On Nov. 27, 2018 Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) co-introduced S. 10, legislation that would exclude from gross income certain federally subsidized dental faculty loan repayment awards under Title VII of the Public Health Service Act. The dental faculty loan repayment program (DFLRP) was created – thanks to AAPD’s advocacy efforts- due to the significant difficulties in recruiting qualified individuals to fill faculty positions, especially acute in pediatric dentistry. A critical factor in recruiting and retaining dental school faculty from recent dental school or residency program graduates is the staggering student loan debt and income disparity with private practice. The AAPD thanks Senators Cardin and Wicker for their bi-partisan leadership on this issue, which is a high priority for the AAPD.

S. 10 is the Senate companion bill to H.R. 6149, introduced on June 19, 2018, by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y. 9th), Congressman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho 2nd) and Congressman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz. 4th). Under the DFLRP, programs may support loan repayment contracts over five years to recruit and retain faculty. Full-time faculty members are eligible for repayment of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 percent of their student loan balance (principal and interest) for each year of service. By alleviating taxation of such payments to the individual, this legislation will make the program even more effective in recruiting and retaining pediatric dental faculty.

Click here for a copy of S. 10.
Click here for a copy of H.R. 6149.

The AAPD urges Congress to adopt this bill as part of any future tax legislation under consideration.

Click here for a profile of pediatric dental faculty loan repayment recipients. 

For further information, please contact AAPD Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel C. Scott Litch at slitch@aapd.org