National Health Service Corps Scholarship - Dental

[Je1977]

Hello Everyone,

I am going to begin my first year of dental school in August 2011 at MCG in Augusta, GA, and I am now considering the National Health Service Corps scholarship.

From what I understand, it pays all tuition and fees and provides a modest monthly stipend while a student. In exchange, the graduate serves one year for each year he/she received the scholarship with 2-year commitments being the minimum and 4-year the maximum.

That being said, I have a number of questions and would like to see if anyone who is currently on the scholarship can help me out:

1. Is the NHSC scholarship something you have to compete to get, or can you pretty much easily get it if you apply for it?

2. Are there any comments on the average salary of the NHSC graduate scholar? I saw on the NHSC website that it said they cannot make any less than a dentist in the civil service, which appeared to be between $90-130K (not bad for having NO debt).

3. Choice of location - Can the graduate have his/her first choice, or does it work like the military where you just pick your top 3-4 choices and they just give you what they give you?

4. How much vacation/sick/leave do they give you as a NHSC dentist?

5. Would you, as a NHSC graduate scholar have done it differently had you had the option, or are you glad you did go for the scholarship? Why?

I'm in the middle of weighing my options and would greatly appreciate anyone's input who is either considering the scholarship or is a scholar in the program.

Best,

Jeremy

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[browncrack]

1. Is the NHSC scholarship something you have to compete to get, or can you pretty much easily get it if you apply for it?
very limited number available per year- less than ten nationally. safer bet is HPSP.

2. Are there any comments on the average salary of the NHSC graduate scholar? I saw on the NHSC website that it said they cannot make any less than a dentist in the civil service, which appeared to be between $90-130K (not bad for having NO debt).

Can get paid no less than GS-12. This is entry pay for civil service dentist.

3. Choice of location - Can the graduate have his/her first choice, or does it work like the military where you just pick your top 3-4 choices and they just give you what they give you?
Openings are listed on the website. Apply/pick one and you go for interview. Not really the same as HPSP where you get an assignment from
a person you do not know.

4. How much vacation/sick/leave do they give you as a NHSC dentist?
30 days/year. Additional sick leave possible if needed.

5. Would you, as a NHSC graduate scholar have done it differently had you had the option, or are you glad you did go for the scholarship? Why?
Still haven't graduated.

 

[MODENT11]

1. Is the NHSC scholarship something you have to compete to get, or can you pretty much easily get it if you apply for it?

Yes, it is relatively competitive. However, they are trying to expand the # available.

2. Are there any comments on the average salary of the NHSC graduate scholar? I saw on the NHSC website that it said they cannot make any less than a dentist in the civil service, which appeared to be between $90-130K (not bad for having NO debt).

The NHSC doesn't really have much say in your salary. You do all contract negotiations with the individual Federally Qualified Community Health Centers. As long as the basic parameters fit the NHSC rules, then it's OK. I've found that the area where you apply for a position very much affects your salary. I got lucky and all the offers I got were above $115K - but I've seen others around $85K.

3. Choice of location - Can the graduate have his/her first choice, or does it work like the military where you just pick your top 3-4 choices and they just give you what they give you?

The NHSC publishes a list of sites that qualify for your graduation cycle. You pick off the list of available sites or try to find/create a site that will qualify (not very easy to do - so don't count on this). You apply and interview at as many sites as you wish (anyone can work at these sites, not just NHSC scholars - so you might be competing with quite a few others for the most desirable sites). The NHSC won't assign you to a site unless you haven't found employment 9 months after graduation - and even then they will try to find something you can live with.

4. How much vacation/sick/leave do they give you as a NHSC dentist?

This is also negotiated with each site during your contract negotiations. The NHSC allows for 7 weeks totals time out of the clinic - this includes vacation, sick days, continuing education time. If you need longer than this, you have to add it onto the end of your NHSC contract time.

5. Would you, as a NHSC graduate scholar have done it differently had you had the option, or are you glad you did go for the scholarship? Why?

I'm not starting my contract repayment until June - so I can't answer this for you yet. I know that the NHSC has been making vast improvements lately. But no matter what, if you don't want to do community health this is NOT the right choice for you. If you have a passion for working with underserved populations then I think this is great option and that passion will go a long way even when working with the NHSC can be cumbersome.

 

[Teej4988]

This may seem like a dumb question, but do you enter the NHSC before you enter dental school or after you have become board certified.

