“I was awarded the program that gave me $5,000 a year for loan repayment for up to three years so, each year, as long as I still meet the requirements, I can get up to $15,000 in repayment.”
Kelli Cornwell is a registered hygienist at My Community Dental Center in Grand Rapids, a Michigan-based nonprofit dental clinic. She says the Delta Dental Foundation’s school loan scholarship program has reduced the stress that comes from paying off school loan debt.
“And I have about $20,000 left for my dental hygiene degree, so this would basically pay off a majority of my student loans for dental hygiene.”
According to Delta Dental, there is a shortage of nearly 500 dental health professionals in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. The goal of the loan repayment program is to encourage more oral health professionals like Kelli to serve Medicaid beneficiaries and practice in public health clinics.
“What benefits me benefits the patients that I serve, too, so yeah, it’s a great program that they just started this year so I’m happy to be one of the first to receive it.”
The foundation plans on continuing the program next year.
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