Beginning in July, Harvard Law School graduates will have a greater opportunity for loan forgiveness due to recently announced changes in the Low Income Protection Plan (LIPP). The program–the first of
its kind in the country–will be expanded to include a greater number of employment areas and a larger range of salaries.
“When combined with an extraordinary increase in scholarship funding for the upcoming fiscal year, these changes help make the overall Harvard Law School financial aid program one of the most generous need-based law school programs in the country,” wrote Dean Robert Clark ’72 in a letter to students announcing the changes.
In the most notable change, the program will be open to graduates who take public service jobs that are not law related. Additional modifications to LIPP will increase the level of debt forgiveness at most income levels and eliminate the income ceiling for participation.
LIPP was established in 1978 due to concern about increasing debt burdens and the disparity between private sector and public sector salaries. Over the past decade, more than $13 million has been distributed to HLS alumni through the program.