In the above posts, someone states that they pay for all tuition & costs, but I was just on the website and it states that you must be in the NHSC for at least 5 years to pay off $170,000 in debt?

Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks!


-UCSF c/o 2015

 

[whodat4life]

This may seem like a dumb question, but do you enter the NHSC before you enter dental school or after you have become board certified.

In the above posts, someone states that they pay for all tuition & costs, but I was just on the website and it states that you must be in the NHSC for at least 5 years to pay off $170,000 in debt?

Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks!


-UCSF c/o 2015

Ok, so this confuses a lot of people. They actually have two different programs from what I can tell:

A) NHSC Scholarship
B) NHSC Loan Repayment

I'll try to explain them both to the best of my ability-

NHSC Scholarship-
-you apply before (or during) dental school (serve a year for a year)
-Application portal is closed already for the 2011-2012 school year (as of June 9th)
-you serve a year in a VERY high needs area for every year of expenses they cover
-it covers full tuition, living expenses (~$1,300/mo), clinical/lab fees, student health insurance, and everything you need basically
-the nice thing about this is that you incur no debt whatsoever whilst going through DS, they pay for everything
-most people that get accepted to this one serve in a prison, on an Indian reservation, etc..
-the only downfall of this is that you will not have as much "say so" in where you go to serve as the Loan Repayment recipients have (HPSA scores)
-Very hard/competitive to get - they only award about 20/year max for dentists - so if you're of a very underrepresented minority group (i.e. American Indian, African-American) you have a lot better chance. Also, the lower your parents' income...the better your chances.
-Sites must have to have HPSA score of 19+ for a scholar to qualify

NHSC Loan Repayment
-apply for this AFTER dental school, go on interviews to different HPSA "sites"
-30k/yr for the first two years, 40k/yr for 3rd and 4th years, 30k for 5th and 6th years, anything left after you do 6+ years (up to 200k) will be wiped out
-good things about this one
a) you get more of a say in where you go -you can go somewhere where the needs aren't so severe..i.e., it may get you closer to where you want to be
b) if you ever wanted to specialize, it doesn't tie you down before dental school like the "NHSC Scholarship" program does. If you sign up the the NHSC Scholarship, you MUST go straight out of DS to serve. They will grant you deferment (but will not pay for it) for Pedo or GPR residencies.
-Sites for Loan Repayment recipients qualify with a HPSA score of 12+ (if it's still the same as last year)
-A little less competitive from what I can tell, for obvious reasons...but nonetheless, a GREAT deal. Gives you time to get your speed/quality of work up before pursuing private practice, or whatever your end goal may be.

You get paid a decent amount. The lowest I've ever seen them pay is 90k for a student 1st year out of school, which isn't bad AT ALL for having NO debt! Hope this helps, if you need anymore info...I can try to help you as best I can. I'm leaving you a website to browse around on a look at, it explains everything much better than I have above.

http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/ - for info pertaining to NHSC Scholarship/Loan Repayment

http://nhscjobs.hrsa.gov/Search_HPOL.aspx - look at jobs that are currently available

 

[Teej4988]

Hey thanks so much- that definitely clears things up a bit! Best of luck to you as well!!

 

[whodat4life]

Hey thanks so much- that definitely clears things up a bit! Best of luck to you as well!!

No problem

 

[dentalWorks]

the application timeline for this year (for the scholarship program) has already passed (it was june 9th). they had it open for like 3 weeks.

For this year, they only had 120 scholarships to award, and they estimated about 1500 were going to apply.

 

[whodat4life]

the application timeline for this year (for the scholarship program) has already passed (it was june 9th). they had it open for like 3 weeks.

For this year, they only had 120 scholarships to award, and they estimated about 1500 were going to apply.

DW...is it 120 total for dentists alone, or is that for MD, PA, and all? I was under the impression that MDs got the majority of the scholarships and dentists got like 10 for the past two years, but the number doubled apparently. So, that's where I got my 20 number from. I wish they had some sort of hard numbers for us to see on exactly how many they will award.

 

[dentalWorks]

DW...is it 120 total for dentists alone, or is that for MD, PA, and all? I was under the impression that MDs got the majority of the scholarships and dentists got like 10 for the past two years, but the number doubled apparently. So, that's where I got my 20 number from. I wish they had some sort of hard numbers for us to see on exactly how many they will award.

