The School of Nursing currently participates in a federal loan program called the Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP). It is important to note that NFLP funding is approved on a term by term basis. It is also subject to availability and the Federal Health Resources & Services Administrations (HRSA) continued approval of NFLP funding to the UMSN.
Program Details
The loan is available to DNP graduate nursing students (DNP graduates only) via application/selection which is available to help cover the cost of tuition/fees and books. Qualifying students should have a strong interest in becoming a future nursing faculty member in an academic or clinical setting. Loan forgiveness up to 85% is available for those students who secure a full time teaching position within 12 months of graduation. Following graduation, institutions may cancel up to 85 percent of the total loan(s) principal and interest in exchange for the NFLP student borrowers’ service as a full- time nursing faculty or clinical preceptor at an accredited school of nursing. A partial percentage of the total NFLP loan(s) is canceled each year over a four-year period. The borrower must serve as full-time nurse faculty for a consecutive four-year period (20%-year 1, 20%-year 2, 20%-year 3 and 25%-year 4) at a school of nursing following graduation from the program to cancel the maximum amount of the loan.
NFLP loans will be made available to eligible students for the cost of tuition, fees, books, lab expenses, and other reasonable education expenses. Please note that NFLP loans do not include stipend support (i.e. living expenses, student transportation cost, room/board, personal expenses, or childcare costs). An NFLP loan may not exceed $35,500 per student for any academic year, not to exceed 5 years support to a student.
Eligibility
1. Citizenship Status-Student borrowers who receive support from the NFLP must be a citizen or national of the United States, or a lawful permanent resident of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Individuals on temporary student visas are not eligible under this funding opportunity.
2. Enrollment Status-Students who receive a NFLP loan must be enrolled in a minimum of 4 credits in a given semester and must maintain enrollment for a minimum of 2 consecutive terms/semesters (either full-time or part-time) during an academic year.
3. Enrollment Beyond 2 Semesters/Terms – Students may receive NFLP support for enrollment beyond 2 terms/semesters during the academic year (i.e. summer session).
4. Enrollment During Scholarly Project – Students must have prior participation in the NFLP to receive support during the scholarly project phase and must complete the specified education component(s) before graduation from the program of study.
5. Enrollment During Last Year of Program – NFLP students enrolled in the last year of the program are not required to enroll for 2 terms if the program requirements are met (i.e. the NFLP recipient may receive support in the Fall (or one semester) to complete the degree).
6. Enrollment Beyond Five Years of NFLP Support – NFLP loan recipients enrolled beyond five years to complete and graduate from a master’s or doctoral nursing degree program are eligible for extended NFLP enrollment status. After graduation from the program, loan recipients are eligible for partial loan cancellation upon full-time employment as nurse faculty at an accredited school of nursing.
7. Post-Doctoral Program Enrollment – NFLP loan recipients who graduate and participate in post-doctoral programs are eligible for extended NFLP enrollment status for a maximum period of 18 months following graduation from the doctoral degree program. After completion of the post-doctoral program, loan recipients are eligible for loan cancellation upon full-time employment as nurse faculty at an accredited school of nursing.
8. Academic Status-The student must be in good academic standing, as defined by the school, and capable, in the opinion of the school, of maintaining good academic standing in the course of study. If an NFLP borrower ceases to be a student in good academic standing, the school must stop disbursement of the NFLP loan.
9. Before applying, the student must have successfully passed Advanced Pharmacology NSC 504 and Pathophysiology NSC 503.
Additional Requirements:
In addition to completing the on-line application, NFLP borrowers are required to meet with the SON Graduate Advisors, where they will review program requirements and complete the NFLP Letter of Commitment. The graduate advisor will forward the loan recipient’s fully executed NFLP Letter of Commitment to the UM Financial Aid Office for processing. This requirement must be completed prior to receiving NFLP funding each term. Please note that you must submit the online application and meet with a graduate advisor in order for your application to be considered.
Nurse Faculty Full-Time Employment Requirement after Graduation:
For the purpose of the NFLP, the institution, which provided NFLP support to a borrower, makes the determination about meeting the full-time employment requirement. This may include one of the following criteria:
1. Employment as a full-time faculty member at an accredited school of nursing
2. Employment as a part-time faculty member at an accredited school of nursing in combination with another part-time faculty position or part-time clinical preceptor/educator position affiliated with an accredited school of nursing that together equates to full-time employment
3. Designation of nurse faculty in a joint nurse faculty appointment serving as full-time advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) preceptor for an accredited school of nursing, within an academic-practice partnership framework. Example:
- 1 Full-time Faculty position (tenure or non-tenure track) = 1 Full-time employment status.
- 1 Part-time faculty position (adjunct faculty/clinical instructor/part-time faculty) + 1 Part-time faculty position = 1 Full-time employment status.
- 1 Part-time faculty position + 1 Clinical educator position (clinical educator, clinical preceptor) = 1 Full-time employment status.
- 1 Full-time APRN preceptor designated as (joint) faculty (within an academic-practice partnership framework) = 1 Full-time employment status.
Joint Nurse Faculty RequirementsJoint nurse faculty appointments involve practicing as both clinician and nurse faculty with mutually established responsibilities in both the academic institution and practice entity. APRNs may be assigned a joint nurse faculty appointment for serving as preceptors for APRN students in an affiliated school of nursing, while maintaining their primary staff appointment. For the purpose of NFLP, a graduate who is designated as nurse faculty (a joint nurse faculty appointment) serving as an APRN student preceptor in a full- time capacity, qualifies for loan cancellation. The joint nurse faculty appointment can be designated to the NFLP graduate who holds a primary appointment as a practicing APRN for a health care entity, and who agrees to, and is qualified to precept APRN students. In this role, the APRN nurse faculty preceptor serves as faculty to teach APRN students and provide the students with quality real-life learning experiences, role development in the clinical setting, and the opportunity to be mentored in a collaborative interprofessional clinical environment.
NFLP recipients who chose to teach UMF SON students must:Complete a signed MOU between the SON and the clinical agency prior to the forgiveness year commencement.
Precept students over an academic cancellation year is determined by the ratio of time spent as faculty in the academic setting and as a preceptor in the clinical setting to total a full time faculty equivalent. Example:
A NFLP recipient who works 50% as a preceptor and 50% in the academic setting will be considered to have completed one full time equivalent. In this example, the NFLP recipient would teach the equivalent of 0.5 FTE (50% effort over at least 2 semesters per academic year) plus precepts the equivalent of 448 hours.
Metric to achieve 1 FTE (over 9-12 months)
Precept at least four years to satisfy faculty obligation (loan forgiveness).
The official HRSA document can be found here
Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) Administrative Guidelines 2022 