New Jersey student loan forgiveness comes from two directions: state-level redemption programs run by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) that pay down debt in exchange for service in a specific profession, and federal programs — most importantly Public Service Loan Forgiveness — that erase remaining federal loan balances after a qualifying work history. Which route fits depends on your job, your loan type, and, right now, on which application windows happen to be open.
HESAA Loan Redemption Programs by Profession
HESAA administers a set of career-specific redemption programs. Each targets a shortage profession, pays up to a stated maximum in exchange for full-time service, and runs on an annual application cycle tied to the state budget.
Behavioral Healthcare Provider Loan Redemption Program
Up to $50,000 for every two years of full-time clinical service at an approved site, capped at $150,000 over six years. Providers who primarily serve children or adolescents can also receive annual incentive grants of up to $5,000 for up to six years. Eligible professions include psychiatrists, licensed psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, and board-certified behavior analysts, among other licensed behavioral health roles. You must be a New Jersey resident, hold a valid license, work at an approved nonprofit, government, or educational site in the state, and sign a two-year service contract with HESAA. The fiscal year 2026 cycle was funded at $3,825,000 and accepted applications from October 1 through October 31, 2025.1HESAA. Behavioral Healthcare Provider Loan Redemption Program
Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program
Up to $120,000 for physicians, dentists, physician assistants, certified nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and psychiatrists who practice in a medically underserved area designated by the Commissioner of Health or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Participants sign a two-year contract that includes a six-month probationary period; a third and fourth year depend on available funding and a new contract. You must be a U.S. citizen or national, a New Jersey resident, and licensed in the state, and not be in default on any qualifying student loan. Physicians must have completed an accredited residency.2HESAA. Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program
Assembly Bill 2801, still pending as of late 2025, would rename the program the Health Care Professional Loan Redemption Program, raise the cap to $200,000, and expand it to additional shortage professions. The fiscal year 2024 and 2025 budgets included language consistent with the $200,000 cap; the fiscal year 2026 budget did not.3New Jersey Legislature. Assembly Bill No. 2801, Second Reprint
New Jersey Teacher Loan Redemption Program
Up to $5,000 per year for up to four consecutive years, or $20,000 total, equal to 25 percent of the principal and interest on eligible student loans each year. You must be a New Jersey resident, hold a Department of Education teaching certificate, and have been hired on or after January 1, 2009, to teach in a high-need field at an eligible school. Fiscal year 2025 funding was $5 million, with up to $1 million reserved for teachers hired on or after January 1, 2024.4HESAA. New Jersey Teacher Loan Redemption Program
Nursing Faculty Loan Redemption Program
Redemption over five consecutive years, scaled to teaching load: up to $10,000 a year for full-time faculty teaching 24 or more credits, up to $8,000 for 18–23 credits, and up to $5,000 for 3–17 credits, capped at $50,000. You must be a New Jersey resident with a valid RN license, hold an MSN, DNP, DNS, or PhD in nursing or a related field, and have carried a 3.0 or higher graduate GPA. The program is one of the few that explicitly covers NJCLASS loans alongside federal loans. Fiscal year 2026 funding was $825,000, with applications open from February 1 through March 2, 2026.5HESAA. Nursing Faculty Loan Redemption Program6HESAA. Nursing Faculty Loan Redemption Program Questions and Answers
STEM Loan Redemption Program
Up to $2,000 a year for up to four years, capped at $8,000. Half of each annual payment ($1,000) comes from HESAA; your employer must match the other half. You need New Jersey residency, a degree from an approved STEM program at a New Jersey institution earned on or after December 14, 2018, and at least four years of full-time work in an approved high-growth STEM occupation in the state before applying. After approval, you continue working in a qualifying role for one to four more years. The eligible-occupation list is reviewed every two years; the most recent update took effect in January 2025.7HESAA. New Jersey STEM Loan Redemption Program
Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program
Up to $100,000 for air traffic controllers employed by the FAA at eligible New Jersey sites. More than 40 locations qualify, including Newark Liberty, Trenton-Mercer, Atlantic City, and Teterboro, along with smaller municipal and regional airports.8HESAA. Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program Eligible Sites HESAA published a notice of proposed rules in the New Jersey Register on June 15, 2026, with public comment open until August 14, 2026.9HESAA. Notice of Proposed Rules
John R. Justice Federal Student Loan Redemption Program
A federally funded program administered by HESAA for qualifying New Jersey prosecutors and public defenders. Award amounts vary with federal funding.10HESAA. Loan Redemption Programs
Which HESAA Programs Are Open Right Now
As of mid-2026, the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program is the only HESAA program currently accepting applications. Every other program listed above has closed its application window and will reopen on its annual cycle. For state programs generally, HESAA’s loan redemption page and LoanRedemption@hesaa.org are the central points of contact.10HESAA. Loan Redemption Programs
Home and Community-Based Services Provider Loan Redemption Program
