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Rural Health Information Hub

Minnesota Home and Community-Based Services Employee Scholarship Grant and Loan Forgiveness Program

Sponsor
Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
Deadlines
Dec 12, 2025
Purpose

Minnesota Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Employee Scholarship Grant and Loan Forgiveness Program supports workforce development and retention in the home and community-based services scholarships and loan forgiveness for training in nursing and other healthcare fields. This program supports:

  • Grants to HCBS employers for employee scholarships
  • Loan forgiveness for individual HCBS employees

Scholarship Program Overview:

Eligible courses of study for scholarship recipients include trainings, workshops, and degree programs directly related to the delivery of patient or client care in home and community-based services settings, including:

  • Nursing, including Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Registered Nursing (RN) or other relevant degrees
  • Degree programs in the field of long-term care, including care for persons with disabilities
  • Licensed Assisted Living Director
  • Social work
  • Occupational therapy
  • Physical therapy
  • Client care-related trainings that result in industry-recognized certifications, credentials, or course credits and are above and beyond those required for licensure of the organization, for example:
    • Trained Medication Aide
    • Certified Dementia Care
    • Wound Care Certification
    • Training for medical care interpreter services
    • Job-related English as a Second Language

Loan Forgiveness Program Overview:

Eligible HCBS provider organizations may nominate current or prospective employees with qualified educational debt for loan forgiveness. MDH sets a standard loan forgiveness award amount. If an employee's qualifying loan balance is smaller than the standard award, they will receive loan forgiveness for the amount of their loan balance. Loans incurred any time before July 1, 2026 are eligible for forgiveness.

Eligible individuals are:

  • Employed in a caregiving role
  • Committed to work for a qualifying HCBS employer for up to 2 years
  • Submitted to MDH for consideration
Eligibility

Eligible applicants must be located in Minnesota and:

Priority will be given to:

  • HCBS provider organizations outside of the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area
  • HCBS provider organizations with operating expenses of $2 million or less and 50 patients/clients or fewer
  • Projects that pay for employee coursework leading to career advancement, including certification and licensure, in the field of long-term care nursing
  • Employees nominated for loan forgiveness whose educational program led to their licensing as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Registered Nurse (RN)
Geographic coverage
Minnesota
Amount of funding

Scholarship Program:
Award ceiling: $125,000
Award floor:$12,000
Estimated number of awards: 20
Estimated total program funding: $800,000

Loan Forgiveness Program:
Award amount: $6,000 per year for up to 2 years
Estimated number of awards: 33

Application process

Links to application instructions and the online application system are available on the program website.

Applicant webinar
November 4, 2025
1:00 p.m. Central

Tagged as
Behavioral health · Community and faith-based initiatives · Elderly population · Health aides and assistants · Health workforce · Health workforce education and training · Home and community-based services · Loans, loan repayment, and loan forgiveness for health careers · Long-term care · Nurses · Occupational therapy · People with disabilities · Physical therapy · Scholarships for health careers · Minnesota

Organizations (1)

  • Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, view details



For complete information about funding programs, including your application status, please contact funders directly. Summaries are provided for your convenience only. RHIhub does not take part in application processes or monitor application status.