Four ways to find freedom from your student loans with a VA career

Planning for the future can be challenging when you’re carrying around student loans. For many of us, it can take years—if not decades—to pay off the debt that helped us get the education we needed to pursue the careers we want.

At VA, we understand the burden that student loans place on you and offer several programs that can provide loan repayment and debt forgiveness. In exchange, you’ll join our team and learn what it means to serve the greatest patients in all of health care—Veterans!

Education Debt Reduction Program

One of the most comprehensive education support programs in the nation, VA’s Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) has helped more than 20,000 of our employees repay their student loans faster.

EDRP offers loan repayment to those working in some of our hardest-to-fill direct patient care positions. For physicians, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, social workers, psychologists and more, EDRP provides up to $40,000 a year—or $200,000 over a five-year period.

These funds are tax-free and, unlike some of our other programs, do not require a mandatory service agreement. If you choose to leave VA before your five years are up, you don’t have to pay back any of the funds you have received.

Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program

Another program that focuses on needed medical specialties within VA is the Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program (SELRP).

If you are a budding physician who has chosen to specialize in family medicine, geriatric medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, urology, emergency medicine and gastroenterology, we want to entice you to join our team. However, other specialties may be considered based on current and projected needs.

As one of the those qualifying physicians, SELRP provides a loan repayment offer of $40,000 each year, up to a maximum of $160,000 over four years. In return, you agree to practice at a VA facility, working in a full-time position for 12 months for each $40,000 of loan repayment, with a minimum commitment of 24 months.

Student Loan Repayment Program

Through the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP), some employees may be eligible for up to $60,000 in debt repayment assistance.

This federal program allows agencies like VA to repay federally insured student loans. Consider it a recruitment incentive for new employees, or encouragement to stay on in your current position.

If you elect to receive this benefit, you will be asked to sign a service agreement establishing your intent to remain with our team for at least three years.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

By cancelling loans after 10 years of public service, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program removes the burden of student debt and entices people to work in high-need fields. New and existing VA workers with federal student loans may be eligible for this national loan forgiveness program.

The PSLF program forgives your remaining loan balance after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying student loan repayment plan while working full-time for certain employers, like VA.

If you are interested in exploring this program, you are encouraged to apply quickly, as the deadline to do so under temporary expanded eligibility requirements is Oct. 31, 2022.

Work at VA

Let us help you shoulder the weight of your student loans and offer you a career of service like no other.

• LEARN more about VA’s loan repayment opportunities.
• READ about how we value education and development.
• EXPLORE the other benefits of a VA career.
• FIND an opportunity near you at VACareers.va.gov.