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NIH Loan Repayment Programs 2021

 

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is accepting new and renewal applications for its Loan Repayment Programs that provide support to health professionals pursuing careers in biomedical and behavioral research. The application cycle is September 1, 2021 – November 18, 2021. In order to complete your application by the deadline, the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) requires a completed UNC Loan Repayment Program (LRP) Certification Form be submitted to our office by November 12 to certify your application.

NIH can repay up to $50,000 a year of qualified educational debt via six (6) extramural programs:

  • Clinical Research
  • Pediatric Research
  • Health Disparities Research
  • Contraception and Infertility Research
  • Clinical Research for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
  • *New* Research in Emerging Areas Critical to Human Health (REACH)

Criteria of the Extramural Programs:

Eligibility

  • Citizenship: applicants must be U.S. citizens (or U.S. national or permanent resident status)
  • Qualifying Degree: Applicant must have an M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D., Psy.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., O.D., D.V.M., or equivalent doctoral-level degree from an accredited institution
  • Qualifying Educational Debt: The sum of your educational debt must equal at least 20% of your base salary from the institution supporting your research
  • Qualifying Research: Applicant must commit at least two (2) years to conduct qualified research funded by a domestic nonprofit organization or U.S. federal, state or local government entity
  • Domestic, nonprofit research funding – Your research must be supported by a domestic, nonprofit foundation, university, professional association, or other nonprofit institution, or a U.S. government agency (Federal, State, or local). A domestic foundation, professional association, or institution is considered to be nonprofit if it is exempt from Federal tax under the provisions of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501). NIH grants and university salaries are considered eligible funding. Your employment must be with a domestic, nonprofit institution

Refer to the NIH Loan Repayment Eligibility webpage for further guidance.

Other Considerations

  • Applicants may only submit one (1) LRP application to one (1) program per NIH fiscal year
  • Applicants must devote > 50% effort to research for two (2) years (for new applicants) or one (1) to two (2) years (for renewals)
  • Applicants who have no federal judgment liens against their property arising from a federal debt, even if the judgment is paid-in-full or satisfied
  • Up to $50,000 of qualified student loan debt (including most undergraduate, graduate, and medical school loans) may be supported annually
  • The loan is in addition to the institutional salary received for research
  • Applications must be submitted no later than the last day of the submission deadline via the LRP online site by 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time Zone)

Refer to the NIH Loan Repayment 2021-2022 Application Guide or FAQ webpage for further guidance.

UNC Submission Process:

  • Applicants should complete the LRP application online
  • Applicants should choose Amanda Chang as the Institutional Business Official using ResAdminOSR@unc.edu as the email address.

    Amanda’s eRA commons ID is AMANDA_CHANG.

  • Applicants should complete and obtain department signatures on the UNC LRP Certification Form and submit it by email to ResAdminOSR@unc.edu
  • Once the form is received and reviewed, OSR will certify the applicant’s information in the LRP system

Complete the UNC Loan Repayment Program Certification Form:

The UNC LRP Certification Form does not open in a web browser. Clicking the link will automatically save the form to your computer’s Download folder where you can open it using Adobe.

  • Current Institutional Base Salary is required
  • Department Chair & Business Manager signature is required
  • Department Contact Name and e-mail address are required
  • UNC LRP Certification Form is due to OSR (ResAdminOSR@unc.edu) by Friday, November 12, 2021

REMINDER: The LRP online application is incomplete unless certified by UNC’s institutional business official. If an applicant for your department has already submitted their application for the program, this form will still need to be completed and returned to OSR to finalize the certification process in the LRP system.

 

Please direct all questions regarding the NIH LRP to ResAdminOSR@unc.edu.

 
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