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NHSC Loan Repayment Program

What Is the NHSC Loan Repayment Program?

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program (LRP) is a federally funded loan repayment program run by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The NHSC LRP recruits fully trained health professionals who agree to provide primary health services in NHSC community sites to medically underserved populations.

In return, the NHSC LRP assists clinicians in their repayment of qualifying educational loans that are still owed. Licensed psychologists are eligible to participate in this program by serving at sites in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) with a Mental Health Designation.

The NHSC LRP is a two-year commitment. Licensed psychologists are eligible for up to $50,000 in loan repayments for the initial two years and may be eligible to continue their loan repayment beyond two years if they have unpaid qualifying educational loans and continue to serve at an eligible site.

Am I Eligible?

1. To be eligible for loan repayment, all NHSC LRP participants must:
a. Serve full time (40 hours a week) in the clinical practice of your profession, and
b. Commit to providing primary care service in a priority health professional shortage area for a minimum of two years, and
c. Be free of judgment liens arising from Federal debt, and
d. Have no other existing service commitment as of June 30, 2009, and
e. Have no breach of a prior service obligation, and
f. Participate or be eligible to participate in Medicare/Medicaid/State Children’s Health Insurance Program Participation, and
g. Not be excluded, debarred, suspended or disqualified by a Federal Agency, and
h. Be a U.S. citizen with a valid, unrestricted license and/or certificate for the State where you plan to practice.
 
2. Health Service Psychologists (HSP) must:
a. Have a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) directly related to full professional work in clinical or counseling psychology from a school accredited by the American Psychological Association, Committee on Accreditation, and
b. Have a minimum of one year of post-graduate supervised clinical experience, and
c. Have successfully passed the Examination for Professional Practice of Psychology (EPPP), and
d. Be able to practice independently and unsupervised as a health service psychologist, and
e. Have a current, full, permanent, unencumbered health professional license (or if applicable, a current, unencumbered certificate or registration) to engage in the independent and unsupervised practice of clinical or counseling psychology in the State in which they intend to practice to fulfill their NHSC LRP service obligation.
 
For more information, check out the NHSC Loan Repayment Program website.