Program Description

The Veterans' Home Nurse Loan Repayment Program provides for the payment of eligible educational loans as an incentive for nurses to pursue and continue their careers at State of Illinois veterans' homes. The annual award to qualified registered professional nurses and licensed practical nurses may be up to $5,000 (based on the borrower’s remaining balance on eligible educational loans) to repay their student loan debt. This award may be received for up to a maximum of four years.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for the Veterans’ Home Nurse Loan Repayment Program, applicants must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen;
• Be an Illinois resident; 
• Have an outstanding balance due 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 who meets licensing requirements of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation; 
• Be a nurse who has completed the prescribed employment probationary period and whose employment is in good standing as determined by the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs
• For each year during which an award is received, fulfill a separate 12 month period as a registered professional nurse or licensed practical nurse in an approved State of Illinois veterans' home (approved veterans' homes for purposes of this program are located in Anna, LaSalle, Manteno and Quincy, Illinois); 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

The number of awards each year is contingent on available funding. If funding is insufficient to pay all eligible applicants, awarding will be based on the date the complete application, with all required documentation, is received in ISAC’s Deerfield office.

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

All applicants should review the General Information and Instructions and the Eligibility Requirements sections on the second page of the application before signing the Borrower’s Loan Repayment Request and Certification in Section 2. The administrator of the veterans’ home where the applicant is employed must complete Section 3. The following required document must be submitted with the completed 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 Veterans’ Home Nurse Loan Repayment proceeds were paid. The Veterans’ Home Nurse 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.

Return the completed original application and required documentation to:

Illinois Student Assistance Commission
Attention: Compliance G4
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 in multiple disbursements directly to the holder of the loan(s) to be repaid.

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