120 awards for ALL disciplines (MD/DO/PA/NP/DDS/DMD/etc).

Last year, it was better, 200 awards between 1200 applicants.

 

[whodat4life]

120 awards for ALL disciplines (MD/DO/PA/NP/DDS/DMD/etc).

Last year, it was better, 200 awards between 1200 applicants.

Oh wow...well I guess we can give up on this one then. I just wonder, of the 120 total...how many dental scholarships do they give? I thought they were supposed to increase the number of scholarships this year though. I guess since tuition is spiking like it is, more and more people look at it as an attractive option. I applied and was in the EFN category they supposedly give first preference to, but it looks very far-fetched to believe something will come of it.

 

[dentalWorks]

Oh wow...well I guess we can give up on this one then. I just wonder, of the 120 total...how many dental scholarships do they give? I thought they were supposed to increase the number of scholarships this year though. I guess since tuition is spiking like it is, more and more people look at it as an attractive option. I applied and was in the EFN category they supposedly give first preference to, but it looks very far-fetched to believe something will come of it.

yeh... very low chance anyone will get it. The advantage is, you can apply again next year before 2nd year (it will be 3 year payment, 3 years you work for them), and even before starting 3rd year (2 year payment, 2 year work)... So really, we have 3 attempts lol

But even if the scholarship never happens, just loan-repayment option is VERY attractive:
work 2 years, and they give you 60k (tax free) towards tuition
Then any year you add, its basically 30k.
5 years and its like 170k
6 years and its 100% loan payment (no matter how much)

I called around a few locations in michigan for the loan-repayment (there are currently 20 spots open in Mi)... they normally start new graduates at about 400-450$ a day (or around 90-110k a year). Add to it the 30k towards tuition and thats like your first associate job making 120k-140k (not bad for a new graduate)

 

[whodat4life]

yeh... very low chance anyone will get it. The advantage is, you can apply again next year before 2nd year (it will be 3 year payment, 3 years you work for them), and even before starting 3rd year (2 year payment, 2 year work)... So really, we have 3 attempts lol

But even if the scholarship never happens, just loan-repayment option is VERY attractive:
work 2 years, and they give you 60k (tax free) towards tuition
Then any year you add, its basically 30k.
5 years and its like 170k
6 years and its 100% loan payment (no matter how much)

I called around a few locations in michigan for the loan-repayment (there are currently 20 spots open in Mi)... they normally start new graduates at about 400-450$ a day (or around 90-110k a year). Add to it the 30k towards tuition and thats like your first associate job making 120k-140k (not bad for a new graduate)

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking as well. I will come out of school owing like 350k +/- a few grand. I think it's sort of worth it to go ahead and do the six years if you're in this amount of debt. During those six years, you can get your finances straight while getting fast and getting some experience with no overhead. I can be perfectly happy making ~130k for six years haha. So, if you're going to go ahead and do the six year LR program, you may as well go ahead and let them cover your student loans while you're going to school. In other words, why spend all of your money trying to get ahead when it will be forgiven in six years anyway. I'm looking at being ~36 years old and being debt free with a dental degree, finances in order...house paid for/almost paid for, saving up for a practice, cars paid for, etc...It's definitely a great idea. I wonder how competitive the Loan Repayment program actually is???

 

[dentalWorks]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking as well. I will come out of school owing like 350k +/- a few grand. I think it's sort of worth it to go ahead and do the six years if you're in this amount of debt. During those six years, you can get your finances straight while getting fast and getting some experience with no overhead. I can be perfectly happy making ~130k for six years haha. So, if you're going to go ahead and do the six year LR program, you may as well go ahead and let them cover your student loans while you're going to school. In other words, why spend all of your money trying to get ahead when it will be forgiven in six years anyway. I'm looking at being ~36 years old and being debt free with a dental degree, finances in order...house paid for/almost paid for, saving up for a practice, cars paid for, etc...It's definitely a great idea. I wonder how competitive the Loan Repayment program actually is???

lol, when I called, they thought I was a new graduate dentist, they were begging me to come for the interview "we need people bad... if you know any dentists whom need a job, please let them know". Today, just sounds like a job interview. Maybe in 4-5 years, it change, who knows.

 

[whodat4life]

lol, when I called, they thought I was a new graduate dentist, they were begging me to come for the interview "we need people bad... if you know any dentists whom need a job, please let them know". Today, just sounds like a job interview. Maybe in 4-5 years, it change, who knows.

