Loan
Forgiveness for Nursing Students Enacted
The Pennsylvania Higher
Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) has announced that it’s State Grant and
Special Programs Division will administer the new Nursing Loan Forgiveness
Program, which was enacted as part of Pennsylvania’s Tobacco Settlement
Legislation. The program provides
partial forgiveness of PHEAA-administered, federally insured student loan
indebtedness for nurses who are working in an eligible nursing facility. The goal of the program is to assist in
recruitment and retention of nurses in Pennsylvania. A $3 million appropriation was authorized for the program. A lottery system will be used if resources
are not sufficient to fund all eligible applications.
To be eligible for
participation, an individual must graduate from an approved nursing program at
an approved institution of higher learning after July 1, 2001 and be a
Pennsylvania resident. Applicants must
agree to practice professional nursing in Pennsylvania for at least three
consecutive years. If the applicant is
unlicensed, they must agree to apply for a Registered Nurse’s License to
practice in the Commonwealth as soon as possible after completing their degree
in nursing. Within six months after
licensure, the applicant must begin to practice nursing in the Commonwealth on
a full-time basis. The application
deadline is December 31, 2001.
Only PHEAA-administered,
federally-insured student loans are eligible to be considered for
repayment. If eligible, applicants may
be forgiven up to 50 percent of their outstanding loan indebtedness, not to
exceed $50,000. The loans may be
forgiven over a period of three years at an annual rate of 33 1/3 percent each
year. If the recipient fails to
complete the required work commitment, any funds advanced will be converted to
a loan and must be repaid at an 8 percent interest rate.
Anyone with questions may
contact PHEAA at 1-800-692-7392. Applications for the forgiveness program are available on-line in
printable format at www.pheaa.org.