Loan Repayment Resources

Virginia Department of Health
State Loan Repayment Programs
The Commonwealth of Virginia (the Commonwealth) currently participates in The Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service (BCRS) Grants to States for Loan Repayment. This VA-SLRP is operated by the Virginia Department of Health-Office of Health Equity (VDH-OHE) providing a non-taxed incentive to qualified medical, nursing, dental, behavioral health and pharmaceutical (pharmacists) professionals in return for a minimum of two (2) years of service at an eligible practice site in one of the federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in a qualified field of practice in Virginia. VA-SLRP requires a dollar-for-dollar match from the community/Commonwealth of Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia will now pay the full match for eligible applicants who are selected by the advisory committee. The maximum award for a four (4) year commitment is $140,000 and shall be for a qualifying educational loan. Federal funds and matching state funds, used to support the VA-SLRP funds are exempt from federal income and employment taxes. After the application deadline, a thorough review is conducted in order of application receipt date to determine initial eligibility; an advisory committee determines final eligibility. Priority VA-SLRP awards are made based on the HPSA scores for counties/cities/populations in Virginia and HRSA requirements as well as scoring rubric for equitable distribution. All approvals are based on availability of funds. The participant shall meet and fulfill all requirements listed below to be eligible for the VA-SLRP.

National Health Service Corps
Medical and dental students in their final year of school can get up to $120,000 in loan repayment for a three-year service commitment at an NHSC site.

Loan repayment program fact sheets

• NHSC Loan Repayment Program Fact Sheet (PDF – 229 KB)
  Provides up to $50,000 to primary medical, dental, and mental and behavioral health care clinicians in exchange for their service in an underserved community.
• NHSC Substance Use Disorder Loan Repayment Program Fact Sheet (PDF – 217 KB)
  Provides up to $75,000 to health care clinicians treating patients with substance use or opioid use disorders in exchange for their service at an NHSC-approved SUD treatment facility in an underserved community.
• NHSC Rural Community Loan Repayment Program Fact Sheet (PDF – 205 KB)
  Provides up to $100,000 to clinicians treating substance use and opioid use disorders in exchange for their service in the nation’s rural, underserved communities.
• NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program Fact Sheet (PDF – 205 KB)
  Provides up to $120,000 to medical, dental, nursing and physician assistant students in their final year of school in exchange for their service in an underserved community. In 2024, we introduced a $40,000 Maternity Care Target Area (MCTA) supplement to students who commit to service as maternity care providers (OB/GYNs, physicians who regularly provide maternal care, certified nurse midwives).

Health Resources and Services Administration
Find Shortage Areas by Address

 Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program (IHS LRP) 
The IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP) can help dedicated health professionals like you chart a course for a long-lasting and successful health care career. The LRP funds IHS clinicians to repay their eligible health profession education loans — up to $40,000 — in exchange for an initial two-year service commitment to practice in health facilities serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Opportunities are based on Indian health program facilities with the greatest staffing needs in specific health profession disciplines. As an LRP participant, you are eligible to extend your contract annually until your qualified student debt is paid. Many health professionals enter this program because of the financial benefits but find the cultural and professional rewards to be so great that they spend their entire careers working in Indian health.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Loan Repayment 
The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The escalating costs of advanced education and training in medicine and clinical specialties are forcing some scientists to abandon their research careers for higher-paying private industry or private practice careers. 

The LRPs counteract that financial pressure by repaying up to $35,000 annually of a researcher’s qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research. Since tomorrow’s medical breakthroughs will be made by investigators starting in their research careers today, the LRPs represent an important investment by NIH in the future of health discovery and the wellbeing of the Nation.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) 
The PSLF Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue to work full-time in public service jobs. Under this program, you may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance due on your William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans after you have made 120 qualifying payments on those loans while employed full-time by certain public service employers. Since you must make 120 qualifying payments on your eligible federal student loans after Oct.1, 2007, before you can qualify for the loan forgiveness, the first forgiveness of loan balances will not be granted until October 2017.