Texas Primary Care Office (TPCO) - Physician Education Loan Repayment Program (PELRP)

Physician Education Loan Repayment Program (PELRP)

Program Description
Note: Applications are no longer available for state-funded Loan Repayment Programs, including Physician Education Loan Repayment Dental Education Loan Repayment and Children's Medicaid Loan Repayment.

No person or entity can promise you loan repayment prior to applying and being accepted.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to apply for PELRP assistance, a physician must:

• Have completed residency and/or fellowship training 
• Be employed by, and seeing patients at, the location referenced in the application that is currently open and operational
• Be practicing in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)
• Have a full physician license with no restrictions from the Texas Medical Board
• Be a U.S. citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident

To receive loan repayment assistance a physician must:

• Have eligible outstanding student loans, made from an accredited U.S. lending institution
• Provide four consecutive years of direct patient care service in a HPSA in Texas
• Be Board Eligible in years 1 – 3 and Board Certified, as recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists, as applicable, by year 4
• During the service period, have provided direct patient care to:
  - Medicaid enrollees
  - CHIP enrollees (if children are seen)
• Not be currently fulfilling another obligation to provide medical services as part of a scholarship agreement, a student loan agreement, or another student loan repayment agreement
• Not agree to another service obligation for loan repayment or forgiveness during the four-year PELRP commitment

Eligible Sites

Application Cycles and Deadline

Applications are no longer available for state-funded Loan Repayment Programs, including Physician Education Loan Repayment Dental Education Loan Repayment and Children's Medicaid Loan Repayment.

Service Obligation

Priorities for Selection

1. Renewal applications, with first priority assigned to those for primary care
2. Applications from primary care physicians practicing in rural geographic whole-county HPSAs and applications from physicians practicing in Federally Qualified Health Centers or practice sites that accept payments on a sliding fee scale and follow a policy of providing health care to all who present for care
3. HPSA score for applicant practice location

Approved Specialties

Priority Specialties:

Family Practice

Osteopathic Family Practice

Obstetrics/Gynecology

General Internal Medicine

General Pediatrics

Psychiatry

Geriatrics

For specialties other than primary care, the Texas Department of State Health Service (DSHS) must determine there is a critical need for the applicant’s specialty in the HPSA where the practice is located

Maximum Annual Repayment Amount

• For the first service period, $25,000
• For the second service period, $35,000
• For the third service period, $45,000
• For the fourth service period, $55,000

If a physician's total student loan indebtedness is less than $160,000, the annual loan repayment amounts based on full-time service will be the amounts required to repay the indebtedness over a period of four years, with annual increases that are proportional to the annual increases for physicians whose student loan indebtedness is at least $160,000.

A physician may receive prorated loan repayment assistance based on the percentage of full-time service provided for each service period, if providing direct patient care for a minimum of 20, but less than 32 hours, per week for each service period.

Loan Eligibility, Dispersal, and Tax Liabilities

To be eligible for repayment, an education loan must:

• Be evidenced by a promissory note for loans to pay for the cost of attendance for undergraduate, graduate, or medical education
• Not have been made during residency
• Not be in default at the time of the physician's application
• Not have an existing obligation to provide service for loan forgiveness through another program
• Not be subject to repayment through another student loan repayment or loan forgiveness program
• If the loan was consolidated with other loans, the physician must provide documentation of the portion of the consolidated debt that was originated to pay for the cost of attendance for the physician's undergraduate, graduate, or medical education
• Not be an education loan made to oneself from one's own insurance policy or pension plan or from the insurance policy or pension plan of a spouse or other relative

The annual loan repayment amount may be disbursed in the form of:

• One or multiple state warrants co-payable to the physician and the holder(s) of the loan(s), or
• One or multiple state warrants or electronic payments delivered directly to the holder(s) on the physician's behalf

The Board shall follow Internal Revenue Service requirements for reporting of loan repayment assistance to physicians during each calendar year

Breach of Contract

Will not be eligible to apply for National Health Service Corps (NHSC)

Will not be eligible to apply for any other loan repayment programs in Texas

Definitions & Acronyms

For Additional Information and How to Apply
Note: Applications are no longer available for state-funded Loan Repayment Programs, including Physician Education Loan Repayment Dental Education Loan Repayment and Children's Medicaid Loan Repayment.

(512) 458-7518

TexasPCO@dshs.state.tx.us

Program Rules