Career Services

Loan Repayment Assistance Program

I. Purpose

The Wake Forest University Loan Repayment Assistance Program (WFU LRAP) was created to provide Wake Forest law students with a choice of pursuing lower paying public service careers. The program recognizes that law student indebtedness poses a significant barrier to students interested in public service careers. By alleviating some of the burden of loan repayment through the making of forgivable loans to selected graduates who enter public service, the program also seeks to encourage graduates to remain in public service careers.

II. Administration

The program shall be administered by a committee of law school faculty and staff appointed by the Dean. The committee will be responsible for determining eligibility for funding, the amounts of loans and documentation required for participation in the program.

III. Definitions

  1. Applicant: A Wake Forest Law School graduate who graduated in 1999 or more recently who applies to the WFU LRAP to receive loan repayment assistance.
  2. Participant: An attorney who has been selected by the WFU LRAP Committee to participate in and receive funds through the WFU LRAP.
  3. Domestic Partner: An Applicant's/Participant's spouse or another person with whom an applicant is engaged in a serious, committed and exclusive relationship having essentially the same elements of mutual, long-term exclusive commitment and mutual support that characterizes a marriage.
  4. Dependent Family Member: A domestic partner is a dependent if he or she makes less than half of the Applicant/Participant's income OR has an income of less than $25,000 per year. A minor child who receives more than 1/2 of his/her financial support from the Applicant/Participant or the domestic partner is considered a dependent family member.
  5. Salary of an Applicant/Participant: The annual contractual amount an Applicant/Participant earns while engaged in full-time law-related Eligible Employment as noted in Section IV of these Guidelines. The committee may adjust the Applicant/Participant's salary for cost of living differences from those in North Carolina if the Applicant/Participant is employed outside of North Carolina.
  6. Salary of a Domestic Partner: The annual amount the domestic partner earns while employed. The committee may adjust the Domestic Partner's salary for cost of living differences from those in North Carolina if the domestic partner is employed outside of North Carolina.
  7. Applicant/Participant's Adjusted Income: Applicant/Participant's salary plus any other income of the Applicant/Participant, reduced by $5,000 for each dependent minor child and each dependent family member.
  8. Joint Adjusted Income: The salary of the Applicant/Participant plus the salary of the domestic partner plus any other income of the Applicant/Participant and the domestic partner, reduced by $5,000 for each dependent family member.
  9. Eligibility determination Income: The higher of (a) the Applicant/Participant's Adjusted Income, as defined above or (b) one-half (1/2) the Joint Adjusted Income, as defined above, of the Applicant/Participant and his/her domestic partner.
  10. Current: All payments required by the financial lender of the Applicant/Participant's law school loans have been made and are being made in full and on-time.
  11. Full-time: An Applicant must work or be paid for 35 or more hours/week.

IV. Eligibility

Graduates of Wake Forest who graduated in 1999 or more recently and who are employed full-time in legally-related public service positions are eligible to apply for loan repayment assistance from the program. For purposes of the program, public service employment shall mean employment in a legal capacity by a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization or government agency (not including judicial clerkships).

In addition to being employed by an eligible employer:

  1. Applicants must remain in public service employment during the term of their loan.
  2. Applicants to WFU LRAP must have an Eligibility Determination Income, as defined under these Guidelines, of no more than $42,000 when entering public service employment.
  3. At the time of the making of the loan, the Applicant must be current on all law school indebtedness.

V. Loans

The committee may make dischargeable loans to Applicants/Participants based on Applicant/Participant needs, commitment to public service, the population served by the Applicant's/Participant's employer and general equity.

The loans shall be in such form, amounts and in such numbers as the committee shall determine. The making of any and all loans shall be subject to the availability of funds. Once made, the loan's terms will permit its discharge upon the Applicant's/Participant's certification of continued public service employment as of the loan's due date pursuant to the requirements established by the committee.

Loans shall not exceed $3,500.00 in any one year nor 10 percent of an Applicant's total law school indebtedness during their participation in the program.

Participation in the program shall be limited to three years.

VI. Application Procedure

Application materials for the upcoming year will be posted on the web by November 15 and must be returned to the Law School by January 15. Application materials may include verification of employment and income, personal statement, information regarding family finances and eligibility for, participation in or application to other loan repayment programs and such other materials approved by the committee.

VII. Successive Loans

The administrator of this program will send each participant an employment certification form at the end of each year of participation in the program. This form will certify employment with an eligible employer and continued current status on all law school indebtedness.

LRAP Application