Efforts of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to reduce the delinquency rate in the Health Professions and Nursing Student Loan programs are described. The following activities have been implemented: provision of technical assistance to schools, modifications of the loan program regulations, proposed legislative amendments, liaison with financial aid and fiscal officers to update them on regulation/legislation changes and program policy, a revision of "Student Financial Aid Guidelines," and identification of federal employees who have delinquent student loans. The Annual Operating Report for the period ending June 30, 1983, was revised to reflect changes in new regulations and program policy and to monitor more closely the progress of schools in their efforts to lower delinquency rates. DHHS is unwilling to impose on schools the penalty provided for them in the current regulations, until a policy decision is made as to how the delinquency rate will be calculated. Data are presented that show dollar delinquency rates in 1981 and 1982 when a loan was delinquent if a payment was 90 or more days overdue, and in 1983 when a loan was delinquent if a payment was 60 or more days overdue. The data indicate that considerable progress among the schools has been made in reducing their loan delinquency rates. (SW)