Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) cancels the remaining balance on your federal Direct Loans after you make 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full-time for a government or qualifying nonprofit employer. Once you reach 120 qualifying payments, the remaining balance is forgiven tax-free.

Will RAP count towards PSLF?

Yes. Payments made under the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) — the income-driven plan created by the 2025 federal student-loan law — are qualifying payments for PSLF, just like payments under IBR, PAYE, and ICR. As long as you're working full-time for a qualifying employer, months you pay on RAP count toward your 120.

You need federal Direct Loans, full-time employment with a government agency or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and 120 qualifying payments made under a qualifying repayment plan. Most borrowers use an income-driven plan (such as RAP or IBR) to keep payments affordable while the months count toward forgiveness.

How to Pay for Nursing School

Money You Do Not Repay

One Application Opens Almost All of It

The FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — is the single application that opens federal aid and most California aid. Students who are not eligible to file a FAFSA file the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) instead. Filing is what triggers the eligibility determination, so a student who does not file is not considered for programs they may already qualify for.

The FAFSA or CADAA must be submitted by the March 2 priority deadline to maximize financial aid opportunities or by September 2 if attending or planning to attend a California Community College. (California Student Aid Commission, retrieved August 12, 2026 — check CSAC's Cal Grant page for the current year.)

The Programs

Federal Pell Grant — Undergraduates with financial need. It is the base layer — most other need-based aid is stacked on top of it, and several programs below are awarded by asking who received a Pell Grant first. Administered by Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education.
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) — Undergraduates with financial need, at schools that take part in the program. The school picks the recipients, starting with its Pell Grant recipients who have the lowest expected family contributions. Administered by Federal Student Aid — awarded by participating schools. Not every school participates, and the money is a fixed pot each school hands out until it runs out. Filing early matters more here than on any other item in this table.
Cal Grant A — Low to middle income students in programs two or more years long that lead to an associate or bachelor's degree. Administered by California Student Aid Commission (CSAC).
Cal Grant B — Low income students in programs one or more years long that lead to an associate or bachelor's degree. Administered by California Student Aid Commission (CSAC).
Cal Grant C — Students in occupational or technical training programs at least eight weeks long — the Cal Grant built for career training rather than a degree. Administered by California Student Aid Commission (CSAC). This is the one most people have never heard of, and it is the one a vocational nursing or allied health program most often fits. CSAC publishes an occupational list that defines which programs meet the criteria, and a priority list that scores higher. Awards are competitive and limited in number each year, so a Cal Grant C is not guaranteed even when you qualify.
California College Promise Grant — California residents with financial need attending a California community college. It waives the per-unit enrollment fee. Administered by California Community Colleges. Formerly the BOG Fee Waiver, and the old name still circulates on campus and in older guides. It is the same benefit under its current name.
Middle Class Scholarship — Low-to-middle-income undergraduates at a University of California or California State University campus — or at a California Community College, but only in a bachelor's degree program. Administered by California Student Aid Commission (CSAC). Read that community college line twice. The Middle Class Scholarship reaches a community college student only if they are enrolled in that college's bachelor's degree program. An associate degree or a certificate at the same campus — which is what a vocational nursing or allied health student is usually enrolled in — is not covered. If community college is your cheapest door, this is probably not your program.
California Chafee Grant for Foster Youth — Current and former foster youth who were in foster care at least one day between ages 16 and 18, and who have not reached their 26th birthday as of July 1 of the award year. It can be used at a college, a university, or a career or technical school. Administered by California Student Aid Commission (CSAC). The one exception to the one-application rule. Chafee needs its own separate application on top of the FAFSA or CADAA — a one-time Chafee application, with the FAFSA or CADAA renewed every year. Funding is limited and awards are not guaranteed.

Your School's Own Aid

Every school's financial aid office administers scholarships and grants of its own — endowed awards, foundation money, departmental scholarships, emergency grants. None of it appears on a state list, the amounts and rules differ by campus, and a school two miles away may award something this one does not. The only way to find out what a school gives is to ask that school's financial aid office what it awards and how to be considered. Professional associations in nursing and allied health are the other source that appears on no state list: an association may run scholarships or grants of its own, and its own site is the only place to see what it awards and who it awards to.

What to Do Next

File the FAFSA, or the CADAA if you are not eligible to file a FAFSA. Nothing else on this page is reachable without it — not the Pell Grant, not any Cal Grant, not the fee waiver at your community college. There is no separate application for most of it, and no way to be considered without it.