MN State Loan Repayment (SLRP) Program Frequently Asked Questions

The State Loan Repayment Program opens mid-July of each year and closes in early September.

The Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program restrict eligible loans to government and commercial loans for educational purposes related to the degree under which you will be completing your service obligation.

Educational loans that have been paid in full, are in default, or were obtained for someone other than the applicant do not qualify. Personal lines of credit, credit card debt, and debt associated with relocation or residency programs, do not qualify for repayment. Parent PLUS loans are not eligible.

Consolidated loans may be considered for repayment as long as they only include qualifying educational loans. You will be required to submit sufficient documentation for each consolidated loan in the form of: (a) an account statement and (b) a disbursement report. 

Qualifying educational loans can be consolidated and/or refinanced into a private/commercial educational loan (e.g. SoFi, Wells Fargo, Link Capital, LendKey). Refinancing or consolidation that includes other forms of non-educational debt are not allowable.

We will only pay for health profession educational loans related to the discipline in which you are awarded loan forgiveness/repayment. Any educational loans incurred to obtain a non-health related degree are not eligible.

Loans which are currently in default are not eligible.

The Minnesota Loan Forgiveness Programs are entirely funded by the state of Minnesota and administered by the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care (ORHPC). Recipients have the responsibility of finding their own work at an employer that meets the state criteria. 

The Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program is funded by the state of Minnesota and a grant from the National Health Service Corps. It is administered by the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care but must follow federal guidelines required under the grant. Recipients can only work at approved worksites that are also participating in the program. 

The National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program is funded and administered by the federal government. The Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care provides technical assistance to sites and providers during the application process.

Candidates may apply for more than one program at the same time, depending on eligibility during the application cycle. However, Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (NHSC) prohibit candidates from completing service obligations under multiple programs at the same time. You cannot receive and participate in an award from SLRP, NHSC or Delta Dental. 

No. Due to limited funding, the loan forgiveness and loan repayment programs are competitive and not all applicants are awarded.

Applications will be evaluated on the provider’s commitment to medically underserved populations, commitment to primary care, the ability of the provider to meet the unique needs of the community, demonstrated cultural competencies, amount of remaining student debt, and geographic need throughout the state. 

Other federal programs can be found here: Prospective Loan Repayment Recipients | NHSC

Please contact health.loanforgiveness@state.mn.us

Outstanding student debt means remaining debt owed at the time of application/contracting. Award cannot exceed outstanding debt at time of contracting.

The Legislature included language to give preference to applicants who can best serve diverse populations. Diverse cultural competencies may include, but are not limited to: clinical rotations in an underserved area/population; volunteer hours serving or working with an underserved area/population; background from diverse ethnic or racial communities; and/or, fluency in more than one language. Applicants who can demonstrate cultural competencies will be given additional points during the review process.

Loan forgiveness defines cultural competency as the ability of an individual to understand and respect values, attitudes, practices, and beliefs that differ across cultures, and to consider and respond appropriately to these differences. It includes the application of cultural knowledge, behaviors, and interpersonal and clinical skills that enhances a provider’s effectiveness in managing patient care.

The Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program DO require you to be a U.S. citizen or a national.

Applicants to all programs must have a Minnesota home address by the time of contract start. Applicants serving Minnesota patients/clients but who have a home address in another state are not eligible. Applicants serving Minnesota patients/clients via telehealth but who have a home address outside of Minnesota are also not eligible.

The Minnesota State Loan Forgiveness Program ranks applications based on a current resume/CV; letter(s) of reference; and a 1-2 page essay concerning knowledge of the patient population to be served, addressing access to health care issues and how the applicant will change health care outcomes of that population, documenting diverse cultural competencies, and the completeness of the application. 

The Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program ranks applications based on: the likelihood of the candidate being eligible for receiving a federal award (primarily based on the score and status of the Health Professional Shortage Area designation), a current resume/CV, letters of reference, answers to two essay questions concerning the applicant’s knowledge of the patient population to be served and the applicant’s knowledge of the health of that population, the percentage of the population served that is uninsured/underinsured as addressed in the site application; and the application. 

The federal National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program primarily ranks candidates based on the score assigned to the Health Professional Shortage Area designation in which the applicant is intending to practice.

