National Health Services Corps Benefits for Eligible ACHA Members

The National Health Services Corps (NHSC) Site Designation Program, operated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), addresses health professional shortages in underserved communities, known as health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), by allowing designated sites to use NHSC scholarship and loan repayment programs to recruit and retain clinicians in eligible primary health care, dental, and behavioral health disciplines. For colleges in underserved communities, NHSC site designation might be a useful tool to recruit and retain health and well-being staff but few, if any, colleges are so designated. If your institution is in an HPSA, the campus health center may be eligible to obtain NHSC site designation benefits. Please see a list below of member institutions within an eligible zip code/geographical region.

Background

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) supports medical, dental, and behavioral health providers through the provision of scholarships and loan repayment programs. Under the direction of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the NHSC provides designation to primary care and medical sites so that the health and well-being needs of underserved communities are met. The program allows providers in those communities to be designated, and by doing so, they become eligible for various employee recruitment and retention incentives/tools.

For higher education institutions, receiving an NHSC site designation could be a useful tool to recruit and retain health and well-being staff, and it was suggested as a way for ACHA member institutions to help meet the existing demand for more staff in this area. As a service to our members, ACHA’s advocacy team looked into the program and found few, if any, colleges that are currently designated as NHSC sites. To find out why, ACHA’s advocacy team met with the leadership at HRSA who are responsible for administering the HRSA program. During the meeting, we were able to correct misconceptions about college health and well-being programs and were able to get assurance of college eligibility and encouragement for colleges to apply. This document is the next step in the process to do just that.

During our meeting with the HRSA, they explained that college health centers may be eligible to obtain the NHSC site designation so long as they meet the necessary eligibility requirements of providing access to services on a sliding-fee scale and are geographically located within a HPSA. Furthermore, ACHA cross-referenced a list of existing HRSA-designated HPSA counties and cross-referenced these with ACHA membership to determine that more than 100 ACHA member institutions may be eligible to become NHSC-designated sites.

This informational overview should provide more guidance on eligibility requirements and the application process. A general webinar providing further information for potential sites on the program application is expected in May 2024. ACHA will be working closely with HRSA to conduct a college-specific webinar that can provide further information and clarity on program eligibility, benefits, and requirements.

Eligibility

To be considered for NHSC site designation, a medical site must:

• Be in an underserved area, also known as a health professional shortage area (HPSA)
  • NOTE: ACHA reviewed the current eligible zip codes and has provided a list below of member institutions within an eligible zip code/geographical region.
• Demonstrate the presence of a sliding fee scale to ensure that all potential patients can receive services, regardless of their financial status. In previous conversations between HRSA and ACHA, HRSA clarified that the inclusion of mandatory student insurance plan fees would not impact the potential confirmation of colleges as NHSC sites since the current NHSC Site Agreement and Site Reference Guide do not have language that expressly prohibits mandatory student fees.
• Serve and provide health services to their community. As our discussions with HRSA have continued, ACHA has demonstrated that college health centers are major health contributors to their communities due to their ability to address the health and well-being needs of college students.

Application Process

The current application cycle to apply for NHSC Site Designation is expected to open on May 14, 2024. During the open application cycle, HRSA will be hosting a detailed webinar for all interested sites. The webinar will present information on how to apply, eligibility for the program, and site requirements, and further explain the benefits of obtaining NHSC site designation. The application cycle is typically open for six to eight weeks according to HRSA, and the application is also open to sites that have never been NHSC-approved or sites that are currently inactive due to designation expiration or past compliance.

See also:

• Apply to Become an NHSC Site
• NHSC Site Eligibility Requirements
• NHSC Site Agreement
• NHSC Site Reference Guide

List of ACHA Members located in the same county as an HRSA-designated HPSA

A requirement for National Health Service Corps (NHSC) site designation eligibility is geographical location within a health provider shortage area (HPSA). In January 2024, the Health Services and Resources Administration published a list of designated HPSAs throughout the country.

A list of ACHA members was cross-referenced with HRSA’s published lists to determine proximity to HPSA locations. Based on this information, the ACHA members listed below may be eligible based on their county location containing a HPSA. To confirm eligibility, potential sites are encouraged to utilize HRSA’s HPSA Shortage Area Tool.

• AMDA College of the Performing Arts
• Amherst College
• Anna Maria College
• Arizona State University
• Azusa Pacific University
• Baldwin Wallace University
• Biola University
• Bowie State University
• California Institute of Technology
• California Institute of the Arts
• California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
• California State University-Chico
• California State University-Long Beach
• California State University-Los Angeles
• California State University-Monterey Bay
• California State University-Northridge
• California State University-San Bernardino
• California State University-San Marcos
• Canisius College
• Carleton College
• Case Western Reserve University
• Cerritos College
• Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science
• Clark Atlanta University
• Clark University
• Cleveland State University
• Clovis Community College
• College of the Canyons
• College of the Holy Cross
• Colorado State University-Fort Collins
• Denison University
• DePaul University
• DePauw University
• Dominican University
• Duquesne University
• D’Youville College
• Eastern Washington University
• El Camino College
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Emory University
• Evergreen State College
• Franklin Pierce University
• Fresno City College
• Fresno Pacific University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Georgia State University
• Gonzaga University
• Grand Canyon University
• Grinnell College
• Grossmont Community College
• Hampden-Sydney College
• Hampshire College
• Harper College
• Husson University
• John Carroll University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Keene State College
• Lake Superior College
• Los Angeles Pierce College
• Loyola Marymount University
• Loyola University-Chicago
• Loyola University Maryland
• Madonna University
• Marquette University
• Marymount California University
• Milwaukee School of Engineering
• Montana State University-Bozeman
• Moody Bible Institute
• Morehouse College
• Morgan State University
• Mount Holyoke College
• Mount Saint Mary’s University-Doheny
• Mount San Jacinto College
• New Mexico State University
• Nichols College
• Northeastern Illinois University
• Northern Arizona University
• Northwestern University
• Oakton Community College
• Oregon State University
• Otis College of Art and Design
• Pepperdine University
• Prince George’s Community College
• Robert Morris University
• Saint Anselm College
• Saint Martin’s University
• Saint Mary’s College of Maryland
• Saint Xavier University
• San Bernardino Valley College
• San Diego City College
• San Diego Mesa College
• San Diego State University
• School of The Art Institute Of Chicago
• Seattle Pacific University
• Seattle University
• Shepherd University
• Sierra College
• Southern New Hampshire University
• Spelman College
• Springfield College
• Springfield Technical Community College
• State University of New York at Buffalo
• Stevenson University
• Texas A & M University-Kingsville
• Texas Tech University
• The Claremont Colleges Services
• The College of Saint Scholastica
• Towson University
• University of Arizona
• University of California-Los Angeles
• University of California-Merced
• University of California-Riverside
• University of California-San Diego
• University of Chicago
• University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus
• University of Hawaii-Hilo
• University of La Verne
• University of Maryland – College Park
• University of Maryland Baltimore County
• University of Maryland, Baltimore
• University of Massachusetts-Amherst
• University of Nevada-Las Vegas
• University of Nevada-Reno
• University of New Hampshire
• University of North Dakota
• University of Rhode Island
• University of San Diego
• University of Southern California
• University of Texas-Medical Branch
• University of Washington-Bothell
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Washington State University-Vancouver
• Westfield State University
• Whittier College
• Whitworth University
• Worcester State University