If you're studying mental health, all your student loans may be forgiven if a plan from the governor's office succeeds.
Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey introduced a bill that would make many University students eligible to receive up to $20,000 of their student loans repaid by the state, due to the shortage of personnel in New Jersey's mental health centers.
Codey said he hopes this plan will give students incentive to seek full-time employment in an industry that currently has an estimated 1,000 vacancies that need to be filled immediately.
"If we can't retain quality people, then we can't provide quality care," Codey said in a prepared statement. "This plan helps us attract and retain the best and the brightest and will ensure that our most vulnerable citizens receive the first-rate help they deserve."
If the plan goes into effect, it would forgive up to $5,000 a year for four years for college graduates. To be eligible for the loan-forgiveness plan, a student must be employed and complete a year of full-time employment at a county, state or state-contracted nonprofit mental health or development disability facility in New Jersey.
Students and faculty said they are very excited this is a possibility.
"This is a great thing, especially for people who have to continue their education past undergraduate studies," Rutgers College sophomore Arielle Brettler said.
"Many people who are interested in physical therapy and/or occupational therapy will probably go into nonprofit or development disability facilities anyway," Brettler said.
"It's a win-win situation," School of Social Work Associate Professor Lynn Warner said. "The clients in the industry would benefit from a well-educated and well-trained staff, and the staff would benefit from having some of their financial burden lifted."
It may be very difficult for students to repay their loans once working full-time because the average starting salary for social service and mental health professionals is $25,000, Warner said.
"Anything that provides an incentive for recent grads to get work experience in a setting that they may overlook because of the pay rate is very valuable," Warner said.
This plan may help students remain employed in nonprofit organizations since about 38 percent of recent college graduates quit their jobs after about one year because they have difficulty paying off their loans.
"Any opportunity a student has for loan forgiveness is great," said Dean McDonald-Rash, University director of Financial Aid.
"If the loans taken out are federal, it's great that in return for doing a service for the state, the state is giving something back," McDonald-Rash said. "What student wouldn't want their educational loans to be paid back for them."
"[Acting] Gov. Codey's loan forgiveness is a wonderful idea," said Bettina Harp, president of the Social Work Student Organization at Rutgers. "It will encourage students to enter, and more importantly stay, in the social service field."
The proposal is still under discussion.
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