The purpose of the T.L.L. Temple Foundation (“TTLTF”) Loan Repayment Program is to recruit and retain qualified health providers at eligible sites located in the Foundation’s service area. If you are selected for enrollment into the program, loan repayment funds will be reserved for annual disbursement at the end of each 1-year term of service obligation for no more than four (4) years in total. Repayment is contingent upon continued annual funding. We will email the appropriate documents at the end of each year of service for your employer’s verification of your service and for your lender’s verification of loan information.
Eligibility Providers & Requirements
Eligible Providers:
- Family Practice/Family Medicine Physicians
- Internal Medicine Physicians
- Pediatrics Physicians
- OB/GYN Physicians
- Dentists
Requirements:
- All providers must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident (or otherwise be legally authorized to work in the United States), practicing an eligible type of health care/dental care, and agree to practice at an eligible practice site.
- Physicians must have a current, unrestricted license from the Texas Medical Board and be board certified or eligible to take the exam from an American Specialty Board that is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties or the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists.
Dentists must have a current, unrestricted license from the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.
Practice Site Requirements
All clinical sites must be either tax-exempt under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, a local mental health authority, or a governmental/public health facility (e.g. outpatient clinic, state psychiatric hospital). Sites must be located in one of the following Texas counties:
Anderson, Angelina, Bowie, Cass, Cherokee, Hardin, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity, and Tyler.
The site must have a primary focus on serving the underserved, including Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare, and other low-income, under-insured, or uninsured populations. All sites that are eligible to participate in National Health Service Corps (NHSC) programs must have submitted an NHSC site application and be approved for participation in that program. Eligible sites include (i) TTLTF grant partner sites that are Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs); (ii) TTLTF grant partner sites that are non-FQHCs but are nonprofit primary care and/or behavioral health sites, such as Rural Health Clinics; (iii) TLLTF grant partner Critical Access Hospitals, or nonprofit hospital systems and (iv) FQHCs, nonprofit primary care and/or behavioral health sites, Critical Access Hospitals, or nonprofit hospital systems that are not TTLTF grant partner sites.
Service Period Requirement
A provider must serve for at least twelve (12) consecutive months at an approved practice site to qualify for an annual loan repayment award. Regardless of an employee’s status as part-time or full-time, a provider may receive an annual award for each consecutive 12-month period of service for up to four (4) years in total. While providers are encouraged to stay in the program for the maximum duration of four (4) years, they may withdraw from the program at any time; provided, however, that failure to meet the requirement of twelve (12) consecutive months will result in ineligibility to receive an annual repayment award. Four (4) years is the maximum number of service obligations for which a provider may qualify for repayment.
Annual Award Amounts & Loan Requirements
If the student loan balance is less than the applicable maximum annual award amount (as shown below) times 4, then the annual amounts will be prorated to retire the balance over a period of four (4) years (contingent upon continued annual grant funding). Awards will also be prorated to the extent the provider is only providing a part-time service. Otherwise, the maximum annual award amount is $30,000/year or $120,000/total aggregate award. Additionally:
- Once the repayment amounts have been calculated and established, those are the amounts to be paid and will not change (except for change in employment status occurs - full-time to part-time); and
- Outside of the loan repayment amounts, any additional loan balance and/or accrued interest is the sole responsibility of the recipient.
To be eligible for repayment, an education loan must:
- Be evidenced by a promissory note to pay for the cost of attendance for the provider’s undergraduate or graduate education at an accredited institution in the United States. Loans made during residency are not eligible. If the loan has been consolidated with other loans, the applicant must provide documentation of the portion of the consolidated debt that was originated to pay for the cost of attendance for the provider.
Not have an existing service obligation and must not be subject to repayment through another student loan repayment or loan forgiveness program. This includes National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).
Application Scoring
Received applications will be scored, ranked, and funded based upon the following criteria:
County Level HPSA Score
The County HPSA score of the county in which the provider practices will be used. The HPSA score used will be associated with the Provider type:
- Family Practice/Family Medicine- Primary Care HPSA
- Internal Medicine – Primary Care HPSA
- Pediatrics - Primary Care HPSA
- OB/GYN - Primary Care HPSA
- Dentist - Dental Care HPSA
Provider Type
- 4pts: Family Practice/Family Medicine
- 3pts: Internal Medicine
- 3pts: Pediatrics
- 2pts: OB/GYN
- 1pt: Dentists
Practice Site
- 5pts: FQHCs that are TLLTF-funded grant partner sites.
- 3pts: TLLTF-funded grant partner sites that are not FQHCs but are some other nonprofit primary care and/or behavioral health sites, Critical Access Hospitals, or nonprofit hospital systems.
- 1pt: FQHCs and other nonprofit primary care and/or behavioral health sites, Critical Access Hospitals, or nonprofit hospital systems that are not TLLTF-funded grant partners.
Tie-breaker
The applicant located within a county with a higher poverty rate will take priority
Notices
Certain information required on the application is made confidential by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 USC 552a). The requested information is necessary for participation in the T.L.L. Temple Foundation Loan Repayment Program, to verify your identity and to determine your eligibility for the program and for any benefits from it.
The following notices are provided in accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 559.003(a):
1) With few exceptions, you are entitled on request to be informed what information the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) collects about you, and to receive and review the information.
2) Under Section 559.004 of the Government Code, you are entitled to have TDA correct information about you that is incorrect. You may do so by writing to: Texas Department of Agriculture / State Office of Rural Health, TTLTF Loan Repayment Program, PO Box 12847 Austin, Texas 78711
3) The information that TDA collects will be retained and maintained as required by Texas record retention laws (Texas Government Code, Section 441.180 et seq.) and rules. Retention times can vary depending on the information.