Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who commit to three years at a nursing home can receive up to $40,000 toward student loans, and in some cases a $10,000 stipend as well, under a $275 million program from the federal government and the states. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the program on October 23. Applications open Monday, October 26.
How the $275 million is funded
CMS is putting in $100 million, and states are adding at least $175 million. The money comes from civil monetary penalties that CMS and states have collected from nursing homes, rather than from the federal budget. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the program works “without taking a dime from taxpayers.”
All 50 states and the District of Columbia are taking part. CMS expects the money to support more than 4,000 nurses and nursing students nationwide. The top combined benefit is $50,000 per nurse, so the 4,000 figure assumes many awards will be smaller than that, such as a stipend alone for a recent graduate.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the initiative will “recruit and retain thousands of nurses” and put resources “directly behind” the nurses who care for older residents. The stated target is rural and high-need communities, and every rural nursing facility qualifies.
Who qualifies and what the three-year commitment means
Eligible nurses must hold an active RN or LPN/LVN license when they start work and put in at least 30 hours a week at a qualifying facility. The facility must be certified by Medicare, Medicaid or both. Not every nursing home qualifies: all rural ones do, along with others in areas with the worst nurse shortages.
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Nurses must have eligible student loan debt to get the repayment benefit. Federal Direct, Stafford, Perkins and consolidation loans count, as do private loans taken for nursing education. Parent PLUS loans, personal loans, credit cards and loans for non-nursing programs do not.
The $10,000 stipend is open to nurses with no loan debt if they graduated within the past two years. Nursing students can open an account and start an application before graduating, but must finish school, get licensed and land a qualifying job. Nurses with eligible loans can receive both benefits.
Quarterly checks, tax forms and a first-come funding limit
The money does not arrive as a lump sum. According to CMS’s program FAQ, payments go to the nurse every quarter after CMS verifies an average of 30 hours a week. Loan repayment must then be applied to the nurse’s own loans.
Payments are reported on Form 1099-NEC with no taxes withheld. Nurses owe any tax themselves, and the program does not make them CMS employees. CMS tells participants to consult a tax professional, which matters because a benefit paid over three years arrives as income that must be reported.
State money is allocated first come, first served. Once a state’s funds are fully committed, no more nurses are recruited there. CMS gives no per-state cap on the number of nurses, so the date a nurse applies could decide whether a slot is left.
The October 26 start, the 60-day rule and the application steps
The initial window runs from October 26, 2026, to January 24, 2027, the first 90 days. Nurses who worked in a nursing home within the past 60 days before opening an application account are not eligible. CMS carves out an exception for RNs and LPNs who started at an eligible home between July 28 and October 25, 2026.
Applying has two parts. A nurse first opens an account at the program’s application site and applies to the nursing home through its normal hiring process, because CMS does not do the hiring. After a job offer, the nurse returns to upload license details, proof of employment and, for loan repayment, a servicer statement dated within 90 days.
CMS says it usually reviews applications within 30 business days and may ask for more documents. Selected nurses sign a program agreement before enrollment. Nurses can move to another qualifying facility with CMS approval, but must start within 90 days of leaving the first one, and payments pause during any gap.
What leaving early or taking leave does to the payments
Approved leave for illness or family reasons pauses payments and extends the commitment by the time away. CMS may disenroll a nurse who stops meeting the employment or hours requirement, and it may consider exceptions. The release and FAQ do not say whether benefits already paid must be returned, a point nurses should raise with the program before signing the agreement.
The open question is how quickly state funds run out. CMS offers no state-by-state allocation, so the first 90 days are the only period with a published end date. CMS has not said what happens after January 24, 2027, or whether states with money left will keep taking applicants.
Could a three-year nursing-home job pay down the loans?
The loan program pays only if an application gets in while a state’s money lasts, and the money is for nurses, not for the households around them. Families of nursing-home staff and residents often leave other help unclaimed because each program has its own form.
This is a different job than the nurse program, and The Benefits Checklist is built for it. It scans 11 benefit programs, such as Medicare Savings Programs, SNAP and heating help, lists the 2026 income limits, and includes a printable application tracker.
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More Financial Reading
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- 17 Medicare Money Moves Now That Part D Caps at $2,400
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
