Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL)

Students seeking a degree in a health profession may qualify for the Health Professions Student Loans program. These types of student loans are awarded by the school that you wish to attend. Students that qualify need to be considered to be in financial need. To get a Health Professions Student Loan, your degree needs to be in veterinary medicine, optometry, dentistry, pharmacy or podiatric medicine. Funds are available to schools offering these degrees from the federal government and you may qualify for student loans through one of these schools. Remember, the government has a goal here. They want more physicians and health care providers in our country. They want to help and if you can meet certain criteria, then you could be on your way to medical school.

There are a few criteria that you need to meet in order to qualify for a Health Professions Student Loan. First, you must be a citizen of the United States or one of its territories. Second, you have to be accepted into the school medical program. This acceptance depends on your application, grades and possibly recommendations from past teachers. If you do not keep your grades up while participating in the HPSL program, then the school is obligated to take your funding away. This program is designated for students who show enough potential to be successful in medical school, graduate, then go on to make enough money to pay it back. This is generally what happens, and that is why the HPSL has such good terms for repayment of the loan monies received.

Your financial needs are investigated before you can be awarded an HPSL. The family’s finances and contributions are considered unless you are a graduate student or are deemed independent. Amounts awarded are adjusted for other forms of financial aid received.

The payoff terms of the HPSL are at a fixed, low interest rate. The HPSL can have better terms than other types of loans and student aid because of the future earning potential of the students. This makes the loan less of a risk for the lender. Interest does not accumulate when you are enrolled as a full-time student. There is also a one year grace period when interest is not accumulating. The one year grace period covers you for payments and interest if you graduate or withdraw. It also covers you for a year if you drop down to part-time. You can have up to ten years total to repay the Health Professions Student Loan monies.

If you do not qualify or have maxed out the amount of financial aid that you can receive from your school, you should consider private student loans from a lender. Web sites such as www.student-loans.net offer you many choices of lenders and lots of valuable information when selecting the private student loans that may be right for you.