The Hormel Public Interest Program, or "HPIP," is not a traditional loan repayment assistance program. There is not a lengthy time requirement to receive benefits, and benefits are provided regardless of spousal income or potential family contributions. We like to think that the HPIP approach is the best way to support and encourage our graduates.

Brief Summary: HPIP started in 2007. It replaced the University of Chicago Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP). Starting with the Class of 2010, HPIP provides a benefit in the form of an interest-free loan of $10,000 a year, with each year’s loan fully forgiven one year after it is made—provided that the graduate remains in a qualifying public interest job. Benefits under HPIP are available to reduce law school debt for those who work in qualifying jobs at salaries below $72,000, and for as many as seven of the eight years following graduation, for a potential total of $70,000. The benefit is available regardless of parental, spousal, or other income.

Requirements and Restrictions

Full Time: The position must be full-time (40 hours per week) maintained for at least nine months of the calendar year, and in a year that is within five years of graduation.

Salary Requirements: Full qualification requires a salary of less than $60,000 annually. Graduates earning between $60,000 and $72,000 annually will be eligible for an award that decreases proportionally as income rises.

Qualified Public Interest Position: The graduate must be: (a) engaged in the full-time practice of law, or in positions normally requiring a law degree; (b) working for the public interest, broadly defined; and (c) working for a non-profit organization or government office other than in a judicial clerkship (see below for treatment of judicial clerkships). Final determinations of eligibility will be made by the Financial Aid Committee of the University of Chicago Law School.

Judicial Clerkship Exception: For graduates who work at a qualifying job in the year following a judicial clerkship, the graduate will receive an additional year of eligibility for HPIP benefits. Clerks can receive up to seven years of benefits within the eight-year period immediately following graduation.

Parental Leave Extension: Graduates who leave HPIP for parental leave will be given an additional year of eligibility. They can receive up to seven years of benefits within the eight-year period following graduation.

Distribution of Funds: Participants will apply by September 1 for the year. Loans will be made in October and then forgiven the next July, subject to the Program's requirements. Graduates who continue in the program confirm their continuing HPIP status by September for the next year.

Award Amounts and Restrictions: The base award of $10,000 per year is available to all graduates who begin law study at the University of Chicago Law School in the Class of 2010. The Program does not cover LLM graduates. Students who are enrolled in the Law School in 2007 and who, under the prior HPIP terms, were promised loans/award up to $5,000 per year for five years will now be eligible for $7,500 per year for up to six of the seven years following the award of a J.D. from the University of Chicago. Transfer students who join the Class of 2010 are eligible on a proportional basis, so that a transfer student who graduated after spending two years at the Law School would be eligible to receive up to two-thirds of $10,000 ($6,666) in each of the seven years of eligibility.

Loan Repayment Requirement: To qualify, a graduate must agree that the entire amount received from HPIP will repay outstanding educational debt. A graduate who otherwise qualifies but whose outstanding debt is less than the amount to be awarded will receive a benefit equal to the amount of their outstanding debt. This requirement conforms to current Internal Revenue Service Rules.

Tax Considerations: The program participant must determine whether payments under the plan should be included in ordinary income or exempted pursuant to Section 108(f) of the Federal Tax Code (26 U.S.C. § 108(f)). Our goal has been to design a program with tax-exempt benefits.

Financial Aid Committee: All HPIP benefits must be approved by the Financial Aid Committee of the University of Chicago Law School. All decisions by the Committee are final.

For more information regarding the HPIP, including a detailed information package explaining benefits and giving comparisons to LRAP-type programs, please contact the Law School Admissions Office at hpip@law.uchicago.edu.