Maryland Higher Education Commission

June 2007 Press Release

 

 

 

APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED FOR LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM

$1.8 million available to help teachers, nurses, nurse faculty
and other professions pay back college loans

 

Annapolis, MD (June 27, 2007) – The Maryland Higher Education Commission is accepting applications for a loan repayment program aimed at encouraging nurses, nurse faculty and teachers to work in certain areas and fields in Maryland.

Through the Janet L. Hoffman Loan Assistance Repayment Program, qualified applicants may receive up to $10,000 annually to repay educational loans. In addition to nursing and teaching, individuals employed in the following fields may apply:

• Lawyers (judicial clerks in any court and policy analysts are not eligible; principle part of the position must provide legal services to low-income residents in Maryland who cannot afford legal services)

• Nurses (degree- or diploma-holding registered nurses; school nurses are not eligible)

• Nurse Faculty Members

• Physical and Occupational Therapists

• Social Workers (either a bachelor’s or master’s degree in social work)

• Speech Pathologists

• Physician Assistants

• Teachers at any level or subject field who teach in schools designated as Federal Title I or Schools Identified for Improvement by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). The official list of schools is available at the bottom of the LARP program description page on our website at www.mhec.state.md.us. Head Start Programs are not eligible.

• Teachers with the following areas of certification:

• technology education (secondary);

• chemistry (secondary);

• computer science (secondary);

• English for Speakers of other Languages-ESOL (elementary & secondary);

• health occupations (secondary);

• Latin (secondary);

• mathematics (secondary);

• physics (secondary);

• earth/space science (secondary);

• physical science (secondary);

• dance (elementary and secondary);

• reading specialist (elementary & secondary);

• speech language pathology (educational service area);

• Spanish (secondary); and

• Special education: generic - infant to grade 3; grades 1 through 8; grades 6 to adult; hearing impaired; severely & profoundly disabled; visually impaired.

With the exception of nurse faculty, an applicant’s annual gross income cannot exceed $60,000, or $130,000 if married. To address the severe shortage of nursing faculty, the income limitation for this group has been set higher. For nurse faculty applicants, the annual gross income may not exceed $75,000 for an individual, or $160,000 if married.

Eligible teachers must have graduated from a Maryland college and be employed full time at a Maryland public school designated as a Federal Title I school or a school identified for improvement by the Maryland State Department of Education.

Additionally, teachers in certain subject shortage fields, listed above, at any Maryland public school may also be eligible.

Eligible nurses must have graduated from a Maryland college and be employed full time (at least 35 hours per week) as a nurse or a nurse faculty member in Maryland. Nurses may be employed at a licensed hospital, a public health agency, nursing home, home health agency, or adult day care center that is authorized by the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene; or a higher education institution in Maryland.

The Janet L. Hoffman Loan Assistance Repayment Program, named in honor of a lobbyist and longtime supporter of Baltimore City in the State Legislature, is designed to attract qualified individuals to government and the non-profit sector. The program particularly targets areas in which there are critical manpower shortages in the State and lower salaries than in the private sector.

The Maryland Higher Education Commission awards more than $109 million in State financial aid annually and is Maryland's higher education coordinating board responsible for establishing statewide policies for Maryland public and independent colleges and universities and for private career schools.

The application and lists of eligible schools and shortage fields are available on the MHEC Web site at www.mhec.state.md.us under the section “Financial Aid Applications.” The deadline to apply is September 30, 2007.