EDRP

[psy.d. 2021]

Hi all! I'll be starting an internship at a VA for 2020-2021. I'm starting to think about postgrad employment and would like to work at a VA that would offer EDRP. Unfortunately I have a substantial amount of education debt. I have a few questions related to EDRP:

1) Can it be negotiated if it's not listed on an initial job posting for a position?

2) Would anyone be willing to share with me (on here or through private message) how much relief psychologists can typically qualify for? I did my undergrad in psychology as well. I keep seeing up to 200k and to me that means I could somehow find a way to pay 30k a year in loan debt just to find out they will only give me 2k or something like that. Hopefully that makes sense. Or do you apply and then they tell you how much you qualify for and then you are free to pay up to thaf amount for the most you're eligible for?

3) I am assuming you pay your loan each year, provide documentation, and then you get a check for what you paid. Can you take that money and apply it to your student loan for the next year you're eligible for?

Thanks for your help!

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[AcronymAllergy]

I'll try to answer what I can with reasonably-educated guesses:

1) You can try to negotiate anything, although if it's not listed on the job posting, it may not be possible to enact it even if the site wanted to. I believe positions need to be specifically approved for EDRP (such as by funding availability and critical staffing needs), and that typically occurs before the job is posted. Although even if a position is eligible for EDRP, you still need to apply for it once you're hired.

2) I believe you're correct in that it's up to $200k, as it seems like it was recently raised from $24k/year to $40k/year. Keep in mind it only applies to qualifying loans, which are those you used for your graduate degree; you couldn't use it on any debt from undergrad.

3) Yes, they essentially require that you send proof of the amount you've paid toward your qualifying loans (which have been previously vetted) over the year, and then they reimburse you for that amount. You can then do whatever you'd like with the money at that point, I believe. The process is then the same for the remaining four years (i.e., provide them proof of your required payments and they reimburse you). I don't know if you're able to count extra payments toward the annual award amount (e.g., if you take the reimbursement from the first year and just send that in one lump sum to pay down your loan, I don't know that you can then claim that amount plus your subsequent monthly payments for the next year's award).

 

[sfgucadoc]

EDRP is great but, in my experience, it usually gets sucked up by the physicians and nurses. They're considered more essential than we are. Definitely something to get in WRITING before you accept because I've seen people get hired, accept a verbal offer of EDRP, and then it never materializes.

Good luck with it.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Agree: if it's something you negotiate and/or are told is available, be sure it's in your offer letter.

 

[WisNeuro]

Not sure that if it's changed in the few years that I've been out of the VA, but we were never able to get EDRP for our psychologist positions. That being said, I've only worked in larger VAs that were in desirable locations. Probably more chance of EDRP for rural sites. There is no incentive to offer it for many psych positions as we'd usually get dozens of applications for one spot.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I've seen it offered here and there for psychologists (heck, my position has at times been determined to be eligible). But like WisNeuro said/implied, it's typically been at less-widely-desirable locales, and is much more frequently offered for physician and NP positions.

But if someone has $200k+ in loans and could have that repaid in part or full by VA, that sounds like a solid reason to live just about anywhere for 5 years.

 

[Seven_Costanza]

Not sure that if it's changed in the few years that I've been out of the VA, but we were never able to get EDRP for our psychologist positions. That being said, I've only worked in larger VAs that were in desirable locations. Probably more chance of EDRP for rural sites. There is no incentive to offer it for many psych positions as we'd usually get dozens of applications for one spot.

It’s definitely more common in rural areas but I know that the Palo Alto VA, and I think the Long Beach VA, posted EDRP-eligible positions over the last year.

 

[psy.d. 2021]

I checked some of the current postings just to get a feel for what areas were available and they are mostly in rural areas where they probably have more trouble recruiting. Which makes sense, why offer this in major cities where you're getting dozens of psychologist applicants. But unfortunately my debt is such that if I could truly get substantial relief that I would live anywhere for five years.

