Loan Repayment Assistance

A Benefit for Public Service Practitioners

As a reflection of Gonzaga University School of Law’s humanistic, Jesuit, and Catholic nature, this Loan Repayment Assistance Program reflects the high value the school places on attorneys pursuing careers in public service.

Purpose

The purpose of this program is to provide loan repayment assistance to a select number of our graduates who are pursuing careers in public service. Applicants with outstanding law school student loans, both federal and commercial, are invited to apply to the program.

Gonzaga General Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP)

The Gonzaga Loan Repayment Assistance Program is available for Gonzaga Law graduates working in public service across the country and around the world.

The program functions to provide selected graduates with loans of up to $4,000 a year to help meet the repayment of specified law school loans. If a graduate remains in qualifying public interest employment for at least one year after receipt of a loan under this program, the loan made by the law school will be forgiven. Graduates may apply annually for a total of five years of LRAP funding.

The John R. Clark Loan Repayment Program

The John R. Clark endowed Loan Repayment Assistance Program offers loan repayment for Spokane-area public defenders.

The program will provide recipients with a loan to help meet repayment of law school loans. If the recipient remains in public service for at least one year after receipt of the loan, it will be forgiven by the law school. Graduates may apply annually for the John R. Clark program.

Applicants that qualify under the requirements for both programs may apply for an be concurrently awarded loan repayment assistance through both programs.

These programs are administered by the dean’s office and by the law school faculty Scholarship Committee. Any awards made through this program are issued through the sole and unfettered discretion of the dean’s office and the Scholarship Committee. There is no obligation on the part of the law school to make any offer in any given year.

College Cost Reduction & Access Act

The College Cost Reduction & Access Act offers federal loan Income Based Repayment (IBR) and loan forgiveness for public service

In addition to Gonzaga’s LRAP, we strongly encourage low-income graduates concerned about loan repayment to review and consider enrolling in new federal programs that could substantially reduce their monthly loan payments. The federal Income Based Repayment (IBR) option and the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program were signed into law by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. These programs assist borrowers by limiting repayment amounts based on salary and family size, and forgiving federal loans for long-term public service employment. For more information, please visit these websites:

Details of the Loan Repayment Assistance Program and John R. Clark LRAP 2024

Inaccurate information provided in connection with a program application will render a participant immediately and retroactively ineligible for LRAP or John R. Clark LRAP support. Any LRAP or John R. Clark LRAP funds that have been disbursed pursuant to inaccurate information provided in a program application must be paid back in full.
 
If a recipient works in qualifying employment within the LRAP guidelines for at least one year after the January funding, the recipient’s LRAP loan will be forgiven on January 1 of the year following disbursement. Prior to loan forgiveness, the recipient must submit a completed Request for Discharge form certified by the qualifying employer and must submit proof that his or her law school education loans remain in good standing. If a recipient discontinues qualified employment during the calendar year for which they received funding, the LRAP loan must be paid back in full. However, if a recipient remains in qualified employment for at least six months after receipt of funding, a percentage of the loan may be partially forgiven upon application to the law school scholarship committee. The decision of the committee regarding that application will be final. All recipients who owe a percentage or all of their LRAP loans are under a legal obligation to repay these loans to Gonzaga University School of Law based upon their signed promissory note.
 
Support for recipients will be provided in a single allotment, made in January of the approved year, and the payment will be forwarded directly to the alum. It is the responsibility of the recipients to provide Gonzaga University School of Law the type of loan (subsidized, unsubsidized, grad/plus or private loan) they wish the payment to be applied towards. In addition, recipients will be required to fill out a release allowing Gonzaga University School of Law to contact the lender or loan holder. The release and other forms will be provided to recipients by Gonzaga University School of Law.
 
All recipients will be required to execute a signed promissory note in the amount of the annual LRAP loan as a condition of receiving the loan and/or the John R. Clark LRAP.
 
Participants must apply every year by the deadline. Once admitted to the program, it is the responsibility of the recipient to re-apply each year for renewal and provide updated information. Prior LRAP or John R. Clark LRAP recipients do not receive priority in the selection process.

Note: This information is intended for the guidance of Gonzaga University School of Law administration, students, faculty, and alumnae. It sets forth in general the manner in which the law school intends to administer its LRAP program or John R. Clark LRAP, but the law school reserves the right to depart, without notice, from the terms of this publication.