On the federal level, there have been several recent significant loan repayment and forgiveness laws that assist legal aid and public service lawyers within the past few years. Below are brief descriptions of these federal loan repayment and assistance programs:

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 ("CCRAA") does two important things to help public service lawyers: (1) it significantly lowers monthly student loan payments by creating an income-based repayment plan; and (2) it provides loan forgiveness for public service employees by cancelling remaining debt after ten (10) years of income-based repayment. It is important to note that only federal student loans, and not commercial student loans, are eligible for federal loan forgiveness for attorneys working in the public interest. To qualify for loan forgiveness, an individual must be working full-time (working at least 30 hours per week) in a qualifying public service position and making qualifying monthly loan payments for 120 months on eligible federal loans.

The recently-signed reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 2008 has at least two loan assistance programs for which certain public interest lawyers may be eligible: (1) the Harkin provisions (named after Senator Harkin who sponsored the original bill) for civil legal aid attorneys; and (2) the John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2008 for public defenders and prosecutors. However, appropriations have not yet been made, but the CBF will be advocating for full appropriations for these loan assistance programs this year which includes $10 million for legal aid lawyers and $25 million for public defenders and prosecutors.

For more information on The Chicago Bar Foundation’s advocacy work relating to federal public interest law loan repayment assistance and forgiveness, please contact Danielle Hirsch at 312-554-4952 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and as a further resource, please consider visit our national coalition partner, Equal Justice Works, for more information.

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