Oh wow! Well, I guess that's good news for new graduates. I wonder though, if people are having a tough time dealing with them, since they're so in need of people. I've dealt with the government and it's always a pain. I'd think the headache would be worth it though...for 5-6 years to be debt free.

 

[dentalWorks]

Oh wow! Well, I guess that's good news for new graduates. I wonder though, if people are having a tough time dealing with them, since they're so in need of people. I've dealt with the government and it's always a pain. I'd think the headache would be worth it though...for 5-6 years to be debt free.

You can always switch locations if your unhappy. Although, how bad can it be really? Your gonna end up in 1 of 2 idealistic locations:
1) Very heavily dense area with very poor patients (middle of downtown for example) You'll be SWAMPED with patients for 40 hours a week, you probably won't have time to get annoyed lol....
2) Some rural area/village where you'll get alot less patients, but you'll be more on your own (supervising senior dentist isn't always around)

 

[dentalbuzz]

yeh... very low chance anyone will get it. The advantage is, you can apply again next year before 2nd year (it will be 3 year payment, 3 years you work for them), and even before starting 3rd year (2 year payment, 2 year work)... So really, we have 3 attempts lol

But even if the scholarship never happens, just loan-repayment option is VERY attractive:
work 2 years, and they give you 60k (tax free) towards tuition
Then any year you add, its basically 30k.
5 years and its like 170k
6 years and its 100% loan payment (no matter how much)

I called around a few locations in michigan for the loan-repayment (there are currently 20 spots open in Mi)... they normally start new graduates at about 400-450$ a day (or around 90-110k a year). Add to it the 30k towards tuition and thats like your first associate job making 120k-140k (not bad for a new graduate)

Are you sure that they pay ALL of your debt once you have served 6 years? I looked at the website and the info very carefully, and it seems like that is not the case. It says "total debt - 6 or MORE years of service." Then when you click on that link it shows how much you get paid each year of your contract, for the 6th year it lists $30,000. Then it says "total after 6 years of service: $200,000."

To me that means that once you hit the sixth year, your debt could POTENTIALLY be paid off, if you only owe 200k. But I will be graduating with more like 400K, and I couldn't find anything that said they would pay all of your debt no matter how much it is. My impression was that they would allow you to keep serving additional years at $30K each year until you debt is gone...which for me would be a VERY long time.

Let me know if I'm wrong, because I would LOVE to be wrong.

 

[smq123]

I'll try to explain them both to the best of my ability-

NHSC Scholarship-
-you apply before (or during) dental school (serve a year for a year)

-Sites must have to have HPSA score of 19+ for a scholar to qualify

This is a very good explanation. Just to clarify:

* It's a MINIMUM of two years of a service payback. So, even if you get the scholarship for just one year, you still have to serve for two.

* I believe that sites must have a minimum HPSA score of 17, at the present time. Of course, this is subject to change. When I first got the scholarship as a 3rd year med student, I think the minimum score was 15. The following year, they changed it to 17.

Oh wow...well I guess we can give up on this one then. I just wonder, of the 120 total...how many dental scholarships do they give? I thought they were supposed to increase the number of scholarships this year though.

There were rumors a few years back that they were going to cut the number of scholarships, and divert more money into the Loan Repayment Program. It looks like they've done just that - fewer scholarships, but if you do the LRP, they offer SIXTY thousand for 2 years, instead of fifty.

I wonder though, if people are having a tough time dealing with them, since they're so in need of people. I've dealt with the government and it's always a pain. I'd think the headache would be worth it though...for 5-6 years to be debt free.

I can't speak specifically for the Loan Repayment Program, but, holy Jeebus, the NHSC is very very very difficult to work with. They are disorganized. They don't return your calls for weeks at a time. If you email someone with a question, I can almost guarantee that you will be ping-ponged around the organization for a while. I think my NHSC advisor changed twice when I was a student (and I only had the scholarship for 2 years!).

Case in point: I am graduating from residency in 2012. There is a mandatory conference this week for NHSC scholars who will be graduating in the coming year.

So I register for the conference.
I arrange to meet with my advisor.
I register for the job fair.
I reserve a room at the conference hotel.
I reserve a flight and tell the NHSC when I'm landing (twice).