 

[deleted106747]

Hi all! I'll be starting an internship at a VA for 2020-2021. I'm starting to think about postgrad employment and would like to work at a VA that would offer EDRP. Unfortunately I have a substantial amount of education debt. I have a few questions related to EDRP:

1) Can it be negotiated if it's not listed on an initial job posting for a position?

2) Would anyone be willing to share with me (on here or through private message) how much relief psychologists can typically qualify for? I did my undergrad in psychology as well. I keep seeing up to 200k and to me that means I could somehow find a way to pay 30k a year in loan debt just to find out they will only give me 2k or something like that. Hopefully that makes sense. Or do you apply and then they tell you how much you qualify for and then you are free to pay up to thaf amount for the most you're eligible for?

3) I am assuming you pay your loan each year, provide documentation, and then you get a check for what you paid. Can you take that money and apply it to your student loan for the next year you're eligible for?

Thanks for your help!

1. No
2. I was offered the total of my graduate school debt, which was all the debt I had. If the degree is not deemed to be part of your current degree, it won’t be covered. For example, a master’s degree in a related field wouldn’t be covered if it wasn’t part of the PhD.
3. Yes, that’s how it works. The first year is tough because you have to front the money. Then you take the reimbursement and apply it to the following year and so on, then the last year is sweet because you get the check but you don’t need to put it back into the loan.

 

[IWillSurvive]

I am in my first year of EDRP, which was a pretty seamless process...the worst part was getting a form signed from my lender. The cool thing I learned that I was unaware of before, is that they offer an incremental payment schedule. My first year payment is lower and then progressively increases, which helps as I advance in the GS scale. I am in a rural area but I have seen postings recently for non-rural areas. I think there is a chief of psychology posting right now with EDRP, which always suprises me, because I thought EDRP was for GS 11-13. I was direct hire but was able to get this in writing. For non-direct hire positions (USAjobs listings), it must be in the posting. Good luck and feel free to PM if you have any questions!

 

[Rmack1219]

1. No
2. I was offered the total of my graduate school debt, which was all the debt I had. If the degree is not deemed to be part of your current degree, it won’t be covered. For example, a master’s degree in a related field wouldn’t be covered if it wasn’t part of the PhD.
3. Yes, that’s how it works. The first year is tough because you have to front the money. Then you take the reimbursement and apply it to the following year and so on, then the last year is sweet because you get the check but you don’t need to put it back into the loan.

Hello,

Do you know if it would count for a degree in a related field? I have a BA, and MS in psychology from two different schools and another MS from the school I got my PhD from.

 

[IWillSurvive]

If the field your PhD is in is the field you are working in, then it will go toward the PhD only.

 

[ProfessionalStudent5]

If the field your PhD is in is the field you are working in, then it will go toward the PhD only.

This is disappointing and doesn’t make any sense. Most PhD programs are fully funded. Why does it matter what degree the loan is for. I can understand them maybe limiting it to the field that you are working in. But I never knew this. This definitely takes the VA off of my list as possible locations to work.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Per the EDRP guidelines: "EDRP payments are limited to the degree, which by VA Qualification Standards qualified the individual for the position and grade level to which appointed. The degree must be from an accredited school or program."

So for psychologists, it'd be for your doctorate. If you got your masters directly en route to the Ph.D./Psy.D.,, that time would also be covered, since it wasn't a separate degree and was required for your doctorate. And it only covers "tuition and other reasonable educational and living expenses, fees, books, supplies, educational equipment/materials, and laboratory expenses." I believe you have to report what the tuition for your program was when you apply for EDRP, and they may then have some formula they use for what would be the maximum "reasonable" amount in terms of other educational and living expenses.

 

[ProfessionalStudent5]

Per the EDRP guidelines: "EDRP payments are limited to the degree, which by VA Qualification Standards qualified the individual for the position and grade level to which appointed. The degree must be from an accredited school or program."

