Welcome to the State and Federal Loan Repayment, Loan, Scholarship, and Other Programs database. This searchable database provides detailed information about many of the state and federal programs available to medical and other health professions students. Mar 19, 2020 The IHS Loan Repayment Program is a loan repayment program that awards doctors up to $40,000 towards their student loans for practicing in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This is a two-year commitment and doctors will be placed in the IHS facilities with the greatest need.
Doctors and Physicians
If you are a health care professional with a doctoral degree, you may be eligible for student loan repayment and forgiveness programs designed to decrease loan interest, reduce monthly student loan payments, or forgive your student loans entirely.
Federal Loan Forgiveness Program Application
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average student graduating with a medical degree in 2016 will have roughly $190,000 in medical school debt prior to starting in the profession. Fortunately, there are numerous repayment and forgiveness programs designed specifically for doctors that can help you repay your student debt, or help you earn loan forgiveness.
Student Debt Relief for Doctors
The following programs, if you meet their requirements, can help you get out of medical school debt in a number of ways, depending on your eligibility and where you choose to serve in the profession.
National Health Service Corps (NHSC)
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The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) offers three types of student loan repayment programs, with the first of these being the NHSC Loan Repayment Program.
NHSC Loan Repayment Program
To qualify for the NHSC Loan Repayment Program, which provides qualified, licensed health care providers with up to $50,000 in student loan repayment assistance, you will need to complete a two-year commitment in primary care medical, dental or mental/behavioral health in exchange for the benefits. Once your commitment is completed, you can receive additional student loan repayment assistance if you continue to serve in these areas.
Students to Service Loan Repayment Program
The next repayment program offered by the NHSC is the Students to Service Loan Repayment Program (S2S LRP). In the S2S LRP program, current medical students (MD or DO) and dental students (DDS or DMD) may be eligible for $120,000 in student loan repayment assistance if they’re willing to commit to three years of service at an approved NHSC Health Professional Shortage Area site.
State Loan Repayment Program
Depending on the state you live and work in, the NHSC sponsors numerous state repayment programs for doctors providing primary care in Health Professional Shortage Areas across many U.S. states. Known as the State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP), the amount of repayment assistance you could qualify for will vary by state, making it important to speak with a student loan specialist for details on the program.
Find out if you can take advantage of NHSC Student Loan Repayment Programs for free.
Indian Health Service (IHS) Loan Repayment Program
The Indian Health Service (IHS) Loan Repayment Program offers qualified healthcare professionals with up to $40,000 in student loan repayment assistance in exchange for completing a two-year commitment at an American Indian or Alaska Native community health facility.
As a requirement of this program, you will need to serve in certain health professions while at an Indian health program facility that has IHS-approved staffing needs. However, once your two-year commitment is up, you can continue to receive repayment assistance by extending your contract annually.
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) offers two student loan repayment opportunities that award up to $35,000 in repayment assistance to health care professionals with doctoral degrees.
To be eligible for the NIMHD Loan Repayment Program (LRP), you will either need to complete a two-year agreement conducting health disparities or clinical research in nonfederal research settings. You will also be required to spend more than half of your agreed time engaged in research that applies to health disparity populations, or conduct qualified research under these same conditions.
Additionally, apart from having a doctoral degree (e.g. MD, DDS, Ph.D., Dr.P.H.), your student loan debt must be above or equal to 20 percent of your base salary. You may also be required to come from a family whose income falls below the current federal low-income threshold.
Massachusetts Loan Repayment Program (MLRP)
The state of Massachusetts offers loan repayment assistance to primary health professionals in the dental, medical and mental health fields through the Massachusetts Loan Repayment Program (MLRP).
Since 1990, the program has given eligible primary care health professionals an incentive to practice in communities that are experiencing health care provider shortages or where barriers to health care access have been identified.
To qualify for MLRP, you need to meet the following requirements:
- Be licensed to practice health care in the state of Massachusetts
- Commit to practicing full-time for two years or the equivalent extended commitment part-time
- Meet one or both of MLRP components:
- Be employed by, or have a contract to practice in, an eligible public or non-profit healthcare organization located in a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)
- Be a primary care physician (M.D. & D.O.), physician assistant, nurse practitioner, behavioral and mental health professional (including substance abuse disorder) in a high-need area or facility.
If you are approved for the Massachusetts Loan Repayment Program, you could be awarded up to $50,000 towards your student loans for signing a two-year contract. However, the amount of your award may be determined by your field or discipline.
Learn more about these programs, as well as doctors in armed forces loan forgiveness programs, by filling out our free online form or by calling (800) 771-6358.
Doctors in Armed Forces Loan Forgiveness
If you’re medical or dental doctor and you’re also an active or reserve U.S. military member, you may be entitled to more benefits that include loan forgiveness and repayment assistance through the following programs.
Army Healthcare Professional Benefits
Active and reserve military members who are part of the Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Allied Health Corps, Nurse Corps and Veterinary Corps may be eligible for the following benefits through the Active Duty Health Professions Loan Repayment Program.
- Active Duty: Active U.S. military members who are part of the above programs may be eligible for up to $120,000 towards repaying medical and dental school loans. If you are approved for the program, this means you could receive up to $40,000 per year to help you repay your student loans over a three-year period.