What do I get in my email from the NHSC today? "Dear smq123, we're so sorry that you're not able to make the mandatory conference this week. We wish we could see you there."



<facepalm> Seriously??

 

[dentalWorks]

Are you sure that they pay ALL of your debt once you have served 6 years? I looked at the website and the info very carefully, and it seems like that is not the case. It says "total debt - 6 or MORE years of service." Then when you click on that link it shows how much you get paid each year of your contract, for the 6th year it lists $30,000. Then it says "total after 6 years of service: $200,000."

To me that means that once you hit the sixth year, your debt could POTENTIALLY be paid off, if you only owe 200k. But I will be graduating with more like 400K, and I couldn't find anything that said they would pay all of your debt no matter how much it is. My impression was that they would allow you to keep serving additional years at $30K each year until you debt is gone...which for me would be a VERY long time.

Let me know if I'm wrong, because I would LOVE to be wrong.

I certainly see your point... and you might be right (noooooo)

I was going with their fact sheet from here:
http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/NHSCIHSfactsheet.pdf

Loan Repayment. The NHSC offers loan repayment support with an initial award of up to $60,000 for 2 years of full-time service. After the initial 2-year commitment, providers may be eligible to receive up to $170,000 in loan repayment for completing a 5-year service commitment. With continued service beyond 5 years, providers may be able to pay off all eligible student loans.

I mean...170k of tax-free money towards loans are pretty nice. Only problem is, you need to also put a good portion of your income into the payment as well because of that 6-7% interest.

 

[whodat4life]

This is a great thread, very informative.

@smq123 - thanks so much for your input, those going through with it on the other side of school know what it's truly like. I knew it would be a pain dealing with them, and that's probably the reason that not many people end up going this route.

I wish there was a way you could sign a contract for 4/5/6 years so they would give you that much money upfront. It would be SO GREAT to pay all of that toward principle so the interest doesn't eat you alive. Do y'all get what I'm saying? When you get out of school, sign your contract for X number of years, and they give you the loan repayment money upfront, so your loans aren't accruing MASSIVE interest whilst you're trying to pay them off. I very seriously doubt they do this though, because it would be like they were hosing themselves over, and we ALL know this will never happen with the gov!

 

[floopy]

I mean...170k of tax-free money towards loans are pretty nice. Only problem is, you need to also put a good portion of your income into the payment as well because of that 6-7% interest.

Yes, and the average interest rate is more like 7.5% with $400k or more in debt on graduation day. With $400k debt, a $30,000 loan repayment award from NHSC will barely cover the interest portion of your debt service (on either a 10 or 30 year plan) in the first repayment year. Like you said, you won't make any progress on paying off the principal ($400k) unless you dig into your paycheck using after-tax dollars.

You don't begin to make real progress on your debt until you're 3-4 years into repayment when you get a larger award ($40,000) from NHSC and the amortization table begins to shift in your favor. You can punch the numbers into this calculator to see how this works: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

Now, if you're more than $400k in debt, then a $30,000 award will not be enough to cover the interest portion of the debt. If you don't apply money from your own paycheck towards repayment, then the unpaid interest will be capitalized (added to the principal).

You could go into IBR and make minimum payments until the debt can be written off after 10 years of public service (PSLF). But there's no legal guarantee that PSLF will be available in its current form 15 years from now. You take a huge gamble by relying on it.

 

[whodat4life]

Yes, and the average interest rate is more like 7.5% with $400k or more in debt on graduation day. With $400k debt, a $30,000 loan repayment award from NHSC will barely cover the interest portion of your debt service (on either a 10 or 30 year plan) in the first repayment year. Like you said, you won't make any progress on paying off the principal ($400k) unless you dig into your paycheck using after-tax dollars.

You don't begin to make real progress on your debt until you're 3-4 years into repayment when you get a larger award ($40,000) from NHSC and the amortization table begins to shift in your favor. You can punch the numbers into this calculator to see how this works: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

Now, if you're more than $400k in debt, then a $30,000 award will not be enough to cover the interest portion of the debt. If you don't apply money from your own paycheck towards repayment, then the unpaid interest will be capitalized (added to the principal).

You could go into IBR and make minimum payments until the debt can be written off after 10 years of public service (PSLF). But there's no legal guarantee that PSLF will be available in its current form 15 years from now. You take a huge gamble by relying on it.

