LRAP: The University of Texas School of Law

Published July 2010, last updated August 2010

Loan Repayment Assistance Program

How it Works
University of Texas School of Law (UT) graduates enrolled in the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) are given a forgivable loan to help pay off their law school educational debt. The amount of the loan depends on the participant’s salary (as outlined below). Loans are disbursed every six months and are not initially forgiven until two years of participation have been completed. Subsequently, each loan is forgiven six months after it has been disbursed.

Participant’s must enroll within two years of graduation (or three if following a clerkship or fellowship) and may be enrolled for up to ten years after graduation. Graduates cannot come back into the program after leaving it.

Eligible Jobs
Eligible positions must be full-time (at least 35 hours), law-related, and paid. Working for a government agency or 501(c)(3) qualifies, as does working for a foreign nonprofit. Your salary must be under $50,000 in order to be eligible for benefits.

Judicial clerkships are not eligible.

Eligible Debt
Law school educational loans, whether private or federal, is covered under the program (up to the amount of the student budget). If your law school loans have been consolidated with other educational loans, only the law school portion will be covered.

Bar exam loans up to $5,000 are also covered.

Calculation of Benefits
The amount of forgivable loans you are eligible for per year corresponds to your salary in the following manner:

Salary Maximum Annual Benefit
Under $35,000 $8,000
$35,001 to $37,500 $7,000
$37,501 to $40,000 $6,000
$40,001 to $42,500 $5,000
$42,501 to $45,000 $4,000
$45,001 to $47,500 $3,000
$47,501 to $50,000 $2,000

Although the UT LRAP does not require that you enroll in [link] IBR [/link], it may still be wise to do so in certain situations.

There are no adjustments made for dependents or spousal income.

You are allowed no more than $25,000 in assets, not including retirement accounts. This includes ½ of spousal assets acquired after marriage.

Hypothetical Scenarios
Let’s explore just a few hypotheticals to see how UT’s LRAP might function. In all situations below I assume the graduate receives the full amount for which he/she is eligible. It is advised that you consult with the UT Financial Aid Office to determine the likelihood of this occurrence. (On the table of contents page you will find links to websites I used to calculate federal tax burden and yearly student debt obligations. Using these, you can input your own variables. Keep in mind that the take-home income amount does not reflect state or local taxes. Treat all hypothetical scenarios and amounts as approximations.)

Scenario One
Salary: $30,000
Salary less Taxes: ($30,000 - $4,081) = $25,919
Debt: $80,000 on a ten-year repayment plan at 6.8% interest
Yearly Debt Obligation: $11,050
Max LRAP Award (see above table): $8,000
Difference between LRAP Award and Actual Debt Obligation: ($11,050 - $8,000) = $3,050
Take-home Income: ($25,919 - $3,050) = $22,869

Scenario Two
An unmarried graduate with no undergraduate debt.

Salary: $45,000
Salary less Taxes: ($45,000 - $7,438) = $37,562
Debt: $80,000 on a ten-year repayment plan at 6.8% interest
Yearly Debt Obligation: $11,050
Max LRAP Award (see above table): $4,000
Difference between LRAP Award and Actual Debt Obligation: ($11,050 - $4,000) = $7,050
Take-home Income: ($37,562 - $7,050) = $30,512

Scenario Three
A married graduate with $3,000 per year in undergraduate debt obligation. The graduate’s spouse makes a comfortable living, but this has no bearing on the LRAP award amount.

Graduate’s Salary: $50,000
Graduate’s Salary less Taxes: ($50,000 - $8,681) = $41,319
Graduate’s Debt: $80,000 on a ten-year repayment plan at 6.8% interest
Graduate’s Yearly Debt Obligation: $11,050
Max LRAP Award (see above table): $0
Difference between LRAP Award and Actual Debt Obligation: $11,050
Graduate’s Take-home Income (salary minus all educational debt): ($41,419 - $11,050 - $3,000) = $27,369

Final Thoughts on the University of Texas School of Law Loan Repayment Assistance Program
Unlike most of its peer schools, Texas has an LRAP which does not require the participant to enroll in the federal government’s IBR plan. This may be very beneficial to some, although others may feel the need to enroll in IBR anyway. For example, the graduate in scenario two above has a salary of under $50,000 but must still cover over $7,000 of law school debt. The situation would be even more dire if the graduate has undergraduate debt and/or dependents.

Married graduates can stand to benefit more greatly than under some other LRAPs given that spousal income is not taken into account.