---
kind: "section"
citation: "38 U.S.C. § 7694"
title: "38"
title_heading: "Veterans’ Benefits"
number: "7694"
heading: "Specialty education loan repayment"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/38/7694"
units:
  - "Part V — Boards, Administrations, and Services"
  - "Chapter 76 — Health Professionals Educational Assistance Program"
  - "Subchapter VIII — Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program"
---

# §7694. Specialty education loan repayment

- (a) **In General.—** Payments under the Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program shall consist of payments for the principal and interest on loans described in [section 7682(a)(2) of this title](/usc/38/7682.md?p=a-2) for individuals selected to participate in the Program to the holders of such loans.
- (b) **Frequency of Payment.—** The [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) shall make payments for any given participant in the Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program on a schedule determined appropriate by the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1).
- (c) **Maximum Amount; Waiver.—**
  - (1) The amount of payments made for a participant under the Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program may not exceed $160,000 over a total of 4 years of participation in the Program, of which not more than $40,000 of such payments may be made in each year of participation in the Program.
  - (2)
    - (A) The [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) may waive the limitations under [paragraph (1)](#c-1) in the case of a participant described in [subparagraph (B)](#c-2-B). In the case of such a waiver, the total amount of payments payable to or for that participant is the total amount of the principal and the interest on the participant’s loans referred to in [subsection (a)](#a).
    - (B) A participant described in this subparagraph is a participant in the Program who the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) determines serves in a position for which there is a shortage of qualified employees by reason of either the location or the requirements of the position.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 115–182, title III, § 303(a), June 6, 2018, 132 Stat. 1465.)