Participant Information and Requirements for Nurses & Employers

Phone Numbers and Email Address Instructions: Nurses must contact Juliette Rousseau at RousseauJ@michigan.gov to report phone number and email address changes to the NLRP Office no more than 10 calendar days after they occur.

All nurses (vendors) selected for the final phase of the application process must immediately register for electronic funds transfer (EFT) on SIGMA VSS. This will allow NLRP payments to be electronically deposited into your personal checking or savings account.

Participants who initiate transfers to the practice sites of new employers with employment start dates other than the first day of their next loan repayment agreements will receive Non-Compliance Assessments. This means they will not be eligible to participate in the next application period during which they would normally apply for their next loan repayment agreements. Nurses will not receive Non-Compliance Assessments when initiating transfers to new employer practice sites to complete current service obligations because their employment has been terminated by their original employers.

Participants who leave their original employers or are terminated must complete their service obligation at the eligible practice sites of other employers. Participants who breach their loan repayment agreements by not completing their service obligations are subject to the default penalty described under Service Obligation and Default Penalty.

Employers have until the end of each September to do the following:

1. Complete, date and sign annual WVFs to affirm each participating nurse’s completion of their preceding 12-month service obligation by having been employed at least 40 hours per week, or full-time for public school setting and Schools of Nursing. Complete, date, and sign Workdays Away from Practice Sites Forms for nurses’ final WVFs to document whether they have exceeded the 35 workdays away limit during one or more agreement years.
2. Email each nurse’s WVF, Workdays Away from Practice Sites Form, when required, to Rousseauj@Michigan.gov.

Once MDHHS receives WVFs and Workdays Away Forms for final payments, it will credit participants with12 months of completed service obligation and process their annual NLRP payment.

Nurses should receive their payments within eight weeks following the later of the:

1. End of the month during which their WVFs were due, or
2. Date their WVFs and Workdays Away from Practice Sites Forms, when required, were received by the department.

Nurses who do not receive their payments within that eight-week period should contact Juliette Rousseau, NLRP Coordinator at RousseauJ@michigan.gov.

Special Requirement for Final Payment: Workdays Away from Practice Sites Form

The NLRP requires NLRP participants to be away from their approved practice sites no more than 35 workdays per agreement year without making up days in excess of the limit at the end of their agreements. NLRP agreement years begin each October 1 and end each September 30. The Workdays Away from Practice Sites Form is designed to ensure program compliance with this requirement.

Employer Requirements: Employers must complete, sign and date the Workdays Away from Practice Sites Forms forwarded to them by NLRP participants along with their final WVFs. Employers must:

• Count and record all workdays away during nurses’ first agreement year.
• Count and record all workdays away during the second year.
• Sign, date and email Workdays Away from Practice Sites Forms, along with final WVFs, to Juliette Rousseau at Rousseauj@Michigan.gov.

Participants will not receive their final payments until their Workdays Away from Practice Site Forms are completed and submitted. Employers must complete the Workdays Away Forms. Nurses may not complete their own Workdays Away Forms.

Counting Workdays Away: When counting workdays away from approved practice sites, employers should not include normal days off during each work week. For example, if a participant works five eight-hour days, Monday through Friday, employers should not count Saturdays or Sundays as workdays away from their practice sites. Similarly, if a participant works four ten-hour days, Monday through Thursday, then Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays should not be counted. In the case of public school and Schools of Nursing, regularly scheduled breaks from teaching where the institution is not holding classes, should not be included in workdays away. Employers must, however, count all other days that participants are away from their approved practice sites, including:

• Vacation days – for example, if a participant takes a two-week vacation during which they would have normally worked five days each week, employers would count their vacation as 10 workdays away from their practice site.
• Holidays.
• Sick days.
• Days taken off to care for family members.
• Family leave days, including maternity leave days.
• Workdays at ineligible practice sites.
• Other days –This includes all reasons for workdays away from practice sites, not including building closures.

Extended Leaves of Absence from Practice Sites: Employers must record the number of participants’ workdays away from their practice sites during extended leaves of absence on their Workdays Away Forms, which are submitted with their final WVF. Nurses and employers are not required to contact the NLRP office prior to or during extended leaves of absence for certain reasons, including:

• Sick days.
• Days taken off to care for family members.
• Family leave days, including parental leave.

However, nurses or employers must notify the NLRP Office of extended leaves of absence for other reasons. Once employers submit Workdays Away forms for nurses with extended leaves, along with their final WVF, the NLRP office will review them and determine the number of days more than the 35-workday limit per agreement year and the date on which final payments will be approved. As discussed below, excess days will be either:

• Added to current contracts to extend their end dates, or
• Transferred to nurses’ next loan repayment agreements.

