Temple Law School’s loan repayment assistance program (LRAP) has been providing financial assistance to graduates working in public interest positions since 1990. In keeping with Temple’s longstanding tradition of a commitment to public interest, the program was created out of a concern that the large educational debt burden of many graduating law students was effecting individual career choices and keeping some graduates from pursuing a career in public interest law. It was renamed the Barrack Public Interest Fellowship Program in 1994 in gratitude for a substantial gift to the program by Len Barrack LAW ’68.
The program is open to Temple Law School graduates who are engaged in full-time, law related, public interest positions. The program provides funds to those graduates to help alleviate their annual educational loan repayments. Awards are in the form of a loan which is then forgiven based on the length of time the graduate remains in a qualifying position.
The program guidelines were revised in 2015, and again in 2023, to align with the federal income-driven loan repayment options. Loan awards are calculated as a percentage of the graduate’s annual loan repayment under the federal Income Driven Repayment (IDR) repayment plans. Loan award amounts are made on a sliding scale with graduates with the lowest salaries receiving the largest percentage of their annual loan repayment.
The application deadline for funding for 2025 is January 8, 2025.
Questions on the Barrack Public Interest Fellowship program should be directed to the Law School Financial Aid Office, 215-204-8943, or lwfinaid@temple.edu.