Application Guidelines

To address this concern, the CDA Foundation developed the Student Loan Repayment Grant Program. This program provides recent dentists and/or specialty graduates an opportunity to reduce or eliminate his or her student loans in exchange for working in a designated underserved community for a contracted period of time.

An initial three-year award will provide recipients with $35,000 for three years if educational loans amount to $105,000 or more. If less than $105,000 recipients will receive up to the total of their qualified educational loan amount. This grant is then repaid by the dentist who works in an underserved community for a minimum of three years.

The CDA Foundation Student Loan Repayment Grant Program provides recent dental school graduates (graduated within last three years, or to graduate in the next six months) with substantial loan reduction grants in exchange for their service in an underserved community. The need upon which this program is build is evident in the following:

  1. California dental students are graduating with an average range of $80,000 to over $250,000 in accumulated student loans.
  2. Dental students graduating with such tremendous loan obligations are required to make payment installments of $3,000 - $4,000 per month.
  3. Loan repayment obligations erode a graduate’s ability to choose where to apply his or her skills other than in a practice that provides sufficient income to fulfill the loan obligation and provide for his or her family.
  4. Approximately 20 percent of California’s communities lack a sufficient number of dentists.
  5. Two-thirds of California’s dental health professional shortage areas (DHPSA) are in rural areas.
  6. Rural communities generally have a higher percentage of minority residents.
  7. Minorities have twice the rate of oral health disease as others in California.
  8. Minority dentists have a higher likelihood of practicing in a minority community.
  9. Dentists originating from rural communities have a higher likelihood of returning to practice in a rural community.
  10. Existing Federal, state, and local loan reduction programs are insufficient in addressing programs to expand access to care for underserved communities.
  11. Cultural and linguistic competencies are necessary to successfully integrate health professionals into minority and/or rural communities.

Program Development

Short and long term goals in this program are designed to immediately increase access to oral health care services in targeted underserved communities as well as establish an ongoing mechanism for providing dental professionals an opportunity to reduce their financial burden and to work in underserved communities.

Benefits and Contract Service Requirements

The CDA Foundation Student Loan Repayment Grant Program will provide grant awards to program participants to assist with repaying eligible educational loans based on their agreement to practice in an underserved work site. The benefits of this program to the dental graduate recipient include:

  • An initial three-year award will provide recipients with $35,000 per year for three years ($105,000 total) if educational loans amount to $105,000 or more. If less than $105,000, recipients will receive up to the total of their qualified educational loan amount.
  • Possible one-year extension awards for the fourth year and beyond will be available. If additional year(s) are approved, recipients will receive a maximum of $35,000 each year or the balance of their educational loans, whichever is less.
    In exchange for significant loan reduction grants, eligible recipients must agree to practice dentistry in an underserved area for specified periods of time. These requirements include an initial three-year contract to provide 30 hours or more per week of hands-on clinical practice in a California underserved work site.

At the completion of the third year, recipients may apply for additional one-year contract(s). Contract extensions are competitive with first-time applicants and not automatic. However, preference will be given to recipients who have successfully completed an initial three-year contract and who are willing to continue working in an underserved work site. Contract extensions must also meet the 30 hours of hands-on clinical care per week criteria.

Criteria for Eligibility

To apply and be eligible for the CDA Foundation Student Loan Repayment Grant Program, applicants must:

  1. Be legal citizens or residents of the United States.
  2. Have successfully graduated within the last three years, or be within three months from graduation from an American Dental Association accredited dental school with a DDS or DMD degree and be eligible to practice dentistry in California.
  3. Submit a completed online application packet on or before August 15. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
  4. Have received student loans from governmental and/or commercial lending institutions.
  5. Be willing and able to sign a binding contract to serve a minimum of three years (36 months) in:
    1. A California Dental Health Professional Shortage Area (DHPSA) pursuant to section 254e(a) of Title 42 of the United States Code, or
    2. An area of the state where unmet priority needs for dentists exist as determined by the California Health Manpower Policy Commission pursuant to Section 128225, or
    3. In an underserved work site as determined by the CDA Foundation.
  6. Have identified or secured employment with an eligible work site.
  7. Provide no less than 30 hours of hands-on clinical care per week. Total hours can be accomplished among one or more eligible work sites.
  8. Not be in default or have judgment liens for any debts including, but not limited to, taxes and education assistance programs. Loan reduction payments shall not be used to pay down debts other than student assistance debts from governmental or commercial lending institutions.

Funding Preferences

The CDA Foundation Student Loan Repayment Grant Program seeks to provide grants to dentists who are likely to remain in an underserved area beyond the terms of the required contract. Recent research shows that health professionals that come from minority backgrounds and rural areas are more likely to return to serve in those areas. As such, preferences in grant awards shall be given to eligible recipients who:

  • Have a disadvantaged background wiht economic, social or other obstacles (as documented by academic institution);
  • Lived in a rural, highly minority or Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) community for an extended period of time, particularly from birth to age 18;
  • Demonstrated an initiative to develop cultural and linguistic competencies reflecting one or more diverse socioeconomic or ethnic communities in California

Breach of Contract

In the unfortunate event that a recipient breaches their contract, he/she will be subject to financial consequences that will be defined in the grant agreement. These consequences include repayment of some or all of the grant. All consequential payments due to the CDA Foundation as a result of a breach in contract shall be repaid within 12 months of the date of breach. Failure to repay by the end of the 12th month shall result in the accrual of interest on the outstanding balance, reporting of the default to credit agencies, lien(s) on the recipient’s personal property, and garnishment of the recipient’s future wages.