NYS Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness Application Due April 13th
The New York State Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness (LSWLF) Program is offered to increase the number of licensed social workers working in critical human service areas, including but not limited to the following fields: home care, health, mental health, substance abuse, aging, HIV/AIDS, and child welfare or communities with multilingual needs. The deadline to apply is April 13, 2023. The application can be accessed here.
Eligibility
An applicant must:
- be a New York State resident and have resided in New York State for 12 continuous months prior to applying for this program;
- be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen;
- be a social worker professionally licensed to practice in New York State;
- have an outstanding balance on an eligible student loan debt;
- have qualified service:
- full-time employment as a licensed social worker in a critical human service area for at least 35 hours per week during the calendar year prior to his or her application. To determine if your workplace is an eligible service area, visit Eligibility by County;
- be in a non-default status on a student loan made under any New York State or federal education loan program or repayment of any New York State award; and
- be in compliance with the terms of any service condition imposed by a New York State award.
Eligible Student Loans
An applicant must have an outstanding balance on eligible student loan debt. Eligible student loans include New York State and federal government student loans and private student loans made by commercial entities subject to governmental examination. Parent PLUS loans are not eligible. Ineligible loans also include non-educational student loan consolidations and home equity loans used to pay off student loans.
More Information
More information about the program can be found here. Please contact the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) Scholarship Unit at scholarships@hesc.ny.gov with questions regarding this program.
Contact: Diane Darbyshire, ddarbyshire@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8828