I agree with everything you've said. If our government keeps on spending like it is, we will all be screwed. This is nothing more than the government pushing us all into socialized medicine/dentistry. They're making it to where you have no choice but to do public health coming out of school by making tuition prices skyrocket.

 

[dentalWorks]

I agree with everything you've said. If our government keeps on spending like it is, we will all be screwed. This is nothing more than the government pushing us all into socialized medicine/dentistry. They're making it to where you have no choice but to do public health coming out of school by making tuition prices skyrocket.

perhaps thats their answer for the growing undeserved problem. Open up more loan replayment options + jack up tuition + federal interest = force new graduates to take on these undeserved positions.

 

[floopy]

perhaps thats their answer for the growing undeserved problem. Open up more loan replayment options + jack up tuition + federal interest = force new graduates to take on these undeserved positions.

It may be. And for that reason, public interest jobs in dentistry may become more competitive as well. More people are likely to apply for these jobs to take advantage of both the loan repayment and 10 year forgiveness provision. And more dentists are likely to stay in these jobs until they hit the 10-year forgiveness threshold (vs. leaving after a 2-3 years to go into private practice).

The result of this may be lower wages, as a greater supply of dentists would shift the wage scale downward. Another consequence may be that the annual loan repayment awards (e.g. $30k/yr, $40k/yr) are reduced to cover only what you're required to pay under IBR (the cheapest loan repayment plan) and nothing more. So you'd have to commit to public service for the full 10 years in order to get forgiveness. Of course, these possibilities are just pure speculation.

Regarding PSLF, any changes in the law are likely to be made after year 2017, which is when the first group of borrowers (those who began making eligible repayments in 2007) are eligible for forgiveness. Once the government realizes the large amounts being written off, then it may modify the law. And I suspect there will be some changes made for the following reasons:
- write-offs under IBR/PSLF could cost the government/taxpayer more than $500k per student in an extreme case, and $200-$300k in a more reasonable instance. In a severe budget crunch, this could be a tempting target to capture more revenue.
- there is no obligation for the borrower to work in the field in which s/he is trained to work in. Theoretically, you could borrow $400k to get your dental degree, and then work as an administrative assistant at the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles and still qualify for 10-year loan forgiveness under PSLF. Of course, a scenario like this is unlikely to happen, but I think there's a good chance the government would place further restrictions on your employment classification given the large loan balances being forgiven. For dentists that would probably mean working in a dental (or other healthcare capacity).
- As dentalWorks said, IBR/PSLF gives the schools an incentive to jack up tuition, since what the student owes is completely independent of what s/he borrows. Theoretically, a school could set its cost of attendance at $1 million, and the amount the student owed on his/her loans would be the same as what would owed under a $400k COA. That's because IBR is based on your previous year's income, and not the amount you borrowed. So I'd anticipate that the government would either put some type of cost control burden on the schools, or somehow adjust the formula to limit the amount you could have forgiven.

We--the folks planning to graduate in 2015--won't be eligible for forgiveness until 2025, so there is plenty of time for the rules to change in the interim.

I recommend this resource for info on IBR/PSLF.
http://askheatherjarvis.com
I think it's completely free, but in any case I have no affiliation...just a satisfied visitor.

 

[whodat4life]

It may be. And for that reason, public interest jobs in dentistry may become more competitive as well. More people are likely to apply for these jobs to take advantage of both the loan repayment and 10 year forgiveness provision. And more dentists are likely to stay in these jobs until they hit the 10-year forgiveness threshold (vs. leaving after a 2-3 years to go into private practice).

The result of this may be lower wages, as a greater supply of dentists would shift the wage scale downward. Another consequence may be that the annual loan repayment awards (e.g. $30k/yr, $40k/yr) are reduced to cover only what you're required to pay under IBR (the cheapest loan repayment plan) and nothing more. So you'd have to commit to public service for the full 10 years in order to get forgiveness. Of course, these possibilities are just pure speculation.

