New Student Loan Repayment Opportunities for Community Health Professionals

The MA Repay Student Loan Repayment Program (MA Repay) will open two new initiatives for applications on November 14, offering student loan repayment to community health professionals and addressing critical workforce shortages across Massachusetts.

The first initiative, the MA Repay: MassHealth Primary Care Student Loan Repayment Program, awards primary care professionals up to $100K in student loan repayment if they commit to working full-time in an eligible setting for four years. To be eligible, a setting must be a community-based organization serving at least 40% MassHealth members and/or uninsured individuals. Eligible job roles include primary care physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, pediatric clinical nurse specialists, and physician assistants.

The second initiative, the MA Repay: MassHealth Behavioral Health Student Loan Repayment Program, provides behavioral health professionals up to $300K in student loan repayment if they commit to working full-time in an eligible setting for four years. To be eligible, a setting must serve at least 40% MassHealth members and/or uninsured individuals. Eligible job roles include psychiatrists, nurse practitioners with prescribing privileges, and other licensed behavioral health clinicians.

Community health centers who serve at least 40% MassHealth and/or uninsured patients are eligible settings for both programs.

Managed by the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers in partnership with the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, MA Repay makes essential care more accessible by incentivizing workforce retention. Health care staffing shortages disproportionately burden historically underserved communities, creating barriers to quality and culturally competent care and compounding existing health disparities. MA Repay is designed to target areas where services are needed most. The program is structured to prioritize awarding professionals who treat patients in languages other than English or live or work in an underserved community. By awarding student loan repayment with this focus, the program empowers professionals to pursue careers serving underserved populations.

Since December 2022, MA Repay has launched seven student loan repayment programs, serving a diverse array of direct care professionals across the Commonwealth. The first three programs awarded professionals working in behavioral health, primary care, substance use treatment, and child and adolescent psychiatry. Student loan repayment awards have started being disbursed to these program participants, with over $42 million sent to their loan servicers in August 2024.

Over 350 awardees from the first three programs are employed by community health centers and have committed to, in most cases, four years of service in exchange for the loan repayment award. We are excited to support vital professionals by alleviating their student debt.

If you have any questions, please contact the MA Repay team at (888)201-0583 or ma-repay@massleague.org.