Loan Repayment Assistance Program

William & Mary Law School’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program assists graduates working in qualifying employment, as described below. Assistance is in the form of annual interest-bearing loans which are forgiven when the recipient satisfies all program requirements and remains in qualifying employment. 

To be eligible for assistance, a first-time applicant will:

  • have an annual salary of $79,000 or less for the job for which assistance is sought. The salary cap increases to $82,000 in the second year of assistance and $84,000 in the third year; 
  • be working in a position that is 1) full-time (at least 35 hours per week) and 2) “bar admission required/anticipated” or “JD Advantage,” according to NALP'S definitions and examples; 
  • be working for a nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status of 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), or 501(c)(5); legal aid office; prosecutor; public defender; government agency; JAG Corps; or legislative office. Organizations outside the U.S. are eligible when they would qualify for 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), or 501(c)(5) status if they were a U.S. organization. Nonprofit organizations with IRS status other than 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), or 501(c); partisan political organizations; partisan political work; lobbying; and judicial clerkships are not eligible; and
  • be in good standing for all educational loans and not in default on any of those loans. 

Each recipient is eligible for a maximum of $7,500 in loan forgiveness annually and a maximum for three calendar years of $22,500 ($7,500 per year).

Selection criteria include the applicant's commitment to public service, type of work, salary, law school loan debt, personal statement, cost of living in the applicant's residence locale, and financial circumstances.

Beginning in late November, William & Mary Law School graduates may request the Loan Repayment Assistance Program Application and the Loan Repayment Assistant Program Recertification Form from Katherine Bailey, Program Administrator, at keainslie@wm.edu. Please include "LRAP Form Request" in the subject line and your graduation year in the body of the email. The application/renewal deadline is late-January.

 The program consists of the following funds:

  • The John Levy Loan Repayment Fund, established in honor of the late Professor John Levy for his lifelong commitment to public service and his distinguished career safeguarding the rights of the unrepresented and underrepresented.
  • The Ernest W. Goodrich Law Public Service Endowment, established through a bequest by Mr. Goodrich, a 1935 William & Mary graduate who practiced law in Surry, Virginia, for nearly 60 years,  and served as president of the Law School Association and Rector of the William & Mary Board of Visitors.
  • The Richard and Laurie Bellinger Loan Repayment Assistance Endowment, established by the Bellingers, friends of the Law School, to encourage and assist graduates to take positions of high social value.
  • The R. William Arthur Loan Repayment Assistance Endowment, established by Dorothy Ellett Arthur in memory of her husband, The Honorable R. William Arthur, William & Mary Law Class of 1940, a highly respected lawyer and jurist in Wytheville, Virginia, who devoted much of his career to public service.
  • The Gregory A. Presnell Loan Repayment Assistance Fund, provided by The Honorable Gregory A. Presnell, Senior U.S. District Judge, who earned his undergraduate degree from William & Mary in 1964.