- Reserve Duty: Reserve members of the U.S. military can receive up to $50,000 in repayment assistance over three years through the same program, with up to $20,000 in assistance for the first two years, and $10,000 in the third year for those who qualify.
Navy Financial Assistance Program (FAP)
If you are an active or reserve member of the U.S. Navy and you meet the qualifications for the Navy Financial Assistance Program (FAP), you may be eligible for student loan repayment assistance. Once you’re approved for the program, your repayment assistance amount will be determined by your individual needs and eligibility.
The qualifications for the FAP program include:
For Dentists
To qualify for the FAP program as a dentist, you will need to meet the following requirements:
- Graduate from a dental school accredited by the American Dental Association
- Be accepted for, or enrolled in, a graduate dental education program approved by the American Dental Association
- Be working towards certification in this program for a specialty designated by the Secretary of the Navy
- Be authorized to provide dental care in the graduate institution and in good standing
- Hold a current, unrestricted license to practice dentistry in the U.S. or U.S. territory
- Meet service obligation requirements
For Doctors
To qualify for the FAP program as a doctor or physician, you will need to meet the following requirements:
- Graduate from a medical school in the U.S. or U.S. territory that is approved by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education of the American Medical Association
- Or graduate from a college of osteopathy and eligible to be licensed to practice medicine or surgery in a majority of the states, along with other educational requirements
- Be accepted for, or enrolled in a Graduate Medical Education (GME) program
- Program must be approved by the American Medical Association or American Osteopathic Association
- Program must lead to certification in specialties designated by the Secretary of the Navy
- Be authorized to provide medical care in the GME institution and in good standing
- Hold an educational license to practice medicine, surgery or osteopathy in the state where you are being trained
- Meet service obligation requirements
Other Medical School Loan Repayment and Forgiveness Options
In addition to programs designed specifically for doctor student debt relief, there are several repayment and forgiveness programs that may be ideal for cutting your student debt or eliminating it entirely. Here are some of the best options you may have available:
For more details on student loan repayment and forgiveness programs for doctors, speak with a student loan specialist by phone at (800) 771-6358.
By Ken Tysiac
A new, free tool developed by the AICPA and fintech lender Biz2Credit is designed to help borrowers and their CPA advisers complete the forgiveness application for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
Available at PPPForgivenessTool.com, the dynamic platform automates the forgiveness process for small business owners who received funds from the PPP. The tool incorporates the PPP forgiveness calculator developed by the AICPA and is available to any business approved for a PPP loan, regardless of the lender it worked with to receive funding.
Borrowers or their CPA advisers can use the tool to fill out the forgiveness application. The tool will produce all government-required forms automatically. The PPP applicants will be able to electronically sign the SBA Form 3508, PPP Loan Forgiveness Calculation Form, or Form 3508EZ, and the required source documents will be saved into a downloadable file that can be provided to PPP lenders.
The AICPA estimates that the tool will save hours of manual work for any applicant going through the PPP loan forgiveness process. Final Treasury and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) FAQs on PPP forgiveness are expected to be released soon, and the PPP loan forgiveness tool will be updated to reflect any new changes. Based on this, the AICPA recommends that borrowers and CPA firms wait for the final guidance before generating the final signed Form 3508.
CPA.com, the AICPA’s business and technology arm, helped develop the tool. The tool’s platform was developed by fintech lender Biz2Credit. The objective is to drive a simple, effective forgiveness process, said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com.
“Our broader goal with this tool is to also help drive a common approach to this process with the payroll and lender communities,” Asgeirsson said in a news release.
The open architecture of the platform enables easy integration into the forgiveness tool. Payroll providers and other companies that hold small business data are able to automate the import of source data they hold, such as payroll reports, increasing the speed with which businesses can complete their forgiveness applications.
More information on the tool is available at PPPForgivenessTool.com. In addition, videos are available providing a brief overview of the tool for borrowers and how CPA firms can use the platform.
The PPP in brief
Congress created the PPP as part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, P.L. 116-136. The legislation authorized Treasury to use the SBA’s 7(a) small business lending program to fund forgivable loans of up to $10 million per borrower that qualifying businesses could spend to cover payroll, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities.
The loans are available to small businesses that were in operation on Feb. 15 with 500 or fewer employees, including not-for-profits, veterans’ organizations, Tribal concerns, self-employed individuals, sole proprietorships, and independent contractors. Businesses with more than 500 employees in certain industries also can apply for loans.
Congress designed the loans to support organizations facing economic hardships created by the coronavirus pandemic and assist them in continuing to pay employee salaries. PPP loan recipients can have their loans forgiven in full if the funds were used for eligible expenses and other criteria are met. The amount of the loan forgiveness may be reduced based on the percentage of eligible costs attributed to nonpayroll costs, any decrease in employee headcount, and decreases in salaries or wages per employee.
The AICPA’s Paycheck Protection Program Resources page houses resources and tools produced by the AICPA to help address the economic impact of the coronavirus.
For more news and reporting on the coronavirus and how CPAs can handle challenges related to the pandemic, visit the JofA’s coronavirus resources page or subscribe to our email alerts for breaking PPP news.
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— Ken Tysiac (Kenneth.Tysiac@aicpa-cima.com) is the JofA’s editorial director.