Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP)
Program Overview
LRAP constitutes a core component of UW School of Law's commitment to public service as a public law school by increasing the ability of its graduates to enter public service law.
Participants are required to commit to remain in public service employment for a three year period. Loans are given at the beginning of each of the three years. The first loan will be forgiven after two years of qualifying employment and the additional two loans will be forgiven after three years of qualifying employment.
UW Law loans $5,000 each to one to two new applicants per year and will commit to awarding an additional $5,000 a year for two more years for a total commitment of $15,000 per participant.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be graduating students or graduates of the UW Law JD program.
- Participants must be employed in Washington State.
- Applicants must be employed at least 30 hours a week in a 'legal position' for a nonprofit organization that qualifies for tax exemption under IRS Code Sections 501(c), (3), (4), or (5) or a local, state, federal or tribal government agency. Applicants employed by private firms providing contracted public defense services are not eligible. Applicants employed in judicial clerkships are not eligible.
Employment includes, but is not limited to, prosecutors, public defenders, military JAG corps, legislative staff, assistant attorney generals and administrative agency staff that make substantial use of legal skills, for example, by requiring passage of the bar exam or otherwise drawing heavily on/making direct use of law school training (or normally requiring a law degree). - Applicants must provide documentation that they are employed in a ‘legal position.' At the time of application, candidates will be asked to submit a letter from their employer that describes the terms of the employment and a description of the duties and salary.
A preliminary review of prospective jobs by the LRAP Coordinator is available and encouraged.
Qualifying Loans
Educational loans including Federal Stafford Subsidized, Unsubsidized, Graduate Plus, Perkins and Loans authorized by the School of Law for the purposes of attending School of Law's JD program will be considered. Loans taken out for undergraduate, LLM and other graduate-level study and bar study loans are not eligible.
LRAP recipients must agree to apply LRAP financial awards directly to their law school educational loans. Any excess funds are to be used to reduce the principal owed. If a participant goes into deferment or forbearance status on loans included on the LRAP application, she or he must notify the school in writing within 30 days.
Not included: Family or personal loans, Credit card debt, loans not for educational purposes, loans from family members, commercially available educational loans not certified by the Financial Aid Office, non-law school educational loans, bar exam loans, loans taken out by parents or others to finance a student's education.
Income Requirements
The compensation limit applicable to all applicants shall be based on the then current United States Government pay scales (GS Salary levels) for the compensation of individuals holding positions in the U.S. government in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia region (Salary Tables and Related Information). The salary cap will be tied to the GS 12 step 1 in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia region.
Tax Implications
The UW LRAP is structured so that the awards should not be taxable, pursuant to special federal income tax rules that apply to the discharge of student loan debt (26 U.S.C. § 108(f)). Applicants should consult a tax adviser with specific tax-related questions.