Applicant
Information Bulletin
JUNE
2008
Discrimination
Prohibited
Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states:
“No person in the United States shall,
on the ground of race, color, or national
origin, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected
to discrimination under any program or
activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
as amended, provides that no otherwise
qualified individual with a disability
in the United States shall, solely by
reason of his / her disability, be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits
of, or be subjected to discrimination
under any program or activity receiving
Federal financial assistance.
Title
IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,
as amended, provides that no person in
the United States shall, on the basis
of sex, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected
to discrimination under any program or
activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Title
III of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975,
as amended, provides that no person in
the United States shall, on the basis
of age, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected
to discrimination under any program or
activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Purpose
The Faculty Loan Repayment Program
(FLRP) is authorized by Section 738(a)
of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.
The purpose of the program is to repay
the educational loans of eligible applicants
from disadvantaged backgrounds selected
to be participants in the Loan Repayment
Program.
Under
the FLRP, the Secretary of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) or
his / her designee enters into contracts
with eligible individuals from disadvantaged
backgrounds who agree to serve as faculty
at eligible health professions schools
for a minimum of two years. This program
is designed to increase the number of
faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds
in eligible health profession disciplines,
who act as role models and mentors for
students from similar backgrounds. Hence,
faculty, as used in this section, means
a position that is primarily teaching,
rather than administrative or research.
Administration
The Faculty Loan Repayment Program
(FLRP) award process is administered by
the Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA), Bureau of Clinician Recruitment
and Service (BCRS). HRSA is an agency
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS). Within the BCRS, the
Division of Applications and Awards (DAA),
National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment
Branch (NHSC LRB) administers the FLRP
application and awards process.
Following
receipt of a FLRP award, the Division
of Scholar and Clinician Support, Clinician
Service Support Branch, monitors FLRP
participants while serving their commitment,
reviews and approves or denies requests
for service transfers, and determines
if participants have completed their service
commitment.
Benefits
The FLRP will provide funds to participants
to repay their outstanding qualifying
educational loans. FLRP will pay up to
$20,000 a year in return for a two year
service commitment obligation, based on
the participant’s outstanding balance
of eligible educational loans (the maximum
amount is $40,000 for 2 years).
Participants should also receive matching
funds from their employing educational
institution. All payments made to the
participant must be used to repay the
approved eligible educational loans during
his / her contract period.
In
addition, FLRP participants will receive
a tax liability benefit equal to 39% of
the HHS loan repayment amount.
Applicant:
- To
be eligible to apply, an applicant must:
- Be
from a disadvantaged background
Some schools provide financial or other
assistance to students identified as
being from a "disadvantaged background."
If your undergraduate or graduate school
so identified you, indicate "Yes"
to Question #6 on the application, even
though you may not have actually received
assistance, and enclose a copy of a
statement from a school official certifying
that you were identified as having a
"disadvantaged background."
Documentation must be submitted to confirm
your "disadvantaged background.”
-
Be a citizen or National of the U.S.
Applicants must submit documentation
to verify status as a U.S. citizen or
national (e.g., a copy of a birth certificate,
a certificate of citizenship, passport
or naturalization certificate).
-
Have completed, or be in the final year
of training, in an eligible health profession
An applicant must have a degree in,
be enrolled in the final year of a graduate
training program or be enrolled as a
full-time student in the final year
of study at an accredited school leading
to a degree in one of the following
health professions: Allopathic Medicine;
Osteopathic Medicine; Podiatric Medicine;
Veterinary Medicine; Dentistry; Pharmacy;
Optometry; Nursing (RN only); Public
Health; Behavioral and Mental Health
(graduate level only); Clinical Psychology
(graduate level only); Clinical Social
Work (graduate level only); Marriage
and Family Therapy (graduate level only);
or schools of Allied Health.
-
Have an employment commitment from an
eligible college or university for a
full-time or part-time faculty position
for a minimum of 2 years for the 2008
Fall Term and that Fall Term must start
no later than September 30, 2008
Faculty member duties must primarily
consist of teaching in a classroom;
not research or administrative activities.
An eligible college or university must
be an accredited school of medicine,
osteopathic medicine, dentistry, nursing,
pharmacy, allied health, podiatric medicine,
optometry, veterinary medicine, public
health or a school offering graduate
programs in behavioral or mental health.
-
Have an agreement with the eligible
college or university for equivalent
loan repayment
Each school, unless it has received
a waiver from the HHS awarding agency,
must agree to make loan repayments to
the applicant in an amount equal to
the loan repayments made by HHS. This
amount is in addition to the pay the
individual would otherwise receive as
a faculty member.
-
Be currently repaying eligible undergraduate
and/or graduate health professions educational
loans
-
The date of employment must begin on
or before September 30, 2008
- An
individual is not eligible to participate
if he / she:
- Has
a court judgment lien against his/her
property for a debt owed to the United
States
Debtors with judgment liens for Federal
debts are precluded from receiving Federal
financial assistance under the FLRP
-
Has an existing service obligation that
will not be satisfied on or before June
10, 2008
-
Does not submit an application and all
required supplemental documents
-
Has been excluded or disqualified from
Covered Transactions
The receipt of funding under the FLRP
Program is a “covered transaction” pursuant
to Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) Part 180, as adopted by HHS pursuant
to 2 CFR Part 376. Before entering
into a loan repayment contract, the
applicant is required, under Subpart
C of Part 180, to report certain information,
which is described in the “Certification
Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Disqualification
and Related Matters”. The applicant
should sign the Certification that is
applicable to his / her situation.
Individuals who are currently excluded
(suspended or debarred) or disqualified
by any Federal agency from participating
in covered transactions are ineligible
to receive an award under the FLRP Program.
Individuals with reportable problems
other than exclusion or disqualification
may, or may not, be selected to participate
in the FLRP Program, based on the Program’s
consideration and evaluation of the
applicant’s circumstances.
As a condition of participating in the
FLRP Program, a participant must agree
to comply with the requirements of Subpart
C of Part 180, which include providing
immediate written notice to DAA if the
applicant learns that he/she failed
to make a required disclosure or that
a disclosure is now required due to
changed circumstances.
-
Has been delinquent or Defaulted on
a Federal debt or breached an obligation
for professional service to a Government
Entity
The application includes a certification
that the applicant has not been delinquent
or defaulted on repayment of any Federal
debt or breached a health professional
service obligation to a governmental
entity. A Federal debt includes debts
arising from Federal taxes, Federal
loans, federally guaranteed or insured
loans such as student or home mortgage
loans, an overpayment of Federal benefits
and any other debt owed to the Federal
Government. An applicant is considered
to be delinquent or in default of a
Federal debt if he or she has ever been
more than 31 days past due on a scheduled
payment. Delinquent applicants will
not be selected for FLRP regardless
of circumstances.
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