State Launches $20 Million Loan Repayment, Expands Rural Mental Health Workforce
North Carolina launched a $20 million loan repayment program to recruit and retain master’s level mental health and related professionals in rural and underserved communities, offering up to $50,000 for a three year service commitment. The effort aims to ease local access barriers, bolster care for Medicaid and uninsured populations, and address longstanding staffing shortages that affect Wake County and surrounding rural areas.
The state has launched a $20 million initiative that offers up to $50,000 in student loan repayment for master’s level professionals who provide mental health, substance use, intellectual and developmental disability, or traumatic brain injury services in rural and underserved counties. Applications opened Monday December 1, 2025, as part of a broader strategy to strengthen community based behavioral health services.
The program targets licensed professionals who commit to working at least 32 hours per week for three years in an approved agency that serves at least 40 percent Medicaid, uninsured, or underinsured patients. Eligible clinicians include Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors, Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialists, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Psychologists and Psychological Associates. The repayment is focused on non medical licensed providers who historically make up a substantial portion of community systems of care.
The move follows warnings that nearly four million North Carolinians live in areas with a shortage of mental health professionals, a gap driven by financial barriers and capacity limits at community clinics. The state sees the investment as a lever to expand capacity, reduce travel times for care, and keep clinicians in local communities rather than pushing patients to urban centers.
Clinical workforce shortages are a recurring problem in Wake County and neighboring rural towns where clinics see high volumes of Medicaid patients and struggle to hire licensed staff. The new program could help clinics recruit newly graduated social workers and counselors whose loan burdens often push them toward private practice or higher paying non clinical roles. It may also increase clinic throughput, helping more residents access therapy, addiction treatment, and services for developmental disabilities close to home.
NC Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai said, "We have significant workforce shortages and access challenges in mental health." He added, "This program is a strategic investment in the people who provide critical care and support to individuals and families across our state."
Kelly Crosbie, Director of the NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services, said, "Licensed professionals are a large and essential part of our mental health, substance use, and disability service systems." She added, "We cannot build a strong system of care without a strong workforce. This program is about investing in those professionals, supporting their careers, and ensuring that people across North Carolina have access to the care they need, close to home."
Applications and details are available on the NCDHHS Licensed Workforce Loan Repayment Program page on the department’s website. The program joins other recent initiatives aimed at building the social work pipeline and supporting licensed clinicians statewide.
