Florida Nursing Loan Forgiveness: Programs, Eligibility, and Taxes

Florida nursing loan forgiveness comes from four main sources: the state’s Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program (NSLFP), which pays up to $4,000 a year toward your loan principal for up to four years; the Florida Reimbursement Assistance for Medical Education (FRAME) program, which can pay up to $90,000 depending on your license; the federal Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program, which covers up to 85 percent of your unpaid nursing debt; and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), which wipes out remaining federal Direct Loan balances after ten years of qualifying work. Which one fits depends on your license, your employer, and how much you owe.

Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program

The NSLFP is Florida’s dedicated forgiveness program for nurses, administered by the Department of Education’s Office of Student Financial Assistance.¹ It pays up to $4,000 per year directly to your loan holder, applied to outstanding principal, with a cap of four years and $16,000 total.²

Who Qualifies

You need four things:

A current Florida license as an LPN, RN, or ARNP from the Florida Board of Nursing.
Outstanding loans that were taken out specifically for nursing education. Private loans and debt from non-nursing degrees don’t count.
Full-time employment as a nurse at a designated facility. PRN nurses, agency nurses, and as-needed workers are ineligible because the program requires continuous full-time service.¹
Loans in good standing. If you’re in default, you can’t participate.

Which Employers Count

The program funds facilities in a strict priority order, and if trust fund money runs out partway through a cycle, lower-priority facilities may receive nothing.² The order is:

State-operated medical and healthcare facilities
Public schools
County health departments
Federally sponsored community health centers
Teaching hospitals
Family practice teaching hospitals
Specialty children’s hospitals
Other Florida-licensed hospitals, birth centers, and nursing homes

That last category carries an extra condition: the employer must provide a dollar-for-dollar match to the state’s payment.² Confirm your employer is willing to participate before you apply. The first seven categories are exempt from the match.³

How the Payment Works

Your enrollment year runs 365 days from your acceptance date. You must maintain full-time employment at your designated facility the entire year with no break in service longer than 31 days.¹ Payment comes only after you complete the full 12 months, and the money goes straight from the Department of Education to your loan holder. You never handle it. If your remaining principal is under $4,000 at payment time, the program pays only what’s owed.

If you leave your position or drop to part-time before the year is up, you simply don’t get that year’s payment. There’s no clawback or repayment penalty under the NSLFP. If the legislature changes the designated-facility list mid-enrollment, you stay eligible as long as you remain at the same facility where your award was made.²

How to Apply

Applications are accepted quarterly. The windows are November 1 through December 1, February 1 through March 1, May 1 through June 1, and August 1 through September 1. You’ll submit proof of your current Florida nursing license, an employment verification form confirming full-time status at a designated facility, and a Loan Principal Certification Form from your loan holder documenting your outstanding balance.¹ The loan certification form should be completed in original ink rather than photocopied. Everything goes to the Office of Student Financial Assistance.

FRAME Program for Nurses

FRAME is Florida’s larger loan repayment program, covering physicians, dentists, mental health professionals, and nurses. It’s run by the Florida Department of Health rather than the Department of Education.⁴ For nurses, it pays 25 percent of remaining loan principal annually, with lifetime maximums tied to license type:⁵

LPNs and RNs: up to $45,000 over four years
APRNs: up to $75,000 over four years
Autonomous practice APRNs: up to $90,000 over four years

To qualify, you must provide services within a federally designated health professional shortage area or at a facility type specified in the statute, complete 25 hours of volunteer primary care annually at a free clinic or approved community service project, and hold a clear, active Florida license from application through the full award cycle.⁵ Eligible nursing roles include RNs, LPNs, APRNs with primary care specialties, and APRNs registered for autonomous practice. If you’re carrying serious debt from a BSN or graduate program, FRAME’s higher caps make the volunteer commitment worth considering.

Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program

The federal Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program, administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration, pays up to 85 percent of your unpaid nursing education debt in exchange for at least two years of service at a Critical Shortage Facility.⁶ RNs, APRNs, and nurse faculty with degrees from accredited nursing programs can apply. You need a current, unrestricted nursing license and full-time work (at least 32 hours per week) at an eligible facility.⁷

Critical Shortage Facilities include federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, community mental health centers, public hospitals, and disproportionate share hospitals. Staffing agencies and travel nurse positions don’t qualify.⁸ The program is competitive and funded annually, so meeting the requirements doesn’t guarantee an award. For nurses with large balances, the 85 percent ceiling is well above anything the state programs offer.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

PSLF cancels your remaining federal Direct Loan balance after 120 qualifying monthly payments while you work full-time for a qualifying employer.⁹ Qualifying employers include government at any level (federal, state, local, or tribal) and 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Government contractors, labor unions, and partisan political organizations don’t count.

For nurses at county health departments, public hospitals, VA facilities, or nonprofit healthcare systems, PSLF often produces the largest long-term benefit because there’s no cap on the amount forgiven. The trade-off is the ten-year timeline of qualifying payments under an income-driven repayment plan while staying at qualifying work. Only federal Direct Loans qualify, so older FFEL or Perkins loans need to be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan first.¹⁰

Combining Programs

Florida nurses can often layer benefits. The NSLFP and FRAME serve overlapping populations without being identical: FRAME requires a federally designated shortage area plus 25 volunteer hours a year, while the NSLFP ties eligibility to specific facility categories under state law. A nurse at a county health department in a shortage area could potentially qualify for both.

Federal and state programs generally don’t block each other. You can receive NSLFP payments while accumulating qualifying PSLF payments, or apply for Nurse Corps while enrolled in FRAME. The practical limit is arithmetic: each dollar one program pays toward your principal is a dollar the next program can’t forgive. For nurses with large balances that’s rarely a real constraint; for smaller balances, stacking hits diminishing returns quickly.

Are These Payments Taxable

The American Rescue Plan Act temporarily excluded most student loan forgiveness from taxable income, but that provision expired on December 31, 2025.¹¹ Starting in 2026, treatment depends on the program.

State loan repayment or forgiveness programs designed to increase the availability of health care services are excluded from gross income under federal tax law.¹² Both the NSLFP and FRAME appear to fit that exclusion as state programs targeted at healthcare workforce shortages. PSLF forgiveness is also specifically excluded from taxable income. Nurse Corps payments, made under the Public Health Service Act, receive the same exclusion.

Income-driven repayment forgiveness is different. If your remaining balance is discharged after 20 or 25 years on an IDR plan, that forgiven amount is generally treated as taxable income starting in 2026, and your servicer will issue a Form 1099-C.¹¹ If you were insolvent at the time of forgiveness (total liabilities exceeded fair market value of your assets), you may be able to exclude some or all of the amount by filing IRS Form 982.

1
Florida Department of Education. Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 1009.66 – Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program
3
Florida Office of Student Financial Assistance. Florida Nursing Loan Forgiveness Program – Designated Sites
4
Florida Department of Health. DOH Announces 2025 FRAME Program Application Cycle for Eligible Health Care Professionals
5
Florida Department of Health. FRAME Program
6
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program (Nurse Corps LRP)
7
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program Fact Sheet
8
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Step 1 – Prepare for Nurse Corps Service
9
Federal Student Aid. Public Service Loan Forgiveness FAQs
10
Federal Student Aid. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
11
Taxpayer Advocate Service. What to Know about Student Loan Forgiveness and Your Taxes
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 108 – Income From Discharge of Indebtedness