PSLF-eligible hospitals hiring nurses in Tennessee

Of the hospitals hiring on this site, Medicare lists 37 in Tennessee as non-profit or government (7 government), the employers PSLF can count, and 15 as for-profit. The best rated: Leconte Medical Center in Sevierville (non-profit, 5 of 5 stars), Memorial Healthcare System, Inc in Chattanooga (non-profit, 5 of 5 stars), Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital in Lebanon (non-profit, 5 of 5 stars) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville (non-profit, 5 of 5 stars).

Through the employer, not the job title. PSLF forgives what remains of federal Direct Loans once a borrower “Satisfies the equivalent of 120 monthly payments after October 1, 2007” (34 CFR 685.219) while employed full time by a qualifying employer. Full time is “A minimum average of 30 hours per week during the period being certified” (34 CFR 685.219). A qualifying employer includes a government organization and a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and PSLF counts no employer that is "a business organized for profit". So a nurse at a government or 501(c)(3) non-profit hospital can qualify; one at a for-profit hospital does not.

Covenant Health (9), CommonSpirit Health (1), Vanderbilt University Medical Center (3), Williamson Health (1), Macon Community Hospital (1), Ballad Health (10), LifePoint Health (2) and CHS (Community Health Systems) (1) and 4 more. Each opens its open jobs.

Yes, by the same rule: PSLF counts the employer, never the occupation, so a physical, occupational or speech therapist, a respiratory therapist, a rad tech or anyone else employed full time by a government or 501(c)(3) non-profit hospital can count those years. Full time is “A minimum average of 30 hours per week during the period being certified” (34 CFR 685.219). Therapists in home health or an outpatient clinic should check the employer itself, since PSLF counts no business organized for profit.

PSLF counts the organization that employs you, which in the regulation is the one that issues your W-2: “Employee or employed means an individual: (i) To whom an organization issues an IRS Form W-2” (34 CFR 685.219). A nurse employed by a for-profit staffing agency works for the agency, even on a non-profit hospital's unit; the regulation makes a narrow exception for contracted positions that state law does not let the qualifying employer fill directly.

Medicare's ownership record, shown here, is a first check. PSLF itself goes by the employer's tax status: the federal PSLF Help Tool on studentaid.gov looks an employer up by its EIN, the number on your W-2, and the employer certifies your employment. A health system can run both: 69 of the employers hiring here have non-profit or government hospitals and for-profit ones, by Medicare's record, so check the hospital you would work for.

No. HRSA's Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program repays part of a registered nurse's loans for work at a facility in a shortage area (hospitals hiring in Nurse Corps shortage areas), and many employers state tuition or student loan help in their postings (tuition and student loan help).