Nurse Faculty Loan Program for Graduate Students

Nurse Faculty Loan Program

The purpose of the Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) is to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty to facilitate education of the nurses needed to address the nursing workforce shortage.  Find more information about NFLP here. 

The University of Massachusetts Amherst Elaine Marieb College of Nursing makes loans from a fund made possible by a grant from the Federal Government to assist registered nurses in completing their graduate education to become qualified nurse faculty. The program offers partial loan forgiveness for borrowers who graduate and serve as full-time nursing faculty for the prescribed period of time. Loan recipients may cancel 85% of the loan over four years in return for serving full-time as faculty in any accredited school of nursing. Loans are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis with priority given to prior recipients and full-time students.

NFLP loans may be used for the cost of tuition, fees, books, lab expenses, and other reasonable education expenses. Courses taken at institutions other than UMass Amherst are not covered by NFLP.

An NFLP loan may not exceed $40,000 per student per year, for no more than 5 years per student.

Note: Amounts awarded with no corresponding tuition and fees will not be distributed. (For example, if your plan contains summer courses, but you are not enrolled for that summer, those funds will not be disbursed to your account.)

NFLP Eligibility

Students of the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing who are enrolled in our DNP or PhD degree programs as well as our MS in Nursing Education are eligible to apply to the Nurse Faculty Loan Program if they meet the following criteria:

  1. Must be willing to commit to a full-time teaching position with an accredited nursing program within an educational institution after graduation
  2. Must be a U.S. citizen or national of the U.S., or a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. or its territories
  3. Must be enrolled full-time or part-time in one of our PhD, DNP, or MS in Nursing Education programs as of July 1 of the award year (or application closing date, whichever is later)
  4. Must maintain full-time or part-time enrollment status for a minimum of two terms/semesters during an academic year while receiving the NFLP loan
  5. Must be in good academic standing in an advanced nurse education program at the College
  6. Must have no judgment liens entered against them due to defaulting on a federal debt, 28 U.S.C. 3201(e)
  7. Must complete at least one of the following courses as part of their program of study:
    1. N603-Theoretical Components
    2. N642-Teaching in Nursing
    3. N641-Curriculum Development & Evaluation
    4. N698T-Teaching in Nursing Practicum
    5. EDUC692K-Foundations and Theories of Learning (elective)
    6. EDUC692R-Introduction to College Teaching (elective)

Loans are made on a first-come, first-served basis. Please apply early. Former NFLP recipients at the UMass Amherst Elaine Marieb College of Nursing receive priority.

Applications are due by August 15. Please contact NFLP [at] nursing [dot] umass [dot] edu (NFLP[at]nursing[dot]umass[dot]edu) with any questions.