Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP)

Students of the Regis DNP Programs who intend to teach or precept students after graduation may be eligible to apply for this program. Applicants must:

• Be an enrolled MSN-DNP student in the nurse education concentration who intends to teach at an accredited nursing school post-graduation, or enrolled in another DNP concentration at Regis College and intend to precept nursing students full-time upon graduation
• Be a U.S. citizen, national of the U.S, or a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. or its territories
• Maintain good academic standing at the university
• Have no judgment liens entered against him/her based on the default on a federal debt, 28 U.S.C. 3201(e)
• Maintain full-time or part-time enrollment status for a minimum of two terms/semesters during an academic year while receiving the NFLP loan.

NFLP Applications are due before the start of each semester. You will need to be accepted to your academic program before applying for NFLP funding.

To apply, please submit your Curriculum Vitae (CV), and complete the Confirmation of Commitment to nflp@regiscollege.edu.

Once all application materials have been submitted, you will be contacted via email to schedule an interview with the NFLP Program Director.

Approvals are subject to the availability of funds. Once approved, additional documents and a virtual Entrance Counseling session are required.

The NFLP is a loan cancellation program with a service obligation for recipients of the loans. To be eligible for the maximum 85 percent cancellation, the Borrower must agree to serve as full-time nurse faculty at an accredited school of nursing for a four-year period following graduation.

Following graduation, the Borrower must submit the certification of employment form within a reasonable timeframe. Please refer to the Regis College NFLP Administrative Guide for definition of full-time employment.

NFLP borrowers are limited to a 12-month period following graduation from the program to establish employment as full-time nurse faculty at an accredited school of nursing in order to qualify for cancellation. If the borrower does not commence employment or receive an offer of faculty employment within the 12-month period, the borrower will not be eligible for the loan cancellation provision.

Please note that as part of the COVID-19 emergency relief measures, the requirement to obtain full-time nurse faculty employment within 12 months of graduation has been extended from 12 months to 24 months for NFLP beneficiaries with graduation dates during the 2019-2023 academic years" (HRSA, Nurse Faculty Loan Program [NFLP] Administrative Guidelines, Amended 2022).

To receive loan cancellation, the Borrower must be employed full-time as nurse faculty at an accredited school of nursing for a complete year, as defined by the employing school of nursing or 12 consecutive months. The school will cancel an amount up to 85 percent of the loan (plus interest) as follows:

Upon completion by the Borrower of each of the first, second and third year of full-time employment as a faculty member in an accredited school of nursing, the school will cancel 20 percent of the principal and the interest on the unpaid loan balance at the start of employment.

Upon completion by the individual of the fourth year of full-time employment as a faculty member in an accredited school of nursing, the school will cancel 25 percent of the principal and the interest on the unpaid loan balance at the start of employment.

To receive loan cancellation, the Borrower must submit the Request for Partial Cancellation of Loan form to the lending school at the end of each complete year of full-time employment as faculty at a school of nursing.

The beginning of the Borrower’s repayment period may be postponed only if the Borrower is employed full-time as nurse faculty at an accredited school of nursing and will request loan cancellation at the end of each complete year of this employment. To receive postponement of the repayment period, the Borrower must submit a Request for Postponement of Installment Payment form to the lending school 30 days before the end of the 12-month grace period, and annually thereafter. Subsequent requests for postponement must be filed 30 days before the expiration date of the initial request for postponement for each year of employment. If the Borrower ceases to be employed full-time as nurse faculty prior to completion of a year, the postponement ends and the repayment period begins immediately.

The grace period begins immediately following completion of the program, dismissal or voluntary termination as a student for a period of nine (9) consecutive months. During the grace period, repayment of the loan is not required. After the nine month grace period, repayment of the loan begins. Borrowers have 12 months to obtain a full-time nurse faculty position. If the borrower certifies full-time employment as nurse faculty within the 12-month period, repayment can be postponed.

The NFLP loan is repayable in equal or graduated periodic installments (with the right of the Borrower to accelerate repayment) over a 10-year period that begins nine months after the Borrower completes the program, ceases to be enrolled as a student in the advanced nurse education program, or ceases to be employed as full-time nurse faculty.

The NFLP loan will bear interest on the unpaid balance of the loan at:

• The rate of three percent per annum beginning three months after the Borrower graduates from the program, or
• Bear interest on the unpaid balance of the loan at the prevailing market rate if the Borrower fails to complete the advanced nurse education program or when the Borrower fails to establish employment as full-time nurse faculty at accredited school of nursing.
• Borrowers employed as full-time nurse faculty at a school of nursing for a four-year period will bear interest at the rate of three percent for the four-year period and the remaining six years of the “repayment period”.

