The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

As much as they can, though its prorated based on the amount of time I completed

Interesting, do they reduce it at all or do they hit you with as much of the debt as they can?

Just Tuition and Fees, Book Allowance and Stipend were eligible for repayment. ISPs, Site Visit and Health Insurance allowance is not eligible for repayment.

Did they tack on everything or was it just tuition, healthcare, books and stipend? I am about 2/3 in my phase 2 and would like to leave. The job is miserable…. I’ve tried jumping around at my SF and it just gets worse.

Will be anxiety inducing, but once they correct the amount, you will probably want to send a certified demand letter stating the situation above and requesting a written release of any debt. The debtors discord can probably find you the resources to do that right. You have made more than reasonable attempts to pay your debt, no judge (or arbitrator) would find you at fault.

Just about correct, I plan on appealing the amount because they have the % of time served slightly incorrect.

Was the amount on the debt letter in the ballpark of what you expected based on percentage of time worked, less the internship payments and health insurance?

Update: I received a letter today detailing my repayment amount, roughly 15 months after I left. I have an email trail of me repeatedly asking for the amount so I can pay it off. My bonus (for the repayment) from my current employer has expired based on my offer letter, though I have a feeling I could discuss with my manager and get it worked out.

What are my chances at a debt waiver? Or should I pursue another avenue?

My situation was a little different given the new employer offered to pay off my balance, but SMART really encouraged me to empty my PTO to get 'close enough' to my service repayment date. It seemed they were more concerned with the paperwork required than actually getting my repayment.

Probably not but it depends how much LWOP time you would end up using. I bet anything < 1 month and they won't care enough.

Thanks. I don't want to get too in the weeds of the Handbook, but they explicitly say time on Leave Without Pay doesn't count. Do they have an actual method of tracking this or could I feasibly "pad" my exit date by a few months by emptying my PTO bank and then taking some LWOP time?

I'd say you don't have to care too much about being up front with SMART but just make sure you have on paper your start date, end date, % of award worked, etc. In the case they do come after you, you can make sure your numbers line up.

In your experience, would you recommend being very upfront with SMART when you leave? Everyone who I did my interview and internship with has left so my leadership really doesn't know much about SMART or my commitment. I am considering just resigning a few months early to take another job, but I don't think I will be close enough to the window where SMART will look the other way like they did for you. Was SMART accommodating or will they be difficult where I would have an incentive to just resign with my current leadership and wait for SMART to catch up with me, if they do at all? Thanks in advance.

Keep your email trail showing you are requesting repayment. It wouldn't legally be worth the trouble for SMART to pursue you if you have a paper trail of trying to pay it off in a reasonable time. I wouldn't worry too much If I was you.

I left SMART a couple months early in the summer of 2020, and as part of my sign-on bonus my new employer offered to pay my remaining SMART balance (a few thousand dollars). A couple weeks before I left the SMART liaison called me an asked if I had enough leave to finish my commitment, and even if I got within a few weeks of my repayment date she would look the other way because it "wouldn't be worth the trouble of the repayment paperwork".

It has been almost 7 months and I haven't received a bill for my repayment even after I reached out to the SMART liaison to request one. My employer's commitment to paying the SMART balance expires after one year, so worst case scenario I get a bill over a year after I left and I have to pay it myself. Is there a better way to request a bill, or does my repayment commitment expire at some point?