Tuition Assistance, Scholarships and Loan Forgiveness

We encourage all students to consider other avenues to manage the cost of the academic program. There may be a number of resources available, including tuition assistance from your employer, scholarships funded by professional organizations, and loan forgiveness programs based on service.

Many students are eligible for tuition support through their employers; check with the human resource or benefits administrator at your place of employment to find out what kind of tuition benefits are available to you. The Office of Student Accounts can provide more information on third party billing and tuition benefits.

A variety of nursing- and health-related organizations offer scholarships to graduate nursing students. The application deadlines are often in the spring for the following year, so it’s important to search for funding early.

Many health care professionals take advantage of loan forgiveness programs. These programs typically require completion of a specific number of years of service in a specific field of employment.

• The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was created to encourage individuals to enter and continue to work full-time in public service jobs in local, state, federal or non-profit (501C3) organizations. Loan forgiveness is available after a borrower has made 120 on-time payments on federal student loans. Students can consolidate all federal loans (undergraduate and graduate Stafford loans and Graduate PLUS loans) and potentially extend their loan repayments beyond the standard ten years to take advantage of this opportunity. More information on PSLF is available here.
• The US Department of Health and Human Services, through the National Health Service Corps, offers both scholarships and loan forgiveness opportunities to health practitioners. Scholars fulfill their service commitments by providing full time clinical care at settings such as rural health clinics, Indian Health Service clinics, public health department clinics, hospital-affiliated primary care practices, managed care networks, prisons, and U.S. Immigration, Customs & Enforcement sites. Details are available here.
• Many states offer loan forgiveness programs. Your admissions counselor can provide you with information on programs available in your state of residence, and we also encourage you to contact your state department of health and human services for information.