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EPAT Questions & Answers

Can tuition expenses be funded under the Expansion of Physician Assistant Training (EPAT) program?

Yes, tuition and fees are allowable expenses under the EPAT program.  According to the program guidance, “The [EPAT] program supports physician assistant student stipends, educational expenses, reasonable living expenses and indirect costs for a total of $22,000 per student, for a maximum of two years per student, plus indirect costs.”  Although tuition expenses are not explicitly mentioned in the guidance or governing statutory authority, the EPAT legislative language, sec. 747(a)(1)(B) of the PHS Act, as revised by P.L. 111-148, allows funding to be used for “…need-based financial assistance in the form of traineeships and fellowships…”  Tuition and fees are allowable costs of traineeships or fellowships, if required for specific courses in support of the training.

Can stipends be paid under the EPAT program?

Yes, as mentioned in the program guidance, stipends are an allowable expense under the EPAT program.  Stipends are permissible cost-of-living allowances for trainees and fellows, if permitted by a program’s authorizing statute or regulations.  Stipends are allowable costs of traineeships and fellowships which are permitted under HRSA’s Grants Policy Manual. Stipends can be used as a subsistence allowance for fellows or trainees to help defray living expenses during the training experience.

Although EPAT funding may be used for a multitude of purposes as laid out in the program guidance, grantees must abide by the budgets set forth in their funding applications and referenced in their notice of grant awards.  In the event that a grantee requested to use EPAT funding for tuition and fees only, that grantee would be unable to use the funding award for another purpose (e.g. stipends) unless the grantee submitted and received approval for a grant modification in the Electronic Handbooks (EHB) System.

Can an EPAT program require trainees to go into primary care even though HRSA cannot impose such a requirement under section 747 of the Public Health Service Act?  Can a student that receives support though the EPAT program be required to sign a contract stating that he or she will go into primary care and that failure to fulfill this obligation will result in the student having to reimburse any funds expended?

No, awardee institutions cannot impose primary care service obligations or penalties on EPAT-supported trainees because this type of obligation is not permitted by the program’s authorizing statute, section 747 of the PHS Act, as revised by P.L. 111-148.  Awardees may not enforce administrative requirements on sub-recipients (students) that are more stringent than those requirements imposed on the primary recipient (the grantee).  Simply put, since the statutory authority does not allow HRSA to impose service obligations on trainees, grantees cannot hold trainees to such a requirement.