Delaware Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

Delaware offers student loan repayment assistance programs for health care providers, public school employees, and public attorneys who work where the state needs them. The biggest dollars go to primary care clinicians through the state-funded Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program, which can pay up to $200,000 over four years, while teachers and school counselors get a smaller yearly stipend Delaware reworked in 2025. If your job isn't on the list below, start with federal forgiveness programs.

Delaware Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program (HCPLRP)

The Delaware Health Care Commission pays $15,000 to $50,000 a year for up to four years to clinicians who practice in underserved areas, with the award set by a weighted score (Delaware Health Care Commission). The program is funded by the state, and hospitals can put up dollar-for-dollar matching funds. A provider who earns the top award for four years collects $200,000, which rivals the federal awards in our breakdown of student loan forgiveness for doctors.

Delaware State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP)

Delaware's federally funded SLRP pays up to $100,000 toward education loans for physicians and dentists and up to $60,000 for mid-level providers who serve two years in a Health Professional Shortage Area (Delaware Health Care Commission). Half of the award is paid in the first year and half in the second, and the program runs on a 1:1 match of HRSA dollars with Delaware sources such as the Delaware Institute for Medical Education and Research. Nurses and behavioral health workers can compare it with the programs in our nursing and health care forgiveness roundup.

Public School Employee Support Program For High Need Areas

SB 187, signed June 30, 2025, merged Delaware's High Needs Educator, Speech-Language Pathologist, and Mental Health Services loan repayment programs into one program and switched payments from lenders to stipends paid through state payroll (Delaware General Assembly). Each award runs $1,000 to $2,000, and an employee can receive one a year and five in a lifetime, for a maximum of $10,000 (SB 187 text). The stipend doesn't affect eligibility for federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness or PSLF, which our teacher forgiveness breakdown covers.

Public Attorney Student Loan Repayment Program

Delaware's Criminal Justice Council pays $2,500 to $5,000 toward the student loans of attorneys who have worked at least 12 months for an eligible state agency or civil legal aid organization and earn $130,000 or less (Delaware Criminal Justice Council). In 2025, the program approved 67 awards totaling about $331,000, and nearly all recipients received the full $5,000 (2025 annual report). Public attorneys should stack it with PSLF, covered in our graduate school forgiveness breakdown.

Delaware bases its income tax on federal adjusted gross income and automatically adopts federal changes, so it follows federal treatment of student loan forgiveness (The College Investor). PSLF, Teacher Loan Forgiveness, and death and disability discharges stay tax-free at both levels.

Forgiveness under income-driven plans became federally taxable again on January 1, 2026, when the American Rescue Plan exclusion expired, and Delaware follows that treatment (Taxes And Student Loan Forgiveness). Borrowers expecting IBR or RAP forgiveness can estimate the bill with our student loan tax bomb calculator.

The school employee loan payments were treated as taxable income before SB 187, which is why the state moved them to payroll stipends (SB 187 text). For the health care and attorney programs, ask the administering agency how your award will be reported, and read our explainer on the 1099-C and student loan forgiveness before filing.

Does Delaware Have A Student Loan Forgiveness Program?

Delaware offers student loan repayment assistance programs rather than broad loan forgiveness. It runs four loan repayment programs for health care providers, public school employees, and public attorneys. Borrowers outside those fields rely on federal programs like PSLF and income-driven plan forgiveness.

What Happened To Delaware's High Needs Educator Loan Program?

SB 187 folded the High Needs Educator, Speech-Language Pathologist, and Mental Health Services programs into the Public School Employee Support Program for High Need Areas in 2025 (Delaware General Assembly). Awards still run $1,000 to $2,000 a year, now paid as a payroll stipend, and our teacher forgiveness breakdown covers the federal programs teachers can add.

Can Delaware Doctors And Nurses Get Help Repaying Student Loans?

Primary care clinicians can receive up to $200,000 over four years through HCPLRP, and the federally funded SLRP pays up to $100,000 for physicians and dentists and up to $60,000 for mid-level providers, including registered nurses (Delaware Health Care Commission). Nurses can also apply for federal Nurse Corps funding, covered in our nursing forgiveness roundup.

Does Delaware Help Public Defenders And Prosecutors With Student Loans?

The state Public Attorney Student Loan Repayment Program pays up to $5,000 per award to state and legal aid attorneys earning $130,000 or less, and prosecutors and public defenders can add the federal John R. Justice program (Delaware CJC). Government and nonprofit lawyers should also track PSLF.

Is Student Loan Forgiveness Taxable In Delaware?

Delaware follows federal treatment, so PSLF and Teacher Loan Forgiveness are tax-free while income-driven plan forgiveness granted after 2025 is taxable (The College Investor). Use our tax bomb calculator to estimate what you'd owe.