The licensed professions that can apply currently are: licensed psychiatric nurse/nurse practitioners; licensed clinical social worker (LICSW); licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT); licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC); and Clinical or Counseling Psychologists (Ph.D).

For the State Loan Repayment Program, only outpatient care is eligible.

*EXCEPTION: State Mental Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals with a qualified outpatient clinic and State or Federal Correctional Facilities.

For the State Loan Repayment Program, there is a two-year service commitment, and it may be extended on a case-by-case basis.

For the State Loan Repayment Program, you must be a licensed mental health care professional at the time of application.

Prior work experience in an eligible profession does not qualify towards your minimum two-year commitment. The service commitment begins after you sign a contract with the Minnesota Department of Health.

Yes, you are eligible to apply if you have a signed commitment to begin work at a qualified worksite. Your service commitment will not begin until you have begun work at your worksite and your contract has been executed.

For full time service at least 32 of the minimum 40 hours per week must be spent providing patient care at the approved service site(s) specified in the Application, during normally scheduled office hours. The remaining eight (8) hours of the minimum 40 hours per week may be spent as follows: providing clinical services for patients; teaching in the approved service site(s); providing clinical services in alternative settings (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, shelters) as directed by the approved service site(s); or performing practice related administrative activities.

For part time service at least 16 of the minimum 20 hours per week must be spent providing patient care at the approved service site(s) specified in the Application, during normally scheduled office hours. The remaining four (4) hours of the minimum 20 hours per week may be spent as follows: providing clinical services for patients; teaching in the approved service site(s); providing clinical services in alternative settings (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, shelters) as directed by the approved service site(s); or performing practice related administrative activities.

Participants will not receive service credit for telehealth delivered services that exceed more than 75 percent of the minimum weekly hours required to provide direct clinical care. 

Our office does not assist with placement. Depending on your profession, job opportunities may be listed at: 

• Minnesota Dental Association Classified Ads
• National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network (3RNet)

Loan repayment awards are sent at the beginning of each contract year. You should receive your first installment within 30 days of the start of your contract. You will receive successive year’s installments after you submit the appropriate employment verification and sufficient loan documentation at the beginning of each year of service, with the maximum being two years for the State Loan Repayment Program and four years under the Minnesota Loan Forgiveness Program. 

Participants must submit proof of payment to qualified educational loan(s) within 60 days of receipt of payment from MDH. 

Participants who fail to complete the period of obligated service or fulfill the terms of the Minnesota SLRP award contract will be placed in default. In addition, he/she will be liable to the State of Minnesota for an amount equal to the total award amount paid to the participant plus an unserved-obligation penalty (see below), or $31,000, whichever is greater. The unserved-obligation penalty is an amount equal to the number of months of obligated service that were not completed by the participant multiplied by $7,500. Total financial penalties should be paid to the State within one (1) year of the date of default. If the participant fails to repay the full amount owed within one (1) year, the State will add interest accruing from the date of the default. The State may also release participant information to a consumer credit reporting agency until the amount owed to the State is paid in full. It may also report a defaulted provider to the appropriate health-related licensing board, which may suspend or revoke the participant’s license to practice.

Yes, you must use the full award amount to pay your loan debt, and you will be required to submit documentation that demonstrates this within 60 days of receipt of payment from MDH.

Yes, you may change employers during your contract period as long as the new employer meets the requirements of your original loan forgiveness/repayment program contract and profession. Contact your program administrator prior to change, additional paperwork will be required. 

If you need to take a leave of absence during your contract, you must inform the loan forgiveness administrator. Service obligations may be suspended as a result of an illness, parental leave, disability or temporary job transfer lasting less than a total of 12 months during a three– or four–year commitment. All requests for temporary suspension of service must be in writing in advance (if known) and substantiated by documentation deemed acceptable and approved by the state on a case–by–case basis. The agreement end date will be extended by the amount of time a participant is in suspension status. Contact your program administrator prior to change, additional paperwork will be required. 

You must already be employed to be eligible to apply to the Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program.

Yes, the disbursements you receive are both state and federally tax exempt. The Minnesota Department of Health will not issue a 1099, and you will have to document the disbursements on your tax return. Contact a tax professional with questions.