Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program

The number of awards made through this program, as well as the individual dollar amount awarded, are subject to sufficient annual appropriations by the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor.

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Program Description
Eligibility
How to Apply
Changes to Application Data
Required Documentation
How Funds Are Awarded and Disbursed
Processing Updates

The Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program provides loan repayment assistance to qualified mental health and substance use professionals. The program was designed as incentive for recruitment and retention of those who practice in underserved or rural areas. It seeks to help address the shortage of Illinois community-based behavioral workers that causes disparities in access to critical mental health and substance use services. The amount of the annual award to qualified applicants to repay their student loan debt is based on their position and may be received for up to four years.

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must:

be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen
be an Illinois resident
have an outstanding balance due on an eligible educational loan (includes Stafford loans, Graduate PLUS loans, consolidation loans, Supplemental Loans for Students, alternative loans and other types of government and institutional loans used for education expenses)
be a qualifying behavioral health professional who meets licensing requirements of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, holds certification as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor from the Illinois Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association or has attained the required educational credentials:
- psychiatrist
- advanced practice registered nurse (APRN)
- physician's assistant
- psychologist (PsyD, PhD)
- licensed clinical social worker (LCSW)
- licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC)
- licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT)
- certified alcohol and drug counselor (CADC)
- certified recovery support specialist (CRSS)
- Professional possessing a Master's degree in counseling, psychology, social work, or marriage and family therapy
- Professional possessing a Bachelor's degree in counseling, psychology, or social work
have worked for at least 12 consecutive months* immediately prior to applying for this program in a community mental health center, behavioral health clinic, substance use treatment center, or State-operated psychiatric hospital licensed or certified by the Department of Human Services or the Department of Healthcare and Family Services in an underserved or rural Illinois health professional shortage area (HPSA) mental health discipline
be currently employed in a professional community healthcare center (as listed above) at the time of application and remain so employed for a continued 12 month period* for each year assistance is applied for and received, and
not be in default on any federal guaranteed educational loan nor owe a refund on a grant or scholarship program administered by ISAC.

*Periods of vacation and leave of absence provided by your employer count as time worked when calculating the required employment timeframes.

How to Apply

When it becomes available each year, the Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program application may be accessed via the Program Applications & Status Checks area of the Student Portal. The online application has built-in edits to prevent errors, and we will send immediate confirmation to your e-mail address that your application has been received. If your application, including required documentation, is incomplete, you will receive a letter from ISAC explaining the reason(s) and advising how to resolve the issue.

Each year you wish to apply for this program, you must submit an application.

Allow at least 12 weeks for processing of the application. Qualified applicants are sent a Notice of Eligibility from ISAC.

Changes to Application Data

If, after submission, you need to change your response(s) to any item(s) and/or update any information after the application has been submitted, you will need to provide the information to ISAC. Examples of items that may need to be updated include demographic information (i.e., name, address, telephone number, etc.), and/or information about your outstanding loans and the loan holder/servicer. These changes can be submitted to ISAC using one of the below methods, but cannot be done over the telephone.

via email to [email protected]
via FAX to 847.831.8549
via letter to ISAC, Program Operations, 1755 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield, IL 60015-5209

The request must include the last four digits of your Social Security number (for identification purposes) and clearly state what change(s) need to be made. These changes will not affect the application "received date."

Required Documentation

We recommended that you gather and organize the documents needed to complete your application before starting to fill out the interactive form. The online process includes the option of uploading and submitting required documentation. Acceptable uploaded files must have one of these file extensions: .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg.

Required documentation includes:

academic documents that verify your educational credentials. Official transcripts are preferred, but unofficial transcripts or diplomas stating the academic field will be accepted
licensure/certification documents confirming licenses and certifications you hold
Community Behavioral Professional Loan Repayment Program Employment Verification Form signed by your current or former employer that verifies your employment with an approved agency
current loan account statements for each of your loans with an outstanding balance. Loan account statements are typically found on the Tools page of the lender’s websites in a link to “Printable Account Information”

Loan account statements must include:

your full first and last names and address
the name of the loan holder/servicer
the payment address of the holder/servicer
the area code/phone number of holder/servicer
the email address of your holder/servicer
your loan account number
the type of loan (Federal Direct, Stafford, etc.)
your monthly payment amount
your outstanding balance

Sample loan account statements:

How Funds Are Awarded and Disbursed

Recipients are selected from among qualified new and renewal applicants. The total number of awards each year is contingent on available funding. If funding in any given year is insufficient to pay all eligible applicants, awarding will be determined in the following order:

renewal applicants, in the order in which their applications were received
- Renewal applicants must have worked at an eligible facility during the previous award year and be currently employed at an eligible facility at the time of application
  - For example: 2026 Award Year renewal applicants must have worked at an eligible facility between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 and be employed at an eligible facility at the time the 2026 Award Year application is submitted.
new applicants, using the mental health portion of the HPSA database to rank eligible rural and underserved applications, giving priority to those in the areas with the highest degree of shortage (score) for that applicant’s profession. If multiple applicants receive the same score, applications will be given consideration in the order in which they were received.
- If an applicant works for an organization located in an HPSA mental health discipline that has satellite clinics and the applicant works for more than one of the clinics, the highest HPSA score where the applicant works will apply.
- If an applicant works for different employers in multiple HPSA mental health disciplines having different degrees of shortage, the location having the highest HPSA mental health discipline score will apply.

The award amount is based on the applicant’s remaining balance on eligible education loans, not to exceed:

$40,000 per year for a psychiatrist
$20,000 per year for an advanced practice registered nurse or a physician assistant
$20,000 per year for a psychologist who holds a doctoral degree
$15,000 per year for a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed clinical professional counselor or a licensed marriage and family therapist
$12,000 per year for a professional possessing a master's degree in counseling, psychology, social work, or marriage and family therapy
$6,000 per year for a professional possessing a bachelor's degree in counseling, psychology, or social work
$4,000 per year for certified alcohol and drug counselor, or a certified recovery support specialist.

There is a minimum 4-5 week turnaround from the date approved recipients are notified by ISAC to when funds are disbursed. Depending on the volume of payment vouchers being processed by the State of Illinois Comptroller’s Office, this timeframe may increase. Proceeds will be remitted directly to the holder of the loan(s) to be repaid. Once a check has been sent to a lender, the timeframe for payment application varies. Please check with your lender directly.

Processing Updates

Note that ISAC routinely updates this section as new information becomes available. Be sure to check back periodically for the current processing status.

For the 2026 Award Year

(Last updated on June 1, 2026)

The Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program application for the 2026 Award Year is no longer available.

May 31, 2026, which was the priority consideration date, was the last date on which applications were accepted.

If you have been notified that you have an incomplete application, please respond to the letter you received with the necessary documentation by Friday, June 12, 2026.

Awarding took place in January and March 2026. Additional awarding is anticipated for June 2026.