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LRAP II Program

The LRAP II Program assists graduates who are employed in either public interest or the government.  Funding for all participants is 100% of need, and this program covers federal loans (Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford, GradPLUS, SLS and Perkins), Law Center Loans and commercial student loans such as Law Access, T.H.E., LawLoans, Citiassist, Excel as well as Bar Exam loans, as long as they were certified by the Financial Aid Office.

 

 

Factors that Adjust Income for LRAP II Participants Only

Salary Increases and “Other” Income:  Salary increases as well as income earned from supplemental employment, produced from investments, interest from checking or savings accounts, generated from business ventures, and any bonuses or untaxed benefits (not retirement plans) provided by an employer will be added to the total household income.

Prior Educational Debt:  Prior educational debt will be recognized in calculating LRAP eligibility. An applicant's non-Georgetown Law annual student loan debt payments, capped at $4,000, will be deducted from the gross salary when determining LRAP benefits. For example, if a graduate owes $6,000 in non-Georgetown Law loan payments per year and earns $40,000, the salary used to determine LRAP eligibility will be $36,000 (maximum deduction of $4,000; $40,000 - $4,000 = $36,000). If applicable, applicants' spouses' loan debt payments, capped at $4,000, will be deducted from his or her gross salary as well. 

Married Graduates (new applicants and current participants who become married as of May 2007 only):  Graduates who are married will be evaluated on the basis of either (1) their own income* (if the spouse is not working or earns below the dependent care allowance) or (2) an average of the joint incomes (if the participant has a working spouse in the household).  Any annual education loan payments for the working spouse will be subtracted from the spouse’s income before the joint income is averaged.

*If the spouse is not working then the participant will receive a dependent care allowance for the non-working spouse.

Dependent Care Allowance:  Participants with children are allowed a deduction for each child (or the amount of child support paid) from the household income.  This allowance is reviewed regularly for cost of living increases and inflation. The child care deduction for 2012 is $7,500.

Salary Bonuses:  If a bonus is received before December 1, a recalculation of the July through December term will be done.  If a bonus is received on or after December 1, this amount will be added to the subsequent January through June term.

Housing/Food/Non-Cash Benefits:  Any benefits received from an employer in addition to annual salary are included in a participant’s income during the LRAP calculation.  If an employer cannot provide a monetary amount for a benefit such as housing or a food allowance, then an amount will be determined by the LRAP staff, who will consider the cost of living for the area where the participant resides to determine an appropriate amount.

 

 

Standard Maintenance Allowance (SMA) for LRAP II Participants Only

To recognize that income must first go towards basic living expenses, a “Standard Maintenance Allowance” (SMA) was developed.  The SMA is the "salary base" used in calculating LRAP awards and is adjusted regularly for inflation. To reflect current cost of living conditions nationwide, a three-tier SMA structure was created using the government locality pay tables. 

Effective November 2010, SMAs are as follows:

 

Tier I:  $48,100

Tier II:  $44,900

Tier III*:  $41,900

Honolulu

Boston

All other U.S. cities

Los Angeles / Riverside

Chicago

 

New York City (5 boroughs)

Denver / Boulder

 

San Francisco / Oakland / San Jose

Houston

 

 

Hartford

 

 

Miami

 

 

Minneapolis/St. Paul

 

 

Northern New Jersey / Long Island / Westchester

 

 

Portland, OR

 

 

Philadelphia

 

 

Sacramento, CA

 

 

San Diego

 

 

Seattle

 

 

Washington D.C.

 

*The Tier III SMA will be applied to all overseas locations unless otherwise determined by the LRAP Coordinator.

The SMA is subtracted along with any other qualified deductions (see Factors that Adjust Income) from the graduate's gross annualized salary. If the salary exceeds the SMA, then the participant is expected to contribute at least 50% of the difference towards his/her annual student loan payments. For example, if a graduate earns $45,100 in a Tier II cost area, the participant would have an expected contribution toward the next 12 months of loan payments of $100 ($45,100 - $44,900 SMA = $200 x 50% = $100 contribution).

The participant's calculated contribution is subtracted from his/her calculated annual student loan payments to determine the LRAP maximum award coverage.

Most participants become ineligible for a monetary award from the program when their yearly income is equal to two times their yearly loan payments plus the SMA for the area in which they live. For example, if a graduate pays $8,000 annually for law school loans and lives in the Washington D.C. area, the applicant would be ineligible for LRAP benefits if his/her salary, less qualified deductions exceeds $60,900 ($8,000 x 2 = $16,000; $16,000 + $44,900 = $60,900).

Once the household income has been determined for an LRAP II participant, the appropriate SMA is applied and the difference, if any, is considered to be the graduate’s annual total disposable income.  LRAP expects one-half of this figure, the “participant’s contribution”, to be applied towards Georgetown Law loan payments.

 

 

LRAP Application

Applications for 2012 can be found on the main LRAP page.

 

 

LRAP II Publications

News You Can Use: The newsletter for graduates that covers newsworthy changes to the LRAP program, reminders, upcoming events, or other important loan information.