Eligibility for LRAP
To be eligible to apply for Loan Repayment Assistance Program, you must:
- Have an undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree. (Certificates do not qualify for LRAP.)
- Have incurred student loans for the purpose of attending a Tufts University school that has been certified by the Tufts Financial Aid Office. Eligible student loan types include:
- Be in repayment on your Tufts incurred educational loans or be in a grace period.
- You are not eligible for the program if you have deferred payment in order to resume academic studies, defaulted on your loans, or are delinquent on your loan payments.
- Loans that are in deferment or forbearance will not be considered for LRAP.
- Federal loans that have been placed into forbearance by a borrower's loan servicer, or the Department of Education, are still eligible for the Tufts LRAP. This status is known as administrative forbearance and loans with this status remain LRAP-eligible.
- Only loans that have been placed in forbearance at the request of the borrower are ineligible for the Tufts LRAP.
- Federal loans that have been placed into forbearance by a borrower's loan servicer, or the Department of Education, are still eligible for the Tufts LRAP. This status is known as administrative forbearance and loans with this status remain LRAP-eligible.
- Be employed full time by a public sector or nonprofit (501(c)3 or equivalent) organization. Please consult your employer's Human Resources department if you are unsure if your employer is a public sector or non-profit organization or if you are unsure if you are a full-time employee. Please review further details about this policy below.
Employment Requirement
In order to be eligible for an LRAP award in each annual LRAP cycle you must be employed full-time with an LRAP-eligible employer (public sector or certified nonprofit) at the start of that annual LRAP cycle which begins on September 1st and runs for nine months through May 31st.
Any changes to your employment status must be reported to the LRAP Office immediately. If you do not report an employment change then it may result in you losing your eligibility for an LRAP award in that year.
If you leave your LRAP-qualified employment and do not find new qualified employment within 30 days then you will no longer be eligible to receive an LRAP award. For example, consider the following scenario:
- You have employment which qualifies you to apply for LRAP as of the September 1 opening date.
- You fail to meet the required nine months of continued employment after this date and terminate employment on February 1, five months after the application date.
- You then have 30 days - until March 1 - to begin working for another qualified employer.
- If you move to the private sector, or do not find new qualified full-time employment, you will not be eligible to receive your LRAP award.
- If you remain employed full-time in a qualified position through at least the first six months of the nine month employment requirement (September 1st through March 1st), but then leave your qualified employment after this date, then you will be eligible for a pro-rated award amount based on how much of the nine month employment requirement you completed.