Due to a shortage of nurses and lack of instructors to staff courses teaching nursing in Illinois, an incentive program has been designed to encourage longevity and career change opportunities. The Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program is intended to pay eligible loans to add an incentive to nurse educators to maintain their teaching careers within Illinois.
Assistance under this program may be received for up to a maximum of 4 years. The assistance cannot exceed the outstanding balance of the eligible loan(s) or $5,000.00, whichever is less. Eligible educational loans include stafford loans, Graduate PLUS loans, consolidation loans, nursing student loans, Supplemental Loans for Students, alterative loans and other types of government and institutional loans used for nursing expenses.
Proceeds will be remitted directly to the holder/service/lender of the loan(s) to be repaid.
The total 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 (collegezone.com).
Eligibility Requirements
- You must be a United States Citizen or eligible noncitizen;
- You must be a resident of Illinois:
- You must have an outstanding balance due on an eligible educational loan:
- You must be a nurse educator who meets licensing requirements of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation;
- You must be a recipient who has worked as a nurse educator instructing practical or professional nurses in an approved Illinois institution for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the date of your application. A link to the approved Illinois institutions may be obtained at ISAC’s web site collegezone.com in the Student Zone.
- You must be an applicant who is not in default on a federal guaranteed educational loan nor owes a refund on a grant or scholarship administered by ISAC.
Required documentation:
- A letter from your employer verifying that you worked as a nurse educator instructing practical or professional nurses in an approved Illinois institution for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the date of 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 you are a prior recipient, a copy of the payment history from the last institution(s) to which the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment proceeds were paid. You must clearly identify the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Transaction.
