for you, and then look up the application requirements for it online.

Which Kind of Healthcare Workers are Eligible for Student Loan Forgiveness?

All healthcare professionals are eligible to receive loan assistance in one form or another. This is because all individuals with c debt are eligible for income-driven repayment forgiveness and public service forgiveness.

However, there are certain types of student loan forgiveness that are only available to doctors, certified nurse midwives, advanced practice nurses, and graduates of an eligible nursing school. There’s also the Frontline Health Workers Act designed for nurse practitioners, doctors, and other healthcare professionals who work on the front lines of major events.

The bottom line is that all medical with federal loans are eligible for at least the standard loan cancellation options. But some workers will have more types of loan repayment assistance available to them as well. 

Best Loan Forgiveness Programs for Healthcare Workers

So now that we’ve covered some basic loan forgiveness information let’s take a look at some of the specific options available for healthcare workers. Here are six that you may want to look into if you have a student loan and work in this industry.

National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Programs

The first option you may have is run by The National Health Service Corps. They have three different forgiveness options for workers in health professional shortage areas.

The first is the NHSC Loan Repayment Program. This provides loan repayment assistance for professionals who work for at least 2-3 years in an area with a healthcare worker shortage. Professionals can receive up to $50,000 in assistance and potentially more if they spend longer working in the underserved community.

There’s also the NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program. This program provides repayment assistance for medical workers who work at an NHSC-approved substance abuse disorder treatment site in an underserved area. You can have up to $75,000 in loans forgiven over three years.

The final option under this category is the NHSC Rural Community Loan Repayment Program. It 

Provides up to $100,000 in forgiveness for healthcare workers who spend at least three years treating substance abuse and opioid addiction treatment in an underserved area.

As you consider these loan repayment programs, keep in mind that you can only apply for one at a time, even if your monthly payments are eligible for each type of loan forgiveness.

NHSC Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program

The next option on our list is the NHSC Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program. The Corps Loan Repayment Program can pay off up to 85% of outstanding nursing school debt for nurse practitioners and psychiatric nurse specialists.

Qualifying payments are only available for workers in critical shortage facilities who have graduated from an accredited nursing school.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Programs

There are also student loan forgiveness options for clinical researchers in the medical field who work on biomedical and biobehavioral research topics. These professionals can receive up to $50,000 in loan balance forgiveness.

To qualify, you have to have a doctoral degree, and your student loan debt has to equal or exceed 20% of your annual salary. Additionally, you must either work for an NIH lab or for an external servicer who conducts research that the NIH deems “critical”.

Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program

Next on our list is the Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program. This provides up to $40,000 in loan balance cancellation for healthcare workers who are employed by clinics focused on serving native populations.

Many different healthcare professionals can qualify for this program, including an advanced practice registered nurse, psychiatric worker, and doctor seeking loan assistance with the federal government as the loan servicer.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service Program

You can also try to qualify for a two-year postgraduate fellowship from the CDC. One of the benefits of this program is up to $50,000 per year in student loan repayment assistance. But you have to be working for the CDC on either disease outbreaks, natural disasters, or other public health issues to qualify.

Federal Perkins Loan Cancellation

There are also ways that you can qualify for Perkins loan cancellation for your federal direct loans. The repayment plan that you choose can impact this.

For example, there’s an income-based repayment option that’s available to everyone with eligible loans. This offers Federal Perkins Loan cancellation after you complete the loan repayment plans in question and satisfy other financial and professional regulation requirements. Income-driven repayment plans and graduated repayment plans typically take 20-25 years to get loans canceled.

Frontline healthcare workers and others can also make 120 qualifying payments while working in a public service job. This public service loan forgiveness program and repayment plan is not only available for healthcare workers, but it could be the best option for you if you participated in a direct loan program or direct consultation loans and work in a public service setting.

In addition to an income-driven repayment plan and public service loan forgiveness program, there may be other ways to get student loans like Perkins Loans canceled as well. This include:

• School closure
• Bankruptcy (only in some situations)
• Total and permanent disability
• Death

Conclusion

Whether you have direct consolidation loans or private student loans, there’s likely a repayment plan available to help with your payments. 

Whether that means pursuing a graduated repayment plan or applying for a special faculty loan repayment program for your direct consolidation loan, there’s likely a good loan forgiveness program available that meets your needs.

We hope this guide helps you find the best option for your situation, and we wish you the best of luck with both your public and private loans moving forward.

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