New York State Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness Program
Through the New York State Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness Program, also known as the LSWLF program is offered to increase the number of licensed social workers working in critical human service areas, including but not limited to the following fields: home care, health, mental health, substance abuse, aging, HIV/AIDS and child welfare or communities with multilingual needs. Read on to see eligibility requirements, award amounts, and the application process for the New York State Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness Program.
Eligibility?
In order to be eligible for the New York State Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness Program, you will need to meet all of the following:
- Be an NYS resident and have resided in NYS for 12 continuous months prior to applying for this Program;
- Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen;
- Be a social worker professionally licensed to practice in NYS;
- Have an outstanding balance on an eligible student loan debt;
- Have qualified service:
- full-time employment as a licensed social worker in a critical human service area for at least 35 hours per week during the calendar year prior to his or her application. To determine if your workplace is an eligible service area, visit Eligibility by County;
- Be in a non-default status on a student loan made under any NYS or federal education loan program or repayment of any NYS award; and
- Be in compliance with the terms of any service condition imposed by an NYS award.
For a further breakdown, head over to the following program page.
What is the award amount?
Through the New York State Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness Program, applicants may be able to receive up to $26,000 towards their student loans annually. Awards will be paid in the amount of $6,500 for each annual period of qualified service completed or the remaining loan indebtedness. If the qualified service for the first or last year of the Program is less than 12 months, those disbursements will be pro-rated based on the number of months worked. Any additional payments made to reduce the outstanding balance may cause a reduction in the total amount of the award.
What loans are eligible?
All of the below loans will qualify for this program:
• Stafford loans
• Grad PLUS loans
• Consolidation loans
• NYS student loans
• Private student loans
How to and when to apply?
To apply for the New York State Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness Program, you will need to check back with their website here. The current deadline for this program has passed, however, they do open it up every year. For questions or more information find the contact information for this program below.
Questions:
Please contact the HESC Scholarship Unit at [email protected] or 888-697-4372 with questions regarding this Program.
For a full program breakdown or any additional program questions, please go to the official program page.
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.