Extending the End Date of Current Agreements: Excess days will be added to the original end dates of current loan repayment agreements of nurses who have not been awarded new contracts. Upon review of their Workdays Away forms, nurses will receive an email stating the:

• Number of excess days added to their original end dates.
• New end dates upon which their final payments will be approved.

Transferring Excess Days to Next Agreement: When excess workdays away from approved practice sites occur to participants in good standing with the program, they may be transferred into their next loan repayment agreements, if awarded. This allows nurses to participate in the program for up to four consecutive years, or two for nurses employed by state psychiatric hospitals, before their extended agreement end dates make them ineligible for the following application period. However, the department reserves the right to not award new loan repayment agreements or transfer excess workdays away into new agreements if the number and nature of those excess days, or other issues, cause concern about a participants' ability to complete an additional two-year service obligation. When excess workdays are transferred into a new agreement, a nurse will receive an email stating that:

• Their final payment on their current contract has been approved.
• The number of excess days transferred to their new agreement.
• The number of excess days transferred will be added to any excess days incurred during the new agreement to determine the extended end date of their new agreement.
• The delay in eligibility to reapply for their next agreement, as discussed below.

Extending End Date of Second Consecutive Agreement Will Delay Reapplication Eligibility: The extended end date of a second two-year consecutive agreement will be determined once the program receives the Workdays Away from Practice Site Form, along with the final WVF for the second two-year agreement. This will allow the program to determine the number of excess workdays incurred during the second agreement and add them to those transferred from the initial agreement to determine the end date of the second two-year agreement. Nurses will be notified of their extended end dates once they have been determined.

When the end date of a participant's second two-year agreement is extended because of excess days transferred from their initial agreement, it will prevent them from reapplying for their third consecutive two-year agreement during the application period in which they would normally do so. This occurs because any days added to their second agreement will overlap with new agreements starting on October 1 following their normal September 30 agreement end date. As a result, nurses will need to wait until the following application period to reapply.

Nurses and employers initially request approval for practice sites on their application forms. Please note that the applications of those who request approval of additional practice sites after submitting their applications but before October 1 following the application period, will be screened out. Starting October 1, following the application period, nurses and employers may request approval of additional sites at any time by emailing the NLRP Office.

1. When applying, list practice sites on Nurse Application, Part A and Practice Site Application:
   • Include sites at which nurses are expected to complete their service obligations starting October 1. These include:
     1. Practice sites at which nurses are currently working and expected to work during their two-year service obligations starting October 1.
     2. Practice sites at which nurses are not currently working but are expected to work after their service obligations start on October 1.
     3. Applicants’ estimated work hours at the start of their service obligation on October 1 must be entered for each of the listed sites.
   • The number of hours nurses are expected to work at all sites must add up to at least 40 hours per week or full-time for public school setting and Schools of Nursing.
   • The number of practice sites, site names, addresses and estimated work hours must be the same on both Nurse Application, Part A and the Practice Site Application.
2. After applying, but before October 1 following the application period, approval of additional practice sites may not be requested.
   • Nurse or employer requests to approve additional practice sites during this period will cause the application to be screened out, requiring the nurse to reapply during the following application period.
   • Please note: Nurses completing NLRP service obligations who have reapplied during the current application period may request approval of additional practice sites necessary to complete their current service obligations at any time.
3. Starting October 1, following the application period, employers and nurses may request approval of additional practice sites at any time.

   If the practice sites at which nurses are expected to work starting October 1 change after submitting their applications, employers or nurses must request approval of the new sites on or after October 1 following the application period.

   • To request approval of additional practice sites, send an email to the NLRP Office which includes the:
     1. Practice site name.
     2. Address, including zip code.
     3. County in which it is located.
   • The NLRP Office will review the request for eligibility and respond as soon as possible. Those who do not follow this process risk having their loan repayment agreements extended to recapture workdays spent away from their approved sites because they were working at not eligible practice sites.
     Transfers among a nurse’s Community Health Center (CHC) practice sites do not require prior approval.

Transfers to Practice Sites of Current Employers: NLRP participants may transfer to practice sites already approved on their current loan repayment agreements. They do not need to request approval again from the NLRP Office. Approval must be requested, however, for transfers to employer practice sites not included in loan repayment agreements. These requests may not be made before the start of the nurse’s service obligation on October 1, following the application period. See the Requesting Approval for Practice Sites section for details.

• Nurse and employer requests to approve additional practice after applying but before October 1 following the application period will cause the application to be screened out, requiring the nurse to reapply during the next application period.

