National Health Service Corps Scholarship
Website: National Health Service Corps Scholarship
Description
The National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program (NHSC SP) awards scholarships to students pursuing eligible primary care health professions training.
In return, scholars commit to provide primary care health services in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs).
How much support can I receive?
You commit to a minimum two years of full-time service in exchange for a full year of scholarship support.
You must serve at an NHSC-approved site in a HPSA. The total number of years you serve will depend on the number of school years of NHSC SP support you received. (This cannot exceed four school years.)
What are the benefits of becoming an NHSC scholar?
- Service
You will join thousands of current and former NHSC clinicians who provide primary healthcare services to communities in need. - Payment of Educational Expenses
We provide financial support for full-time enrollment in an eligible primary care health professions degree training program for up to four school years:- Payment of tuition and eligible fees;
- An annual payment for other reasonable educational costs (PDF - 311 KB); and
- Monthly stipends to assist with living expenses while pursuing your health professions degree educational training program.
- NHSC Loan Repayment Program Eligibility
You may be eligible to apply to the NHSC Loan Repayment Program (NHSC LRP) once you complete your NHSC SP service commitment.
Find out how to transition from the NHSC SP to the NHSC LRP.
Am I eligible for the NHSC Scholarship Program?
You must be a student pursuing primary care health professions training.
Find out if you meet our eligibility requirements.
Eligibility
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To be eligible for an NHSC scholarship, you must be:
A United States (U.S.) citizen (U.S. born or naturalized) or U.S. national
- Acceptable forms of proof:
- Birth certificate issued by a city, county, or state agency in the United States:
- Identification page of a valid U.S. passport; or
- Certificate of citizenship or naturalization.
- Unacceptable forms of proof:
- A permanent resident card;
- Driver's license;
- Marriage certificate; or
- Social security card
Enrolled as a full-time student (or accepted for enrollment)
For the 2021-2022 school year, we will only consider scholarship awards for students with classes that begin on or before September 30, 2021.
You are a full-time student if you are enrolled for a sufficient number of credit hours in any academic term to complete the course of study within the number of academic terms normally required at your school.
We don't count courses which aren't required or related to your qualifying degree program towards the hours required for full-time status.
Attending—or accepted to attend—an accredited school or program in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), or a U.S. territory
U.S. territories include:
- Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
- Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Guam
- American Samoa
- Republic of Palau
- Republic of the Marshall Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
In an eligible discipline
- Acceptable forms of proof:
- senior
- graduate
- US Citizen
Procedure
Get details and apply online at https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/scholarships/how-to-apply.html.
History
The National Health Service Corps (NHSC), through scholarship and loan repayment programs, helps Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in the U.S. get the medical, dental and mental health providers they need to meet their desperate need for health care.
Since 1972, more than 30,000 clinicians have served in the Corps, expanding access to health services and improving the health of people who live in urban and rural areas where health care is scarce.
About half of all NHSC clinicians work in Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-supported Health Centers, which deliver preventive and primary care services to patients regardless of their ability to pay. About 40 percent of Health Center patients have no health insurance.
Service Agreement
Upon graduation, NHSC Scholars complete their service at NHSC-approved sites in high-need urban, rural, and frontier communities across the nation. Scholars commit to provide primary care health services in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). You commit to at least two years of full-time service in exchange for a full or partial year of scholarship support. For each full or partial school year of support thereafter, you agree to provide full-time primary health care services for one year at an NHSC-approved site in a HPSA.
- Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC)
- FQHC Look-Alike
- Rural Health Clinic
- Hospital-affiliated Primary Care Out Patient Clinic
- Indian Health Service, Tribal Clinic, and Urban Indian Health Clinic (ITU)
- State or Federal Correctional Facility
- Private Practice (Solo/Group)
- Other Health Facilities:
- Community Mental Health Facility
- Community Outpatient Facility
- Critical Access Hospital
- Free Clinic
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Health Service Corps
- Mobile Unit
- School-based Health Program
- State and County Department of Health Clinic
Contact Information
Contact Us
Call 1-800-221-9393
(TTY: 1-877-897-9910)
M - F, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET
(except federal holidays)
Email us
BHW Customer Service Portal