Arra - Nurse Faculty Loan Program

 

The purpose of the Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) as supported through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty and direct resources to address health professions workforce shortages. The ARRA funding was made available in FY 09-10 to augment the regularly appropriated NFLP funding level for the purpose of directing emergency resources to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty. These funds are dedicated to strengthening the nurse educator workforce in order to (1) meet the demand for nurse faculty and (2) remove a major barrier to accepting as many as qualified nursing students as possible thus helping to alleviate the Nation’s nursing shortage.

Schools of Nursing that receive ARRA-NFLP funds must use funds to provide loans to students enrolled in eligible advanced degree nursing programs (master’s or doctoral) with an education component(s) that will prepare the student to teach. NFLP loan recipients complete the education program, and following graduation, may cancel up to 85% of the NFLP loan while serving as full-time nurse faculty at an accredited school of nursing.

Deleted 03/03/2014 (Archived.) 93.408 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Office: Health Resources and Services Administration Project Grants Fiscal Year 2012: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2013: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2014: No Current Data Available Public Health Service Act, Title VIII, Section 846A, 42 U.S.C. 297n-1 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, as amended by the Affordable Care Act of 2010, Public Law 111-148, Section 5311. Eligible applicants include all accredited public or private collegiate schools of nursing that offer an advanced degree nursing education program (master’s or doctoral) to prepare advanced degree nursing students to serve as faculty.

The school must be located in the 50 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau. Eligible nursing students must: (1) be a citizen or national of the United States, or a lawful permanent resident of the United States, Eligible nursing students must: (1) be a citizen or national of the United States, or a lawful permanent resident of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau. (2) be enrolled in an advanced degree program in nursing to become qualified nursing faculty; and (3) not be in default on a Federal debt; and (4) maintain good academic standing. Applicants should review the individual HRSA funding opportunity announcement issued under this CFDA program for any required proof or certifications which must be submitted prior to or simultaneous with submission of an application package. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-87. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-102. OMB Circular No. A-110 applies to this program. Grant applications and required forms for this program can be obtained from Grants.gov Web site at www.grants.gov. Applications are generally solicited by a program announcement on the HRSA web site at http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/.

The HRSA program official with delegated authority is responsible for final selection and funding decisions.
Notification is made by a Notice of Award. Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines. Approximately 1-3 months after receipt of application. Not Applicable. Renewal applications must be submitted annually for new funds. Applications will be reviewed for completeness and accuracy, and to determine if applicant schools meet minimum program requirements. All eligible applicants are considered in a formula for determining awards. Eligible applicants must meet all applicable Federal guidelines and/or graduates must be eligible for national nursing organization certification, and/or programs must meet other national organizational guidelines, as appropriate, in the nursing field of study. The school must establish an ARRA-NFLP fund for the purpose of making NFLP loans to eligible students and for the costs associated with collection of these loans. Institutions may award a maximum loan amount of $35,500 per student for an academic year to support the cost of tuition, fees, books, and other reasonable education expenses - not to exceed five years of NFLP loan support. Upon completion of the program, an amount up to 85 percent of the loan may be cancelled by the institution as follows: upon completion of the first, second, and third year of full-time faculty employment in an accredited school of nursing, 20 percent of the principal and interest of the unpaid loan shall be cancelled for each year; upon completion of the fourth year of full-time employment as faculty in an accredited school of nursing, 25 percent of the principal and interest of the unpaid loan shall be cancelled for the fourth year.

ARRA-NFLP funds must be kept separate from regularly appropriated NFLP funds and should not be commingled for tracking and reporting purposes. No one student may receive both ARRA-NFLP funds and regularly appropriated l NFLP funds in the same budget/project period. All projects funded with ARRA funds are subject to special quarterly reporting requirements as outlined in Section 1512 of the Recovery Act. The institution must submit the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, Annual Operating Report (AOR) annually through electronic submission at https://grants.hrsa.gov/webexternal/home.asp. The NFLP Annual Operating Report (AOR) is due each year within 45 days following the last day of the project period and should reflect the loan fund activity for the reporting period. Institutions must comply with ARRA reporting requirements. Additional ARRA reporting requirements are as mandated by Section 1512 of the Recovery Act and OMB guidance made available at www.recovery.gov for required reporting information. All projects funded with ARRA funds are subject to special quarterly reporting requirements as outlined in Section 1512 of the Recovery Act. Cash reports are not applicable. Progress reports are not applicable. Expenditure reports are not applicable. Performance monitoring is not applicable. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. Grantees are required to maintain grant accounting records 3 years after the date they submit the Federal Financial Report (FFR). If any litigation, claim, negotiation, audit or other action involving the award has been started before the expiration of the 3-year period, the records shall be retained until completion of the action and resolution of all issues which arise from it, or until the end of the regular 3-year period, whichever is later. Statutory formulas are not applicable to this program.
Matching Requirements: Schools that participate in the loan program must contribute to the loan fund an amount equal but to not less than one-ninth of the fiscal year award.

Funding Factor: As provided under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, Section 846A (42 U.S.C. 297n-1), as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, Public Law 111-148, Section 5311 847(f) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, a statutory funding priority will be awarded to School of Nursing Student Loans that support doctoral nursing students.
MOE requirements are not applicable to this program. Project periods are for 1 year beginning July 1 through June 30. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Grantees draw down funds, as necessary, from the Payment Management System (PMS). PMS is the centralized web based payment system for HHS awards. See Regional Agency Offices. Denise Thompson, Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9-61, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Phone: (301) 443-1399, Email: dthompson@hrsa.gov. Denise Thompson, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9-61, Rockville, Maryland 20857 Email: dthompson@hrsa.gov Phone: (301) 443-1399 http://www.hrsa.gov/ 75-0351-0-1-550. (Project Grants) FY 11 $0; FY 12 est $0; and FY 13 est $0 - All funding awarded in FY 10. All funds awarded in FY10. This program is subject to the provisions of 45 CFR Part 92 for State, local and tribal governments and 45 CFR Part 74 for institutions of higher education, hospitals, other nonprofit organizations and commercial organizations.

HRSA awards are subject to the requirements of the HHS Grants Policy Statement (HHS GPS) that are applicable based on recipient type and purpose of award. The HHS GPS is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants. Not Applicable.