NIH invites 60-day comments on researcher loan repayment programs
Published Date: 12/23/2025
Notice
Summary
The NIH wants your thoughts on continuing their Loan Repayment Programs that help doctors and scientists pay off student loans. They’re asking for comments within 60 days to make sure the program stays useful and easy to use. This helps keep the program running smoothly without adding extra hassle or costs.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
NIH offers loan repayment to researchers
The NIH makes available educational loan repayment to holders of doctoral-level degrees (for example: M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D., Psy.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., O.D., D.V.M.) who perform biomedical or behavioral research in NIH intramural laboratories, as extramural grantees, or as scientists funded by domestic non-profit organizations for a minimum of two years (three years for the General Research subcategory). The information collected will be used to determine an applicant's eligibility.
Application time burden for LRP participants
If you apply, renew, or help with NIH LRP applications, you will spend time filling out forms: initial and renewal extramural applicants are estimated at 8 hours each (1,000 respondents each totaling 8,000 hours), initial intramural applicants 8 hours (20 respondents, 160 hours), renewal intramural applicants 8 hours (50 respondents, 400 hours), recommenders 30 minutes each (8,080 respondents, 4,040 hours), institutional contacts 5 minutes each (2,000 respondents, 167 hours), and NIH LRP coordinators 30 minutes each (70 respondents, 35 hours). The total estimated annualized burden hours are 20,802 and there are no costs to respondents other than their time.
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Key Dates
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