Loan Repayment Programs

To retain and recruit professionals in biomedical or biobehavioral careers, NIH repays educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in research relevant to our scientific mission.

The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The escalating costs of advanced education and training in medicine and clinical specialties are forcing some scientists to abandon their research careers for higher-paying private industry or private practice careers.

The LRPs counteract that financial pressure by repaying up to $50,000 annually of a researcher's qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research.

NIH announces the availability of LRP funds through notices in the NIH Guide.

Visit our dedicated Loan Repayment Program website to:

  • Learn more about eligibility, programs, and how to apply.
  • Find role-based information for supervisors/mentors, referees/recommenders, and institutional business officials.
  • Explore LRP data and reports

Review Criteria

To find the criteria reviewers will use to evaluate your application, see Section V of your funding opportunity.

Programs

This page last updated on: September 13, 2024
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