So for psychologists, it'd be for your doctorate. If you got your masters directly en route to the Ph.D./Psy.D.,, that time would also be covered, since it wasn't a separate degree and was required for your doctorate. And it only covers "tuition and other reasonable educational and living expenses, fees, books, supplies, educational equipment/materials, and laboratory expenses." I believe you have to report what the tuition for your program was when you apply for EDRP, and they may then have some formula they use for what would be the maximum "reasonable" amount in terms of other educational and living expenses.

Thank you. My PhD and second masters were fully covered. I have loans for undergrad and my 1st masters which were both in psych. My PhD program didn’t transfer credits so I got a 2nd masters.

 

[IWillSurvive]

Yea, I have a master's in psychology that was terminal and then got my Ph.D. It only counted for the Ph.D. unfortunately. As mentioned above, if the master's was imbedded into the Ph.D., it would have been covered too. No coverage for undergrad loans unfortunately for psychologists.

 

[Mercury in Taurus]

Yea, I have a master's in psychology that was terminal and then got my Ph.D. It only counted for the Ph.D. unfortunately. As mentioned above, if the master's was imbedded into the Ph.D., it would have been covered too. No coverage for undergrad loans unfortunately for psychologists.

Thank you for sharing your success story. Is it recommended to consolidate student loans before applying for EDRP? I only have federal loans borrowed for the doctoral degree that qualified me for the staff psychologist job that I was offered. The position qualifies for EDRP and I will need to apply in 4 months from the official date.

 

[IWillSurvive]

Thank you for sharing your success story. Is it recommended to consolidate student loans before applying for EDRP? I only have federal loans borrowed for the doctoral degree that qualified me for the staff psychologist job that I was offered. The position qualifies for EDRP and I will need to apply in 4 months from the official date.

I have heard some people had difficulties with the application after consolidating, but this was not the case for me. I consolidated and just made sure to provide them with information about each individual loan. If consolidating, I recommend saving this information beforehand, but I do think the loan company (fedloan servicing) can provide this after the fact also. I think the EDRP folks basically look at the years you were in your Ph.D. and select those loans taken out during those years to cover. Since I was able to provide the loan breakdown information, I didn't run into any problems with this. Outside of EDRP, consolidating just made my life a lot simpler because I had so many.

I would recommend doing it as quickly as possible (the application) because once the money for the fiscal year is spoken for, there is none left to give out (and I'm not sure if this is allotted based on VA, VISN, nationally, etc.) Regardless, the earlier in the fiscal year the better. Also, you have to be credentialed as licensed by the VA so this takes some time. I recommend providing the license information in advance of starting the position so they can credential you just once if that is possible. If not, just providing this information as soon as possible should be fine. I provided my licensure information about a week before starting and was able to be transitioned to permanent/licensed staff in a little over 1 month I believe.

 

[Mercury in Taurus]

I have heard some people had difficulties with the application after consolidating, but this was not the case for me. I consolidated and just made sure to provide them with information about each individual loan. If consolidating, I recommend saving this information beforehand, but I do think the loan company (fedloan servicing) can provide this after the fact also. I think the EDRP folks basically look at the years you were in your Ph.D. and select those loans taken out during those years to cover. Since I was able to provide the loan breakdown information, I didn't run into any problems with this. Outside of EDRP, consolidating just made my life a lot simpler because I had so many.

I would recommend doing it as quickly as possible (the application) because once the money for the fiscal year is spoken for, there is none left to give out (and I'm not sure if this is allotted based on VA, VISN, nationally, etc.) Regardless, the earlier in the fiscal year the better. Also, you have to be credentialed as licensed by the VA so this takes some time. I recommend providing the license information in advance of starting the position so they can credential you just once if that is possible. If not, just providing this information as soon as possible should be fine. I provided my licensure information about a week before starting and was able to be transitioned to permanent/licensed staff in a little over 1 month I believe.

