ND Career Builders Offers Student Loan Repayment Assistance

The 2019 North Dakota Legislative Assembly passed House Bill 1171, creating a skilled workforce scholarship and student loan repayment program aimed at attracting people into high need and emerging occupations in the state. The result is the ND Career Builders Scholarship & Loan Repayment program. The North Dakota University System and institutions across the state, along with agency partners including the ND Workforce Development Council, ND Commerce Department, the Bank of North Dakota, and Job Service of North Dakota are promoting this opportunity for both students and employers. The scholarship and loan repayment programs target the workforce needs of North Dakota. The goal is to reduce the number of unfilled skilled workforce jobs that require a two-year degree or less.

Loan Repayment Overview

The ND Career Builders scholarship and loan repayment programs are a public-private endeavor whereby for each dollar of private support, the state will contribute a dollar of public funding. If you are an employer, you can contribute dollars to match the investment of the state while filling the workforce needs at your business and helping your employees reduce their student loan debt.

Loan Repayment Details

  • Graduates apply for the program by completing an application with the NDUS on its website: http://ndus.edu/career-builders/
  • Applicants newly hired into qualifying positions will be considered.
  • Applicants will be required to provide proof of ND residency, employment verification, proof of degree completion, and a current student loan billing statement from the lender.
  • An applicant’s employer, or other business entity, must have committed matching dollars. Payments will not be made without matching dollars being received by NDUS.
  • Payments may not exceed $5,667 per year, or one-third of the applicant’s outstanding student loan principal balance at the time of application, whichever is less.
  • Eligible loans include FEDERAL Subsidized, Unsubsidized, Consolidated and Perkins, the Bank of ND DEAL Loan; other private alternative student loans may be considered; private loans that are not “student loans,” such as a home equity, will not be considered.
  • Recipients must reside and work in a high need or emerging occupation in North Dakota.
  • Eligibility will be verified prior to each payment.

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