NIH Loan Repayment Programs

National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) can repay up to $50,000 of qualified student loan debt per year, including most undergraduate, graduate, medical, dental and veterinary school loans for health professionals pursuing careers in clinical, pediatric, contraception and infertility, or health disparities research, and for clinical researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds. The 2023 application cycle opened September 1, 2023.

Additional information about the NIH Loan Repayment Programs may be found on the NIH page and the Instruction Guide for Extramural LRP Applicants.

 

Eligibility Criteria

  • Possess a doctoral-level degree (e.g. M.D., Ph.D.)
  • Conduct qualifying research supported by a domestic non-profit foundation (e.g., universities), non-profit, professional association or other non-profit institution
  • Possess educational loan debt equal to at least 20% of institutional base salary
  • Conduct research for an average of 20 hours per week
  • Possess educational loan debt equal to at least 20% of institutional base salary
  • Conduct research for an average of 20 hours per week
  • Be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or permanent resident

Note: Recipients of a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) support from an individual postdoctoral fellowship (F32) or an institutional research training grant (T32) are eligible for loan repayment. However, NRSA recipients must be granted a formal extension of the NRSA service payback in order to be eligible for LRP participation during their second year of NRSA support.

 

Application Guidelines

 

Submission Process

These programs require electronic submission through ASSIST. An eRA Commons ID is required to start or submit an LRP application. If you need an eRA Commons ID, submit an ERA Help Ticket. When you are in ASSIST, click Go for the Initiate LRP option to start or access your LRP application.

The applicant must list the name and email address of the Institutional Business Official (IBO). Although submission to OSP is not required, please list Elena Mota and corresponding email evmota@austin.utexas.edu as the IBO. Listing a different email address may delay processing of the LRP application.

 

Post-Submission Certification

After the applicant has submitted the electronic application, OSP will receive an email request from NIH to certify the following:

  • Applicant’s institutional base salary
  • Applicant’s engagement in qualified research for an average of at least 20 hours per week
  • Applicant’s receipt of the necessary time and resources to engage in the named research project for two years from the date a Loan Repayment Program contract is executed
  • That the research is not prohibited by federal law
  • Applicant’s citizenship

In order for OSP to certify this information, the department must provide to OSP an email from the applicant’s Department Chairman certifying this information is correct. Please use this template for the upcoming application cycle.

For questions, contact the Office of Sponsored Projects at osp@austin.utexas.edu.

NIH Loan Repayment