Regarding PSLF, any changes in the law are likely to be made after year 2017, which is when the first group of borrowers (those who began making eligible repayments in 2007) are eligible for forgiveness. Once the government realizes the large amounts being written off, then it may modify the law. And I suspect there will be some changes made for the following reasons:
- write-offs under IBR/PSLF could cost the government/taxpayer more than $500k per student in an extreme case, and $200-$300k in a more reasonable instance. In a severe budget crunch, this could be a tempting target to capture more revenue.
- there is no obligation for the borrower to work in the field in which s/he is trained to work in. Theoretically, you could borrow $400k to get your dental degree, and then work as an administrative assistant at the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles and still qualify for 10-year loan forgiveness under PSLF. Of course, a scenario like this is unlikely to happen, but I think there's a good chance the government would place further restrictions on your employment classification given the large loan balances being forgiven. For dentists that would probably mean working in a dental (or other healthcare capacity).
- As dentalWorks said, IBR/PSLF gives the schools an incentive to jack up tuition, since what the student owes is completely independent of what s/he borrows. Theoretically, a school could set its cost of attendance at $1 million, and the amount the student owed on his/her loans would be the same as what would owed under a $400k COA. That's because IBR is based on your previous year's income, and not the amount you borrowed. So I'd anticipate that the government would either put some type of cost control burden on the schools, or somehow adjust the formula to limit the amount you could have forgiven.

We--the folks planning to graduate in 2015--won't be eligible for forgiveness until 2025, so there is plenty of time for the rules to change in the interim.

I recommend this resource for info on IBR/PSLF.
http://askheatherjarvis.com
I think it's completely free, but in any case I have no affiliation...just a satisfied visitor.

VERY WELL put...I believe exactly what you're saying as well.

 

[whodat4life]

It may be. And for that reason, public interest jobs in dentistry may become more competitive as well. More people are likely to apply for these jobs to take advantage of both the loan repayment and 10 year forgiveness provision. And more dentists are likely to stay in these jobs until they hit the 10-year forgiveness threshold (vs. leaving after a 2-3 years to go into private practice).

The result of this may be lower wages, as a greater supply of dentists would shift the wage scale downward. Another consequence may be that the annual loan repayment awards (e.g. $30k/yr, $40k/yr) are reduced to cover only what you're required to pay under IBR (the cheapest loan repayment plan) and nothing more. So you'd have to commit to public service for the full 10 years in order to get forgiveness. Of course, these possibilities are just pure speculation.

Regarding PSLF, any changes in the law are likely to be made after year 2017, which is when the first group of borrowers (those who began making eligible repayments in 2007) are eligible for forgiveness. Once the government realizes the large amounts being written off, then it may modify the law. And I suspect there will be some changes made for the following reasons:
- write-offs under IBR/PSLF could cost the government/taxpayer more than $500k per student in an extreme case, and $200-$300k in a more reasonable instance. In a severe budget crunch, this could be a tempting target to capture more revenue.
- there is no obligation for the borrower to work in the field in which s/he is trained to work in. Theoretically, you could borrow $400k to get your dental degree, and then work as an administrative assistant at the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles and still qualify for 10-year loan forgiveness under PSLF. Of course, a scenario like this is unlikely to happen, but I think there's a good chance the government would place further restrictions on your employment classification given the large loan balances being forgiven. For dentists that would probably mean working in a dental (or other healthcare capacity).
- As dentalWorks said, IBR/PSLF gives the schools an incentive to jack up tuition, since what the student owes is completely independent of what s/he borrows. Theoretically, a school could set its cost of attendance at $1 million, and the amount the student owed on his/her loans would be the same as what would owed under a $400k COA. That's because IBR is based on your previous year's income, and not the amount you borrowed. So I'd anticipate that the government would either put some type of cost control burden on the schools, or somehow adjust the formula to limit the amount you could have forgiven.

We--the folks planning to graduate in 2015--won't be eligible for forgiveness until 2025, so there is plenty of time for the rules to change in the interim.

I recommend this resource for info on IBR/PSLF.
http://askheatherjarvis.com
I think it's completely free, but in any case I have no affiliation...just a satisfied visitor.

Thanks so much for this resource as well, very interesting and great to read!

 

[Longcatislong]

Resurrecting this old thread...

I've heard that NHSC is losing funding soon (in 2016?) Has anyone heard this as well or have any information regarding funding for the scholarships or loan forgiveness programs?

 

[cooliyak]

Resurrecting this old thread...

I've heard that NHSC is losing funding soon (in 2016?) Has anyone heard this as well or have any information regarding funding for the scholarships or loan forgiveness programs?

I am a NHSC scholar right now and based on some of the emails that they sent us during the government shutdown, it sounds like as long as the Affordable Care Act is alive and well, so will the funding for the scholarship.