If the borrower ceases full-time employment as nurse faculty at a school of nursing, the NFLP loan will bear interest at the prevailing market rate.

The Borrower may, at his or her option and without penalty, prepay all or any part of the principal and accrued interest on the loan at any time.

If the Borrower fails to make a scheduled repayment or fails to comply with any other term of the Promissory Note, the entire unpaid balance of the loan, including interest due and accrued and any applicable penalty charges, will, at the option of the school, become immediately due and payable.

NFLP borrowers are eligible for deferment for up to three years,

• When the borrower is ordered to active duty as a member of a uniformed service of the United States (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps, or the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps)
• A borrower who voluntarily joins a uniformed service is not eligible for deferment,
• Nor is a borrower who is employed by one of the uniformed services in a civilian capacity
• When the borrower that graduates and is employed, decides to return to a graduate nursing education program to pursue a doctoral degree to further their preparation as nurse faculty.
• During periods of deferment, interest on the loan continues to accrue at the prevailing market rate but is not required to be paid during this period. During the period of deferment, the borrower may repay the interest if they wish but is not required to do so.

In the event of the Borrower’s total and permanent disability or death, the school will cancel any remaining payments on the Note.

Regis may, in its discretion, place the Borrower’s NFLP loan in forbearance whenever extraordinary circumstances such as poor health or hardship temporarily affect the Borrower’s ability to make scheduled loan repayments.

During periods of forbearance, interest continues to accrue on the unpaid principal balance of the loan.

Administrative forbearance on Nurse Faculty Loan program loans is currently through June 30, 2023.

If an NFLP borrower defaults on the loan, the school must immediately stop the disbursement of the NFLP loan and begin collection on the loan. Default will occur in the following situations:

1. Failure to complete the advanced nurse education program.
2. Loss of the status as a student in good standing, as used by the school for the advanced nurse training program.
3. Failure to become or maintain employment as a full-time faculty member at an accredited school of nursing (“full-time” has the meaning used by the employing school of nursing for its faculty).
4. Failure to provide certification of employment.
5. Failure to make payments as required by the NFLP borrower’s Promissory Note and repayment agreement.
6. If the Borrower fails to comply with any other term of the Promissory Note.

As described during the informational meeting with the NFLP Project Director, this award represents the first of five academic years of funding and ongoing funding is dependent upon annual HRSA competitive grant awards. Your current role as nursing faculty/preceptor positions you as a candidate for these funds, with the understanding that a full-time equivalent nurse educator/preceptor position with an accredited school of nursing will need to be secured after graduation to make you eligible for loan postponement and up to 85% loan cancellation.

Once the award has been made, the student must complete, for each year in which the loan is awarded, a promissory note and entrance counseling. Instructions for these requirements will be sent directly from the loan servicer, Heartland ECSI, to your Regis College email address, to be completed and submitted electronically.

If you are no longer enrolled in the Regis College DNP Program, you are required by Heartland ECSI to complete Exit Counseling for your NFLP loan. Heartland ECSI is our loan servicer for NFLP loans. Heartland ECSI will contact you via email to complete your required Exit Counseling.

Because you did not complete the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at Regis, you are not eligible for the cancellation benefit of the NFLP loan.

Your contact for all matters related to NFLP following Withdrawal will be Student Accounts, student.accounts@regiscollege.edu. Heartland ECSI is where you will make your loan repayments. If you wish to pay this loan off in full, you can do so after completing Exit Counseling with Heartland ECSI.

Heartland ECSI is our loan servicer for NFLP loans. Heartland ECSI will contact you following graduation via email to complete your required Exit Counseling. You are required by HRSA to complete Exit Counseling. The following are the documents that you will complete for annual postponement and loan cancellation:

• Employment Certification Form: Completed at the start of each teaching year to postpone payments and again at the end of each year to request cancellation benefits. You will want to complete and submit this document as soon as you meet the employment qualifications for cancellation.
• Postponement of Installation Payment Form: You will want to complete this and submit it with your Employment Certification Form. This ensures that you will not have a monthly payment due while going through your cancellation.
• Partial Cancellation Form: Completed by your employer at the end of each teaching year. This form is required to receive your cancellation benefit.
• Full time Faculty and/or Full time APRN Preceptors, please refer to Regis College NFLP Administrative Guidelines for definitions of Full Time Employment. APRN Preceptors will need to submit the Collaborative Academic Practice Partnership document for Regis College prior approval before submitting for the postponement/cancellation period.

Because you have graduated from the program, your contact for NFLP will be Student Accounts, student.accounts@regiscollege.edu.

Please review the following resources to connect NFLP graduates with employment opportunities:

• Health Workforce Connector
• Bureau of Health Workforce’s Virtual Job Fairs