The greatest strength of the LRAPs at HLS is choice. With two distinct options, the Low Income Protection Plan (Traditional LIPP) and the HLS PSLF Based Plan (the Plan), HLS ensures that graduates at the lowest incomes receive the most generous benefits. Traditional LIPP leaves you in control of your career: it allows you to make the career decisions that are right for you with the knowledge that you will have the support you need, when you need it. The Plan is a great option for those choosing to commit to spending a decade in qualifying public service roles.
When looking at LRAPs, it is always important to read the fine print and understand how to compare LRAP programs.
Traditional LIPP is a comprehensive and flexible loan repayment assistance program for graduates working in relatively low-paying jobs. It allows HLS graduates to choose from a broad range of career options without delaying or deferring the repayment of their educational loans, and it covers both public sector and law-related private sector jobs.
Traditional LIPP is the only loan repayment assistance program that combines all of these features:
- Covers both public and private sector employment and
- Uses actual repayment term of loans (at least 10 years), which saves you more in the long run compared to using an artificial or extended repayment term of 15 years or longer that limits benefits; especially if you leave the program after a few years and
- Is not structured to require participation in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which is an all-or-nothing program that requires a minimum of 10-years in public service jobs to qualify for any forgiveness benefit and
- Covers all types of standard educational loans, both federal and private and
- Covers clerkship positions for those who intend to remain in a Traditional LIPP-eligible job following the clerkship and
- Allows you to remain in the program for as short or as long a term as you want (with some additional conditions for clerkship positions) and
- Allows you to keep the benefits you have earned when you leave the program and
- Has no mandatory salary ceiling and
- Has no limited participation opportunity window and
- Includes allowances for asset protection, dependents, daycare expenses and parental leave and
- Covers up to $50,000 of undergraduate debt and up to $15,000 of bar loan debt
There are LRAPs at other law schools that may offer more generous benefits to specific individuals. However, other law schools do this by offering less generous benefits to the lowest-income participants, or by requiring participation in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, or by requiring that recipients repay their loans on an extended term. Traditional LIPP makes none of these trade-offs.
The Plan, however, may be most generous to those deciding to commit to ten years of qualifying employment in full-time public sector jobs, which qualify under federal guidelines, such as those in the government, non-profit, and academic industries. Tying in with the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, those choosing this program receive assistance from HLS for their federal borrowing if their monthly payments in relation to their income is eligible. Please review our website for more program details and how to compare Traditional LIPP and the HLS PSLF Based Plan.