Kentucky State Loan Repayment Program

Through the Kentucky State Loan Repayment Program qualifying applicants may be able to have some of their student loan debt forgiven by the state for their contributions to rural areas where there is currently a healthcare shortage. Continue reading to see what is required to be qualified for this program.

Eligibility?

In order to be eligible for the Kentucky State Loan Repayment Program, you will need to meet the following criteria:

• Be a U.S. citizen (either U.S. born or naturalized) or U.S. National.
• Have been trained and licensed to provide direct patient care in one of the program’s eligible disciplines and specialties: Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse-Midwives, Registered Nurses, Dentists, Registered Dental Hygienists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors, Health Service Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, Psychiatric Nurse Specialists, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselors, and Pharmacists.
• Have a current, full, permanent, unencumbered, unrestricted professional license, certificate, or registration in Kentucky in the discipline in which you are applying to serve.
• Be employed at an eligible KSLRP site, or have accepted an offer of employment at an eligible site where service will begin (and the applicant will begin seeing patients) no later than January 15, 2019.
• Work in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) that corresponds to their training and/or discipline. (You can search the HPSA Find website to determine if your practice site is located in an HPSA.)
• Practice full time, as defined by a minimum of 40 hours per week, for a minimum of 45 weeks per year, providing primary health services at an eligible site.
• Participate or be eligible to participate as a provider in the Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program, as appropriate.
• Agree to use KSLRP funds only to repay qualifying educational loans.
• Have a history of honoring prior legal obligations, have no existing service obligation nor incur any service obligation that would be performed concurrently with their KSLRP service obligation, and should not be currently excluded, debarred, suspended, or disqualified by a federal agency.
• In addition to the above eligibility criteria, you will also need to in one of the following eligible sites. These sites include:

ELIGIBLE SITES:

Eligible practice sites (public or non-profit private entities) include:

• Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
• FQHC Look-A-Likes
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Certified Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
• Other Health Facilities (including Community Mental Health Facilities, State and County Health Department Clinics, Free Clinics, Mobile Units, Critical Access Hospitals affiliated with a qualified outpatient clinic, Long-Term Care Facilities)
• Correctional or Detention Facilities (including federal prisons and state prisons)
• Private Practices (Solo or Group)

What is the award amount?

The award amount varies depending on the participant. Participants are awarded funding in a tiered format, based on their provider type, level of loan indebtedness, and sponsor commitment level. Maximum award amounts for a two-year commitment are as follows:

• Physicians, Dentists, Pharmacists: $80,000
• PAs, NPs, CNMs, Behavioral and Mental Health Specialists: $40,000
• RNs, RDHs, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselors: $20,000

LOAN REPAYMENT

Loan repayment offered through the KSLRP is based on a 50/50 match: For every federal dollar provided by the KSLRP, participants must have a 1:1 match from a sponsor source. Sponsors can include employers at the practice site; private foundations, corporations, community organizations, and/or philanthropies; and, rurally-oriented organizations requesting that their funds be used to support the placement of practitioners in rural areas.

If an applicant’s employer is providing the matching funds, the employer must agree that the funds will not be used as a salary offset. And, when agreeing to provide the matching funds, the sponsor may not add additional service obligations to the applicant.

How to apply?

To apply for the Kentucky State Loan Repayment Program, you will need to head over to the official application page and head to the section called applications. Once you are here you will need to fill out the appropriate application depending on what you are applying for. Should you have any questions about the KSLRP, please contact Michael McGill at [email protected] or 606-439-3557.

Questions?

If you still have questions or would like to know more information please reach out to us here or you can go back to the Student Loan Repayment Assistance Programs page.