Program Overview

The Nurse Faculty Loan Program is a low-interest Federal loan repayment program offered by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Schools of Nursing who offer MSN  and doctoral degrees with specific Nurse Educator tracks can apply for the grant. Awards are distributed to qualified students in the form of low-interest loans. After the student graduates and begins working as full-time faculty, up to 85% of the "NFLP" loan may be completely forgiven.

• Learn More About the Nursing Faculty Shortage
• Loyola University New Orleans Press Release on the Program

Student Eligibility Guidelines

The Loyola University New Orleans Nurse Faculty Loan Program is approximately 89% federally funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration and approximately 11% funded by Loyola University New Orleans . A total of $92,723 will be awarded for the 2009-2010 academic year (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act  of 2009  or "ARRA" funded $52,521 of this award.  We have been told that the ARRA funds represent a one-time non-rewable award )

• In order to borrow funds through the Faculty Nurse Loan Program (FNLP) the student must be a U.S. citizen and enrolled for a minimum of 3 credits each semester in a graduate degree program offered through the School of  Nursing ("SON") at Loyola University New Orleans .
• Recipients must also maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all attempted courses.
• Recipients must not have any judgement liens entered against him/her based on the default of a Federal debt, 28 U.S.C. 3201 (e). By applying for this loan, you are giving Loyola University New Orleans permission to check your records on Federal Student Aid's National Student Loan Data System and the General Service Administration's Excluded Party List web sites 
• NLFP loans are made on a first-come-first served basis for an academic year until funds are expended.  Funds are limited and availability of funds varies from year-to-year.  This is not a need-based loan program.
  • Recipients are limited to 5 years of support under the Program.
  • The NFLP Loan may not exceed $30,000 per year. Due to the limited funding, students may borrow this loan to cover the cost of tuition and mandatory university fees.  Students must provide a written statement outlining their planned enrollment for the academic year. If there are any remaining funds at the end of the academic year, current recipients will be allowed to apply for these funds to cover summer enrollment costs.

Offices Involved in the Program

The School of Nursing ("SON") in collaboration with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid AND the Student Finance Office jointly administers the NFLP at Loyola University New Orleans. The SON completes the initial entrance counseling with potential NFLP recipients and monitors recipients’ adherence to the academic plan required of NFLP recipients . The SON will notify any student who is no longer meeting the academic requirements for participation in the program. 

The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid estimates the applicant's tuition and fee charges for the year and posts the award to the student's records with the Student Finance Office.

• Tuition and Fee Charges for 2009-2010
• Aid and Your Bill
• Loyola Online Records Access System ("LORA")

The Student Loan Officer (within the Student Finance Office) will oversee the completion of the Electronic Master Promissory Note and all repayment activities for the Nurse Faculty Loan Program.  We have contracted with Educational Computer Systems, Inc (ECSI) to bill and collect our Perkins Student Loans and NFLP Loans. ECSI has many resources that will assist not only us in the disbursement and collection of our loans, but will assist our borrowers with many features that we could not provide alone. Some of those features include:

• Electronic Promissory Notes
• Electronic Entrance and Exit Interviews
• Account Inquiry on web
• Direct monthly payments from your checking account
• Additional payment options
• Advanced payments
• Access to Downloadable Forms such as deferment and forbearance
• Links to Federal government regulations web site
• On line address changes

 Application Process

Students who are borrowing the FNLP Loan for the first time must complete the FNLP Promissory Note, FNLP Loan Application, Rights and Responsibilities Statement, and the FNPL Entrance Interview.  These forms must be completed each year that the student borrows this loan.  These forms are available  from the school of nursing at http://css.loyno.edu/nursing/nurse-faculty-loan-repayment-program-nflp . Students should review these forms before their Entrance Counseling session with the School of Nursing.

1. The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid will post a student's loan eligibility on his /her official records on LORA. They will also send an e-mail directly to the student outlining the assumptions used to calculate the student's loan eligibility and instructions for completing an on-line financial aid response form. Borrowers must officially "accept" the loan to give us permission to transmit their award information to ECSI.

2.  Students will then be directed to complete  all  other official forms online with ECSI. ECSI will notify Loyola's Student Loan Officer when a borrower completes these required forms. PLEASE NOTE: all forms should be available online no later than one week after we have received the borrower's financial aid response form.

Interest Charges

Interest accrues on the NFLP loan at a rate of 3% per annum, beginning 3 months after the borrower ceases to be a enrolled  in their Graduate Nursing program. 

If the Borrower fails to complete the advanced nurse education program OR fails to serve as a nurse faculty member for a consecutive 4 year period, interest will be charged at the prevailing market rate.

The prevailing market rate is determined by the U.S. Treasury Department and is published quarterly in the Federal Register. The Rates are fixed. Refer the the HHS, Office of Finance Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/asrt/of/finpollibrary/financialpolicies.html#DebtCollectionInterestRates for more information. The interest rate for the latest period (January  -March 2009) = 11%.

Although we have yet to find the "perfect calculator" that borrowers could use to examine the differences that interest rates make in the overall cost of the loan, the one at http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loancomp.phtml works reasonably well.

Deferment:

Deferment options under the NFLP are limited:

• NFLP borrowers who are ordered to active duty as a member of a uniformed service of the United States (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administraton Corps, Peace Corps, or the U.S. Public Health Service Commussioned Corps ) are eligible for deferment for up to 3 years. A borrower who voluntarily joins a uniforned service is NOT ELIGIBLE for deferment, nor is a borrower who is employed by one of the uniformed services in a civilian capability.
• NFLP borrowers that  graduate and are employed, and decide to return to a graduate nursing education program to pursue a doctoral degree to further their preparation as nurse faculty may request deferment of payment for up to 3 years.

Forbearance:

A lending school may, based on its discretion, place a borrower's NFLP loan in forbearance when extraordinary circumstances  such as poor health or hardships temporarily affect the borrower's  ability to make scheduled loan payments. Interest on the loan continues to accrue but is not payable during this period.

Repayment /Cancellation Provisions:

The NFLP loan is repayable over 10 years. Repayment begins nine months after graduation from the advanced nursing program (or when a borrower ceases to be enrolled in the program, or terminates employment as full-time faculty at a school of nursing).   

The NFLP is a direct loan program with cancellation provisions.  Up to 85% of the loan may be cancelled if the student fulfills specific requirements.

The borrower may cancel:

• 20% of the principal and interest of the unpaid loan balance upon completion of each of the first, second, and third year of full-time employment as a nurse faculty member.
• 25% of the principal and interest of the unpaid loan balance upon completion of the fourth year of full-time employment as a nurse faculty member.

The borrower is responsible for requesting cancellation.  NFLP borrowers are limited to a 12-month timeframe to establish employment as a full-time nurse faculty at a school of nursing following graduation from the program.  If employment verification is not submitted within the 12-month period, the borrower will NOT be eligible for the NFLP loan cancellation provision.

Borrowers who fail to become a full-time faculty member at an approved school of nursing  by the end of the 9 month grace period will be required to pay back the loan at the prevailing market rate at that time.

Default by the Borrower:

This occurs when the recipient:

• fails to complete the advanced nurse education program;
• fails to  meet the university's "satisfactory academic progress" guidelines;
• fails to become or maintain employment as a full-time faculty member at a school of nursing."Full-time" has the meaning used by the employing school of nursing for its faculty;
• fails to make payments as required by the NFLP borrower's Promissory Note and repayment agreements.

Graduation and Beyond

This page details information about the Alumni Association Graduation Awards Program, money management tips for  alumni, community service programs, and information about loan repayment options.