New loan repayment program to draw physicians, dentists to central Texas

posted 09.13.12

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has launched a new student loan repayment program, supported entirely by a grant from the St. David’s Foundation. The purpose of the St. David’s Foundation Central Texas Loan Repayment Program is to recruit and retain qualified physicians, dentists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in the five-county area served by the Foundation: Bastrop, Caldwell, Hayes, Travis, and Williamson counties.

To qualify, eligible providers must agree to provide four years of service at an approved practice site, with the understanding that they will be released from the agreement if grant funding is not continued after the first year of service. The loan repayment awards will be for the amount required to repay the providers’ student loans over a period of four years, for a maximum of $30,000 annually, in the case of physicians and dentists, and for a maximum of $15,000 annually, for physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

Funding priority will be given to physicians and dentists, with preference for new hires and/or providers who completed training within the past two years, and bilingual providers with preference for languages of the underserved populations such as Spanish and Vietnamese. The priority application deadline is October 1, 2012. Applications received after that date will be reviewed on a first-come-first-served basis, as long as funds are available.

Find more information on eligibility requirements for providers and practice sites, and download the application for enrollment and the service agreement on the program web page, www.thecb.state.tx.us/lrp.