Oregon Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

When it comes to repaying your student loans, the burden can seem insurmountable. Luckily, though, there are many agencies that help with repayment. One of the most lucrative, however, comes from state agencies that actually provide partial or full loan forgiveness programs. The following are some of the different Oregon student loan forgiveness opportunities you may wish to pursue, if you meet the eligibility requirements. For more general information, check out our guide to student loan forgiveness!

Medicaid Primary Care Program

The Oregon Medicaid Primary Care Loan Repayment Program (OMPCLRP) is a long name for a very lucrative loan repayment opportunity. Individuals who are eligible for this state wide initiative of debt relief must serve as a primary care clinician with a focus on providing care to Medicaid patients. Further, they must not only provide this care, but do so in an often ignored or underserved segment of the Oregon population.

The rules and eligibility can change from year to year, but the current standards include that all individuals meet the following requirements:

• Must meet all standards to be considered a qualifying practitioner
• Must be able and have all licenses to show that they can practice in the state of Oregon
• Must commit to making sure that primary clientele is made up of at least 15% Medicaid recipients
• Must be working and employed at a site deemed qualified by the state

Law Repayment Program

The Oregon State Bar is now offering a program to help those with their loan repayment. Commonly referred to as the LRAP or the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, this is a program aimed at helping to relieve educational debt for those pursuing a degree in public service and specifically, in the law arenas associated with public service. Such careers in this field include public defenders, prosecutors, and others. Individuals who meet all eligibility requirements can receive up to nearly eight-thousand dollars for up to three years for their loan repayment efforts.

To be eligible, all applicants must:

• Meet the qualifying employment standards of the state, which can be found here
• Must be able and licensed to practice law in the state of Oregon
• Do not need to be a resident of the state nor do they have to have attended an Oregon law school but they must meet all contractual obligations to work in the state and be doing so
• Must be under the sixty-five thousand dollar a year salary mark when they initially apply for the loan forgiveness program
• Must carry a debt of at least thirty-five thousand dollars from student loans—in the applicant’s name—at the time of application

Primary Care Providers

When it comes to retaining different professionals in the state, there are many programs that allow individuals the opportunity to be rewarded for their choice of careers. One such program is the Oregon Partnership State Loan Repayment Program. This program was developed to reward those primary care physicians who not only get their degree, but begin working in an underserved area within the restrictions of said state borders. There are several criteria that must be met in order to qualify. The following is a partial list of the major points of eligibility.

• Must be a US citizen
• Must be working in an eligible healthcare site
• Must be a primary care physician
• Must agree to work for a certain amount of years in a position
• Must be an employee and not a volunteer at said location

If all paperwork required and all criteria are met, the individual can get up to nearly forty-thousand dollars in loan relief.

Behavior Health Loan Repayment Program

Also known as the Oregon BHLRP, the Behavior Health Loan Repayment Program is provided to those in the behavioral health field. All applicants must be working in Oregon in a designated underprivileged or underserved area. These include, but are not limited to, designated sites in inner cities, urban areas, and rural communities.

The application rules and regulations for the current year include:

• Must be an unlicensed provider of behavioral health that will receive their degree in a higher education field or master’s degree in the field within under nine months of application
• All students applying must be a US citizen at the time of application
• Loan forgiveness is given to those in a qualifying program including clinical social work, counseling, clinical psychology, psychiatry, professional counseling, and others.

>> Read More: State student loan forgiveness programs