Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program

Program Overview

In an effort to address the shortage of nurses and the lack of instructors to staff courses teaching nursing in Illinois, the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program encourages longevity and career change opportunities. The program is intended as an incentive to nurse educators to maintain their teaching careers within the State of Illinois. The annual awards to qualified nurse educators may be up to $5,000 (based on the borrower’s remaining balance on eligible educational loans) to repay their student loan debt, and may be received for up to a maximum of four years.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program, an applicant must:

• be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen;
• be an Illinois resident;  
• have an outstanding balance on an eligible educational loan (includes Stafford Loans, Graduate PLUS loans, consolidation loans, nursing student loans, Supplemental Loans for Students, alternative loans, and other types of government and institutional loans used for nursing education expenses);
• be a nurse educator who meets licensing requirements of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation;
• have worked as a nurse educator instructing practical or professional nurses in an approved Illinois institution for at least the past 12 consecutive months prior to the date of each application for this program; and
• not be in default on any federal guaranteed educational loan, nor owe a refund on any scholarship or grant program administered by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC).

Application Procedures

All applicants must submit a complete Nurse Educator Loan Repayment application to ISAC each academic year. The Nurse Educator Loan Repayment application is available to print from College Zone and at all Illinois approved institutions that have practical or professional nursing programs.

Applicants must complete all sections of the application and include the following documentation listed in section 3.

• A letter from the employer verifying that the applicant worked as a nurse educator instructing practical or professional nurses in an approved Illinois institution for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the date of this application
• A copy of the statement from the institution(s) currently holding the eligible loan(s) that shows the outstanding balance on the account to which these proceeds are to be applied 
• If the applicant is a prior recipient, a copy of the payment history from the last institution(s) to which the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment proceeds were paid. The Nurse Educator Loan Repayment payment transaction must be clearly identified

If the application is incomplete, a letter will be sent to the applicant to request the missing information. Processing cannot take place prior to the date a complete application is received in ISAC's Deerfield office. 

Renewal applicants must submit an application each year, and may also be required to submit a history of prior awards in order to demonstrate that program proceeds were used for eligible educational loans.

The Nurse Educator Loan Repayment application and required documentation are to be returned to:

Compliance, G4
Illinois Student Assistance Commission
1755 Lake Cook Road
Deerfield, IL 

Award Determination and Payment

Recipients are selected from among qualified new and renewal applicants. The total number of awards each year is contingent upon available funding. If funding in any given year is insufficient to pay all eligible applicants, awarding will be based on the date the complete application (with all required documentation) is received at ISAC's Deerfield office. Preference may be given to renewal applicants provided that the recipient continues to meet the eligibility requirements.

The award amount is based on the applicant's remaining balance on eligible education loans, not to exceed $5,000 per year.  Proceeds will be remitted directly to the holder/servicer/lender of the loan(s) to be repaid.

Approved Illinois Institutions

In order to qualify for this program, an applicant must have worked as a nurse educator instructing practical or professional nurses in an approved Illinois institution for at least the past 12 consecutive months prior to the date of each application.

Return to Top