How LRAP Assistance Works

We understand that receiving the LRAP reimbursement check in the mail after graduation is just as important as enjoying peace of mind when you enroll. That’s why we wanted to take a minute to share how the process works for students. Simply:

  1. Enroll and graduate from the college that awarded you LRAP.
  2. After graduation, begin working an average of 30+ hours per week, in any industry, across as many jobs as you choose.
  3. Begin making your required loan payments once any federal, private and parent PLUS loans enter into repayment.
  4. Request assistance at the end of any calendar quarter in which you made payments, by sending us copies of your income and hours worked details, as well as proof of your loan payments.
  5. LRAP Association then calculates your assistance and sends you a reimbursement check after we have all your information. From there the cycle repeats, until you are earning more than the upper income threshold specified in your LRAP Award or until your loans are fully repaid.

This is only a summary. Certain terms and conditions apply. Please see your LRAP Award for details.

How Assistance is Calculated

In general, assistance is calculated based on a graduate’s income and hours-worked. If a graduate is working full-time and their income is below the lower income threshold specified in their LRAP Award, they can receive reimbursement for the entire amount of their loan payments each quarter.

As their income increases towards the upper income threshold, the benefit is reduced proportionately. For example, if a graduate’s income is half-way between the upper and lower income thresholds, and they are working full-time, then they can receive reimbursement for half of their loan payments each quarter.

Get Ready to Graduate

As students approach graduation, we send them information about getting started with LRAP assistance.  Around that time, students should also receive more information from the financial aid office about their loan balances and next steps to begin repayment.

In the meantime, we recommend students create an account in the LRAP Student Portal (using a permanent email address), to:

  1. Review their LRAP Award and contact us with any questions.
  2. Use our Assistance Calculator, to estimate how much assistance they can receive.
  3. Request assistance after loans enter into repayment.

You may also request assistance manually by completing and returning the Graduation Package, however, this does take more time, resulting in slower reimbursement.

Prepare for Loan Repayment

In general, loans enter into repayment 6 months after graduation, so we recommend graduates take that time to begin working and building up their savings, to make their first loan payments. This is also a great time to reach out to your loan servicers, to see how much your monthly payment will be, and when your first loan payment is due.For any federal loans, assistance is calculated after taking into account any Federal Income-Driven Repayment plans for which graduates qualify (e.g. Pay as Your Earn or Income-Based Repayment), though graduates are not required to enroll in such a program.

Enrolling in such a plan can often start saving graduates money immediately and offers many potential advantages (e.g., lower monthly payments, subsidized interest, and loan forgiveness). We encourage graduates to explore their options and enroll at least a full month before their first loan payment is due. Graduates can view their eligibility for these programs and sign up by visiting the U.S Department of Education website, signing in, and submitting a Repayment Plan Request.

Flexibility with LRAP

We understand that graduates may want to further their personal and academic development through international work and graduate school, which is why LRAP is flexible to those ambitions.

Graduates may “pause” and extend their LRAP benefits for up to 3 years while they pursue international work, and those attending graduate school full-time can have their benefit window extended by the length of time they are enrolled.

Either way, we would love to know your plans, so we can help you when you’re ready. Just use the contact form below to reach out and let us know what’s next for you!