Online applications for the new Nurse Retention Loan Repayment program open this Friday.
The Nurse Retention Loan Repayment Program was created in 2023 by the state legislature to retain new nurses in Mississippi by helping them repay their student loans.
Licensed practical nurses or registered nurses with a current relevant license who are in their first year of employment in a skilled nursing home or general acute care hospital licensed by the Mississippi State Department of Health are eligible to apply. Eligible recipients must also have outstanding postsecondary educational loans.
“The timing of this program could not be better as the three-year payment pause on federal student loans is ending,” Jennifer Rogers, Director of the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid, said. “By choosing to stay and work in Mississippi, recent nursing graduates can have their student loans repaid in return for helping to meet critical workforce needs in the state.”
New nurses who began working full-time for the first time since licensure between March 1, 2022, and June 30, 2022, are encouraged to complete the 2023-24 application. New nurses who started working full-time for the first time since licensure on or after July 1, 2022, should wait to complete the 2024-25 application that will open on October 1.
The annual award will be up to $6,000 per year for a maximum of three years. Awards will not exceed the balance of a student’s outstanding loans.
Awards will be paid annually to the recipient’s lender/loan servicer and will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Early career nurses may apply online here.