Nurse Transfers Among their Community Health Center’s Practice Sites: In recognition of the unique circumstances of CHCs prior approval is not required for nurse transfers among practice sites within the scope of their CHC. CHCs must meet rigorous federal requirements and receive Health Professional Shortage Area facility designations for services. Because a CHC’s facility HPSA designations extend to all practice sites within its scope, there is no need for NLRP approval of a participant’s transfers among their CHC’s practice sites. This policy affects only CHCs. All other types of sponsoring agencies must continue to receive prior approval for transfers to practice sites not included on their loan repayment agreements.

Nurse Transfers to Practice Sites of New Employers: Nurses applying to NLRP are agreeing to stay with their employers during their two-year service obligations. Participants who initiate transfers to the practice sites of new employers with employment start dates other than the first day of their next loan repayment agreements are in breach of their agreements and will receive a Non-Compliance Assessment. This means they will not be eligible to participate in the next application period during which they would normally apply for their next loan repayment agreements. Nurses will not receive Non-Compliance Assessments when initiating transfers to new employer practice sites to complete current service obligations because their original employers have terminated their employment.

Participants must follow the process described below when transferring to practice sites of new employers.

Transfer Process:

1. Nurses should first ask potential new employers if their practice sites operate on a nonprofit or on a for-profit basis. Only nonprofit practice sites can be approved as eligible practice sites at which participants can complete their service obligations, unless it is an eligible School of Nursing.
2. Nurses must use the resources available on this website to make sure new practice sites are eligible and located in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) or have HPSA facility designations for their disciplines, either primary medical, dental or mental health. Nurses do this by reviewing eligible practice sites and using HPSA-Find to search for geographical and facility HPSA designations.
3. Once nurses determine practice sites are priority sites or HPSA eligible, they must ask their new employer to complete the Practice Site Application and email it to Juliette Rousseau at RousseauJ@Michigan.gov before transferring to the new practice sites.
4. Once Practice Site Applications and transfers are approved, nurses may move to their new practice sites.

The NLRP Office strongly encourages participants to carefully plan transfers to become effective on the first day of their next 12-month NLRP payment cycle, October 1. Participants who plan transfers on these days will avoid complications regarding work verification from two employers.

Under current legislation, nurses may participate in NLRP for up to 10 years and receive up to $300,000 in loan repayment, or up to four years and $300,000 for nurses employed by state psychiatric hospitals. Participants with sufficient educational debt may continue to compete for additional two-year loan repayment agreements during every other annual application period.

Participants will not receive reminders and are encouraged to mark their calendars to remind themselves when to reapply.

NLRP loan repayment agreements require two-year service obligations and begin October 1 following each application period. Only participants’ final agreements may be for one year if they have insufficient debt to support a minimum $20,000 two-year agreement. Final one-year agreements may range from $10,000 to $19,000.

Required Forms to Reapply: To reapply, nurses must submit the updated versions of the forms they submitted when they applied for their initial agreements, including an updated:

1. Nurse Application-Part A.
2. Nurse Application-Part B.
3. Practice Site Application, completed by the employer, including all required attachments.
4. Loan Repayment Documentation.

Nurses should follow the instructions found on this website under Application Periods, Forms and Process. All reapplying must meet all current requirements, they are urged to read the entire updates website.

Loan Repayment Documentation (LRD): Those reapplying must provide LRD as part of their application package to show they have paid down loans listed on their Nurse, Part B forms by an amount at least equal to that described under Required Amount of LRD below. Applicants who have never received NLRP payments are not required to submit loan repayment documentation.

Nurses who have not met their LRD requirements should not reapply to NLRP until after their LRD requirements have been met. When reapplying for NLRP, those not meeting their LRD requirements will be notified that they have been screened out of the current application period and will be encouraged to reapply during a future application period once their LRD requirements have been met.

Please note: The Nurse Application, Part B form is designed to collect information on current eligible loan balances and on nurses’ repayment of those loans while participating in NLRP. Current participants reapplying to the program, as well as those who have participated in the past, are required to submit LRD to show they have paid down the loans included on their Part B forms by an amount at least equal to that described under Required Amount of LRD below. Those reapplying should check the Total Borrower Repayments column of the Part B forms returned to them by their loan servicers to make sure the information provided meets their LRD requirements. The amount of LRD must add up to the required amount, as described below under Required Amount of LRD, or the application will be screened out. Additional LRD requirements:

• On loans for which loan servicers do not provide LRD on applicants’ Part B forms, applicants must provide LRD by printing their loan repayment histories from loan servicers’ websites.
• Applicants must only provide LRD in the form of printed histories on loans for which their loan servicers do not provide LRD or provide insufficient LRD on their Part B forms.