Announced in June 2024 and developed by the Department of Human Services and the Department of Children and Families with HESAA handling administration, this program pays $50,000 in loan relief for one year of full-time service at an approved home- and community-based services provider agency or as a self-directed employee. Eligible professions include psychiatrists, licensed psychologists, licensed social workers, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, board-certified behavior analysts, licensed counselors, and DCF care managers. You need a current New Jersey license or board certification and cannot be participating in another state loan redemption program or the federal National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.11State of New Jersey Department of Human Services. Home and Community-Based Services Provider Loan Redemption Program
The program was funded at $17 million as part of a larger $100 million CMS strategic investment, divided into $5 million each for DHS mental health and addiction services agencies, DHS developmental disabilities agencies, and DCF-approved settings, plus $2 million for private duty nurses employed by NJ FamilyCare-contracted managed care organizations. By mid-2026, 448 participants had been approved.12McKnight’s Senior Living. Almost 450 Enrolled in State’s Student Loan Redemption Program for HCBS Workers
Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness for New Jersey Borrowers
PSLF forgives the remaining balance on federal Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full-time for a government or nonprofit employer. It has produced the largest volume of forgiveness for New Jersey residents by a wide margin. Between October 2021 and May 2024, 23,640 New Jersey borrowers received PSLF discharges totaling roughly $1.62 billion. Over the same period, about 31,300 borrowers received relief through income-driven repayment adjustments (about $1.15 billion), and 9,140 borrowers received discharges through the SAVE plan (about $113.7 million).13U.S. Department of Education. Updated State-by-State Discharge Figures
The New Jersey Department of Education urges educators to certify their employment annually or whenever they change employers, and to check whether their school qualifies as a low-income school for federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness using the Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Directory.14New Jersey Department of Education. Loan Forgiveness Programs Pending Senate Bill 929 would require qualifying government employers in New Jersey to notify employees of PSLF eligibility at hire and at least once each calendar year; the bill remained pending as of early 2026.15New Jersey Legislature. Senate Bill No. 929
What Changed in Federal Repayment in 2025 and 2026
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, restructured federal repayment. It created the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), an income-based plan with payments set at 1 to 10 percent of adjusted gross income over 30 years, and a Tiered Standard Repayment Plan with fixed terms of 10 to 25 years depending on total balance. Loans originated on or after July 1, 2026, must be repaid under one of these two plans. Borrowers already on SAVE, PAYE, or ICR can stay on those plans until July 1, 2028, then must move to IBR, the Standard plan, or RAP; anyone who doesn’t choose will be enrolled in RAP automatically.16Rutgers University. OBBBA Financial Aid Updates
SAVE itself is effectively frozen. A federal court order issued March 10, 2026, blocks the Department of Education from implementing it, and loan servicers were set to begin notifying SAVE borrowers starting July 1, 2026, to choose a different plan within 90 days.17The Institute for College Access and Success. Reconciliation Borrower FAQs
One tax change matters if you’re counting on income-driven forgiveness: discharges under income-driven repayment plans became taxable income on January 1, 2026, when the American Rescue Plan Act exclusion expired. PSLF forgiveness remains non-taxable.18NASFAA. Some Student Loan Forgiveness Is Now Taxable
NJCLASS Loans and Why Federal Forgiveness Doesn’t Apply
New Jersey’s state-issued NJCLASS loans sit outside the federal system, so they aren’t eligible for PSLF or federal income-driven repayment forgiveness. The Nursing Faculty program explicitly covers NJCLASS balances alongside federal loans, and some other HESAA programs may cover them, but there is no broad forgiveness track for NJCLASS borrowers.5HESAA. Nursing Faculty Loan Redemption Program
HESAA does offer repayment relief on NJCLASS loans. Deferment and forbearance are available for financial hardship, unemployment, active military duty, in-school enrollment, and temporary total disability; during most relief periods you continue making interest-only payments, and monthly payments after the pause typically increase because the relief period doesn’t extend the loan term.19HESAA. NJCLASS Relief Options Eligible NJCLASS borrowers can also use a Repayment Assistance Program that cuts monthly payments to 10 percent of household income above 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, with a $5 minimum. The program lasts up to two years. During that time HESAA covers accruing interest, all borrower payments go to principal, and the loan is re-amortized at the lower balance when the period ends.20HESAA. Repayment Assistance Program Questions and Answers
Borrower Protections and Where to Complain
New Jersey’s Student Loan Bill of Rights, enacted in July 2019, requires student loan servicers operating in the state to be licensed by the Department of Banking and Insurance and prohibits misleading practices, including misrepresenting loan terms, misapplying payments, refusing to communicate with an authorized representative, or reporting inaccurate information to credit bureaus. Civil penalties reach $10,000 for a first offense and $20,000 for each subsequent offense. The law also created a Student Loan Ombudsman inside the Department of Banking and Insurance to receive complaints and help borrowers understand their rights. If you cannot resolve an issue directly with your servicer, you can file a complaint with the department at 1-800-446-7467 or through its online consumer assistance form.21New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. Student Loan Information