The Ohio Physician Loan Guide
Program and regulatory figures verified October 6, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Everything on this site in one place, in the order an Ohio physician actually needs it.
What order should I do this in?
1. Read the loan repayment penalty before anything else. If you are considering a state loan repayment contract, the exit cost is three times the award or the amount paid plus $7,500 per remaining month, whichever is greater. The arithmetic.
2. Check your employment contract for two things. Whether its contingencies let you close early, and whether it provides loan repayment or imposes a service obligation, which disqualifies you from the state program. Both.
3. Get your county's transfer rate. The statutory cap is 0.4%; your county auditor has the actual figure. The statutes.
4. Then pick the loan. Physician loan or conventional.
The loan repayment program, honestly
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Award, full-time | up to $25,000/year for an initial two-year contract; up to $35,000/year for years three and four |
| Part-time | up to half the full-time amounts |
| Four-year maximum | $120,000 |
| Taxability | ODH: "Payments are tax-exempt." |
| Commitment | Two years minimum; renewable by two one-year terms; four years maximum |
| Specialties | Eight-plus primary care, incl. Adolescent Medicine, IM/Peds, child and geriatric psychiatry |
| Career stage | ★ Final-year residents and fellows eligible by statute |
| Hours | Full-time min 40/wk, min 32 direct care; part-time 20–39, min 16 direct |
| ★ Teaching and telemedicine | ★ May count as direct patient care, conditions apply |
| Site | Shortage area, accepts Medicaid and Medicare, serves all regardless of inability to pay |
| ★ Free clinics | ★ Count as shortage areas regardless of location; excepted from the payer rule |
| ★★ Breach | ★★ 3× the award, or amount paid + $7,500/month remaining, whichever greater, within one year |
| Disqualifiers | Any outstanding service obligation, incl. other states' LRPs, NHSC Scholarship, Students to Service, MEDTAPP, Choose Ohio First, military, employer repayment; student loan default may disqualify |
| Apply | By email to PCRH@odh.ohio.gov; incomplete or late applications not reviewed |
| ★ Deadline | ★ None published in any document we can read |
The transfer cost
| Component | Rate | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| County auditor conveyance fee | 0.1% (10¢/$100) | Mandatory, ORC 319.54(G)(3) |
| County real property transfer tax | up to 0.3% (30¢/$100) | By resolution, ORC 322.02 |
| Statutory maximum | 0.4% | — |
On a $400,000 purchase that is at most $1,600, against $18,312 in Philadelphia. ★ We publish no named county rate, because ORC 322.02 leaves it to local resolution and we verified none. Detail.
What the physician loan does
- Up to 100% financing with no PMI; five-percent-down options; to $2M.
- Student debt on your documented income-driven payment, not 1% of balance (Fannie Mae B3-6-05) or 0.5% (HUD 4000.1).
- Closing up to 150 days before your start date on a signed contract, against the 90 agency rules allow.
- Eligible degrees: MD, DO, DDS, DMD, DPM, OD, PharmD, DVM, CRNA, plus residents and fellows.
- Asset depletion as supplemental income only, at a 3% rate of return, assets in a US account.
Lender portfolio program, not agency financing. Who qualifies.
The market and the limits
39 of the 40 Ohio metros in Zillow's series rose in the year to 31 August 2026; the one faller was Jackson at −1.5%. Columbus $330,327 (+1.4%), Cincinnati $308,426 (+2.4%), Cleveland $253,678 (+3.9%), Youngstown $177,110 (+5.4%), against a US benchmark of $368,697 (+1.2%). Greenville led at +8.9%.
★ Every Ohio metro in the series sits below that benchmark. And all 88 counties share the $832,750 limit, with no high-cost county anywhere.
★ No Dayton figure appears here: Dayton is absent from the series. Market · Limits.
By city
Columbus — priciest in Ohio, slowest-growing of the large metros.
Cleveland and Akron — cheapest big markets, growing faster.
Cincinnati — middle on price, upper middle on growth, and a tri-state closing question.
How was this verified?
Every figure carries the date 2026-10-06. The loan repayment figures were read out of the Department of Health's own application packet, not from a summary. The transfer rates come from the Ohio Revised Code itself. Loan limits come from the FHFA's 2026 county file, all 88 counties checked. Market data is Zillow Research's metro series to 31 August 2026.
★ That mattered more than usual here. A circulating summary reported award figures of $37,500 and $47,500; the Department's packet says $25,000 and $35,000. We publish the packet's figures. What else we could not verify, and said so.
Frequently asked questions
What should a physician know before buying in Ohio?
That Ohio is cheap to buy into and expensive to leave. Transfer costs are capped at 0.4% by statute and every Ohio metro in the data sits below the national benchmark, so entry is easy. But the state loan repayment program's breach penalty is three times the award, or the amount paid plus $7,500 for each remaining month, whichever is greater, which makes the service contract the harder of the two commitments to unwind.How much does Ohio pay physicians for loan repayment?
Up to $25,000 per year for an initial two-year contract and up to $35,000 per year for a third and fourth year, giving a four-year maximum of $120,000. Part-time participants receive up to half, and the Department states payments are tax-exempt. These are maximums; Ohio publishes no average award figure. Verified against the Department's packet 2026-10-06.What does an Ohio physician loan offer?
Up to 100% financing with no private mortgage insurance, five-percent-down options, loan amounts to $2M, student debt counted on your documented income-driven payment rather than 1% of the balance, and closing up to 150 days before your start date on a signed employment contract. Eligible degrees include MD, DO, DDS, DMD, DPM, OD, PharmD, DVM and CRNA, plus residents and fellows.Is Ohio a good state for a physician to buy in?
On the numbers it compares very well. Every Ohio metro in Zillow's series sits below the national benchmark typical home value of $368,697, thirty-nine of forty rose year over year, all 88 counties share the same $832,750 conforming limit, and transfer costs are capped at 0.4% by statute. The thing to weigh carefully is the loan repayment service commitment rather than the purchase.Can final-year residents apply for Ohio loan repayment?
Yes. Ohio Revised Code section 3702.72 permits an application from a primary care physician enrolled in the final year of an accredited program required for board certification in a primary care specialty, or in the final year of a fellowship, as well as from a physician already holding a valid Ohio licence. That statutory route is broader than several other states' programs.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, or licensure advice. Physician-loan program terms, eligible degrees, and overlays are set by the lender and change. Ohio Physician Loan Repayment Program award amounts, eligibility, service terms and penalties are set by the Ohio Department of Health and change; the figures here carry the date we verified them against the Department's published application packet and the Ohio Revised Code, and ODH's own pages cannot be read by automated tools, so confirm your position with the Department. Ohio conveyance fees and county real property transfer taxes are set by statute and by county resolution and change. All loans are subject to borrower and property qualification, including credit and income review.