Required Amount of LRD: THIS ONLY APPLIES FOR SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION CYCLE AND NOT CURRENT 2025 CYCLE. Applicants must provide documentation of all payments made on their loans beginning with the start date of the loan repayment agreement indicated below up to the time they reapply to the program. Their LRD total must equal or exceed the sum of all NLRP payments received since that agreement start date. Applicants should first determine their NLRP status, then follow the instructions for their status type.

1. You are applying for your first NLRP loan repayment agreement.
   • You have never received NLRP Payments.
   • You may have applied in the past but were not awarded a loan repayment agreement

     Instructions:

   • If you have never received NLRP payments, you are not required to submit LRD.

      

2. For example: Your current and first agreement started October 1 and you are now reapplying for your second agreement that will start on October 1, 2027.
   • Your first agreement started October 1 and continues through September 30, 2027.
   • You will receive at least one additional payment under that agreement.
   • You are applying for your second loan repayment agreement that will start October 1, 2027, if awarded.

     Instructions:

   • You must provide LRD from the October 1, 2025 start date of your current agreement to the most recent payments you have made on your loans.
   • Your LRD must show that you have paid down the loans listed on your Nurse Application, Part B forms by an amount at least equal to the NLRP payments you have received from the start date of that agreement up to the date you reapplied.

LRD must show that participants have paid down the loans listed on their Nurse Application Part B forms by an amount at least equal to that described under Required Amount of LRD above. When loan servicers do not provide LRD or provide insufficient LRD on applicants’ Part B forms, applicants must provide LRD by printing their loan repayment histories from loan servicers’ websites. When required to be printed from the loan servicer's website, LRD must include:

• Printouts from each lender’s website showing their payment history, beginning with the start date determined under Required Amounts of LRD, above, up to and including their most recent payment. Information for each payment made by nurses must include Payment Date, Payment Amount and Remaining Balance.

Service Obligation: Nurses awarded NLRP agreements enter service obligations that correspond to the start and end dates of their loan repayment agreements. NLRP service obligations are legal responsibilities that should be taken seriously. Applicants should carefully read their NLRP agreements before signing them and understand that participants who fail to start or complete their service obligations face significant default penalties. Once a participant signs and returns their NLRP loan repayment agreement, their two-year service obligation goes into effect as of October 1 following the application period and must be completed.

Nurses must complete their service obligations even if they are no longer working for the same employer at their originally approved practice sites. This means participants no longer working for their original employers will need to find new eligible employers with HPSA-eligible practice sites at which to complete the remainder of their service obligations. New employers must also be willing to agree to participate and sign the employer agreement. Applicants with concerns about their current employment situations should not apply or sign NLRP loan repayment agreements. This is especially true for those who believe they might have to move to find another eligible practice site at which to complete their service obligations.

Nurses should read the entire Practice Site Transfers section, above, to understand the implications of transfers they may be considering.

Default Penalty: State penalties will be imposed on nurses who default on NLRP agreements. Participants who leave their original employers, or are terminated, must complete their service obligation at another eligible practice site. Participants who default on their loan repayment agreements by not completing their service obligations are subject to the default penalty described below.

Upon default of the NLRP agreement by not completing their service obligation in addition to forfeiting the right to any future NLRP payments, they will owe the department an amount equal to the award amount they have been paid.

Employer Non-Compliance Assessments: When employers receive a Non-Compliance Assessment, their sponsoring agencies will be ineligible to participate in the next NLRP application period by sponsoring nurses applying to the program for the first time as their employees. They will, however, be able to continue sponsoring employees who are reapplying to the program as their employees.

• Reason Assessed: Terminating an NLRP participant’s employment before the end date of their loan repayment agreement, as amended, without good cause. Employers applying for NLRP are agreeing to employ the nurses they sponsor throughout their service obligations to the program. Employers uncertain about continuing to employ nurses should not sponsor them or sign and return their Revenue Arguments during the current application period. They should wait until issues with nurses are resolved or sponsor other nurses.

Nurse Non-Compliance Assessments: Nurses who receive Non-Compliance Assessments are ineligible to participate in the application period during which they would normally reapply for their next loan repayment agreements.

• Reason Assessed: Initiating transfers to the practice sites of new employers with employment start dates other than the first day of their next loan repayment agreements. Nurses applying for NLRP are agreeing to stay with their employers during their two-year service obligations, as amended. Nurses uncertain about remaining with their current employers should not apply for loan repayment or sign and return their Personal Service Agreements during the current application period. They should wait until issues with their current employers are resolved or start with other employers before applying. However, nurses will not receive Non-Compliance Assessments when initiating transfers to new employer practice sites to complete current service obligations because their original employers have terminated their employment.