Funding-USDA
Announces $4.4 Million in Available Funding for Veterinary Loan Repayment; May
20, 2016
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USDA Announces $4.4 Million in Available
Funding for Veterinary Loan Repayment WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
today announced $4.4 million in available funding to help repay veterinary
school loans in return for veterinarians serving in areas lacking sufficient
veterinary resources. The funding is available through the Veterinary
Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP), administered by USDA’s National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). “Veterinarians are critical to America’s food safety and security, as well
as to the health and well-being of both animals and humans” said Dr. Sonny
Ramaswamy, the NIFA Administrator. “There are significant shortages of
veterinarians in areas of this country, and a leading cause is the heavy cost
of four years of professional veterinary medical training, which leaves
current graduates of veterinary colleges with an average debt of more than
$135,000.” Recipients are required to commit to three years of veterinary service in
a designated veterinary shortage situation. Loan repayment benefits are
limited to payments of the principal and interest on government and
commercial loans received while attending an American Veterinary Medical
Association-accredited college of veterinary medicine resulting in a Doctor
of Veterinary Medicine degree or the equivalent. Participants are required to serve in one of three types of shortage
situations. Awardees filling Type 1 shortages areas must dedicate at least 80
percent of their time to provision of food animal veterinary services. Type 2
shortages are rural areas in which awardees are obligated to
provide food animal veterinary services at least 30 percent of their
time. Type 3 shortage areas are dedicated to public practice and awardees
must commit at least 49 percent of their time. A map is available
online describing each shortage area for FY 2016. Applications are due May
20. Please see the request
for applications for more information. In fiscal year 2015, NIFA
received 137 applications and made 49 awards. Since 2009, NIFA has invested in and advanced innovative and
transformative initiatives to solve societal challenges and ensure the
long-term viability of agriculture. NIFA’s integrated research, education,
and extension programs, supporting the best and brightest scientists and
extension personnel, have resulted in user-inspired, groundbreaking
discoveries that are combating childhood obesity, improving and sustaining
rural economic growth, addressing water availability issues, increasing food
production, finding new sources of energy, mitigating climate variability,
and ensuring food safety. To learn more about NIFA’s impact on
agricultural science, visit www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts, sign up for email updates, or follow us on Twitter @usda_NIFA, #NIFAimpacts. # USDA is an equal opportunity provider and
employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant
Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil
Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410,
or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or
(866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish
Federal-relay).
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