Texas Rural Legal Aid's (TRLA) loan repayment assistance program (LRAP) helps TRLA attorneys repay debts incurred for educational expenses while attending law school. In the mid-1990s, TRLA implemented an LRAP to recruit a more diverse cadre of staff attorneys. Since implementing the program, TRLA has had greater success recruiting attorneys from diverse backgrounds as well as retaining attorneys beyond their first three years of employment, resulting in a more experienced staff. TRLA reimburses participating attorneys a percentage of their law school loans based on their seniority as follows:
Class I (first year) TRLA pays 60% of debt
Class II (second year) TRLA pays 80% of debt
Class III (third year +) TRLA pays 100% of debt
Loan payments are applied as regular pay on every other paycheck and taxed as income. To be eligible, the original term of loan must be greater than 10 years (min 120 payments). TRLA's LRAP program is applicable only after all other loan repayment assistance payments from other sources have been attributed to debt. Loan assistance is not retroactive and becomes effective once an employee submits an application. Roughly of TRLA's staff attorneys take advantage of this program.
Additional Information:
Ricardo Perez Texas Rural Legal Aid 300 South Texas Boulevard Weslaco, Texas 78596 Phone: (956) 968-6574 Fax: (956) 968-8823 Rperez@trla.org
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