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VSAC warns nursing and mental-health forgivable-loan programs face shortfalls after governor omits funding
Summary
VSAC leaders told the House Health Care committee that demand for state-administered forgivable loans and scholarships outstrips current funding; the governor's proposed budget omits some line items and VSAC is exploring how rural health transformation dollars might or might not substitute.
Scott Giles, president and chief executive officer of the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, told the House Health Care committee that VSAC administers the state need-based grant program, the 529 college-savings plan and a suite of forgivable-loan scholarship programs aimed at growing Vermont’s health care workforce.
"We administer the state grant program…[and] we support those activities through three federal grants," Giles said, describing VSAC's role in outreach and in operating scholarships that convert to loans if recipients do not meet service obligations.
Patrick LaDuke, VSAC's chief operating officer, walked lawmakers through a portfolio of health-care forgivable-loan programs the agency oversees for the Agency of Human Services. He said the Vermont Nursing Forgivable Loan program consumed about $3,200,000 in the most recent award cycle and funded 176 nursing students while 322 additional…
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