This scholarship and grant program, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, was designed to alleviate the national shortage of nurses by paying tuition, fees, other reasonable expenses and a monthly stipend for nursing students who qualify for financial aid. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals or lawful permanent residents who are enrolled in or have been accepted into a registered nurse program. Certain other qualifications apply. Upon graduation these nurses are required to fulfill a 2-year service obligation to work in a critical shortage facility.
The Department of Health Resources and Services Administration grants partial student loan repayments for participants who agree to work for a minimum of two years in a critical shortage facility, a facility in which there are too few R.N.s for the facility to function properly. For each year of service, nurses will receive money to pay for 30 percent of their qualifying student loan balance. The loan repayment program will pay an additional 25 percent of the original total for a third year of service. Nurses receive their salaries and benefits directly from the critical shortage facility where they perform their service. Applicants must be a U.S. Citizen or a U.S. national and lawful permanent resident with a graduate, baccalaureate or associate's degree or diploma in nursing from an accredited nursing program, work at least 32 hours at a critical shortage facility and have outstanding debt from nursing education loans.
The Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program is managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This program repays student loans for nurses and allied health professionals to ensure an adequate supply of health care services to Indians through Indian health care programs and facilities. Qualified applicants must be certified and licensed to work in the profession or be enrolled in an accredited degree program. Recipients agree to work in an Indian Health Service approved priority site for at least the initial two-year contract period. The contracts can be renewed on a yearly basis until all of a nurse's student loans are paid.