Thank you for your advice and helpful information. The job offer is a GS-12 and "temporary not to exceed two years pending licensure, position." It is a hard-to-fill position in a rural area, and they are willing to hold off the vacancy until I complete my postdoc training. I am scheduled to take EPPP in early May and plan to apply for licensure with the current state which doesn't require an oral examination.

This is a position in geropsychology. I think even if EDRP doesn't work out for any reason, I will still be very happy with the job. Completing seemingly endless paperwork feels very overwhelming. However, you are right; I need to get on the EDRP application with HR sooner rather than later. I will be reaching out to HR on Tuesday and am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping things will play out favorably.

Thank you! I really appreciate your help and support.

 

[IWillSurvive]

Thank you for your advice and helpful information. The job offer is a GS-12 and "temporary not to exceed two years pending licensure, position." It is a hard-to-fill position in a rural area, and they are willing to hold off the vacancy until I complete my postdoc training. I am scheduled to take EPPP in early May and plan to apply for licensure with the current state which doesn't require an oral examination.

This is a position in geropsychology. I think even if EDRP doesn't work out for any reason, I will still be very happy with the job. Completing seemingly endless paperwork feels very overwhelming. However, you are right; I need to get on the EDRP application with HR sooner rather than later. I will be reaching out to HR on Tuesday and am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping things will play out favorably.

Thank you! I really appreciate your help and support.

No problem! I did the same...I started in September after post-doc and applied sometime thereafter so it worked out well (with the fiscal year beginning 10/1). I also did my training in gero. Congrats on landing a gero position! Feel free to message me if you have any more questions in the future.

 

[motherofhenandben]

Does anyone have a recent timeline of how long their EDRP process has taken? I submitted on 10/16/23 and have been waiting for approval at the program office for 9 weeks. I reached out to the EDRP support for an update and I got a generic email in return. I am starting to feel hopeless

 

[psycho1391]

I started 1/30/23 and and everything was complete 3/31/23. SO about 8 weeks.
Do you have a link to the portal they gave you to check your progress?

 

[mbneuro124]

Started 9/2020 and didn't get approved until 5/2021. It was horrendous trying to track down the correct HR folks. Don't give up... I ended up e-mailing people once a week and CCing supervisors until it got done. Truly, every VA operates differently.

 

[motherofhenandben]

I started 1/30/23 and and everything was complete 3/31/23. SO about 8 weeks.
Do you have a link to the portal they gave you to check your progress?

Wow…. That is so quick. Yes, I have the portal and nothing has moved in about 10 weeks

 

[motherofhenandben]

Started 9/2020 and didn't get approved until 5/2021. It was horrendous trying to track down the correct HR folks. Don't give up... I ended up e-mailing people once a week and CCing supervisors until it got done. Truly, every VA operates differently.

Started 9/2020 and didn't get approved until 5/2021. It was horrendous trying to track down the correct HR folks. Don't give up... I ended up e-mailing people once a week and CCing supervisors until it got done. Truly, every VA operates differently.

Yeah, I feel like I’m in that same boat. It’s taking forever. Who did you email? The regular support email?

 

[psy.d. 2021]

Yeah my application has been processed at the facility level and has been at "Application Review by the Program Office" for a little over a month.

 

[mbneuro124]

Yeah, I feel like I’m in that same boat. It’s taking forever. Who did you email? The regular support email?

I believe I started with my onboarding HR representative, and once I was accepted into the EDRP system, I then had a few additional contact people. Now our HR has been outsourced to the VISN so I have no idea who my representative would be... glad I got it done before that change happened.

 

[motherofhenandben]

I believe I started with my onboarding HR representative, and once I was accepted into the EDRP system, I then had a few additional contact people. Now our HR has been outsourced to the VISN so I have no idea who my representative would be... glad I got it done before that change happened.

Gotcha! Yeah it’s challenging attempting to find a contact who can actually help and not give a standard reply back to me