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Prosecutors, Public Defenders, Government, Public Sector, and Non-Profit Public Interest Attorneys: Funding is Available to Help with your Law School Debt.

NC LEAF is committed to providing forgivable loans to public interest attorneys with the least ability to repay their law school debt. Decisions will be based on debt load and income.

Our online application for 2024 is now open.

Take a moment to read through eligibility requirements, download application documents, and review the checklist for applying.

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Eligibility

An Applicant must be employed full time in North Carolina in a public interest field.
An Applicant must have earned a J.D. degree from an ABA accredited law school and be a licensed member in good standing of the North Carolina State Bar.
Preference will be given to applicants with ten (10) years or less of active practice of law. These ten (10) years need not be consecutive.

An Applicant’s Annual Gross Income (AGI) from all sources must not exceed $85,000.00 for a single person or $150,000.00 for a couple (spouses and domestic partners included) in the Adjusted Gross Income category of your most recent income taxes. Line 21 on Form 1040A.
An Applicant must currently have at least $10,000.00 remaining in law school debt.

Application Documents

NC LEAF Program Guidelines

Employer Certification Form

Spouse/Domestic Partner Employer Certification Form

Checklist for Applying:

Read NC LEAF Program Guidelines.
Complete and certify online application, including essay describing your commitment to public interest law.

Scan each of the following as individual documents:

Include your last time in the title for each document. You will upload each separately.

Obtain signature and salary information on Employer Certification Form (for self AND spouse/domestic partner, if applicable).
Copy 2022 Federal 1040/1040A/1040EZ tax returns-page 1 only showing your AGI.
One year of loan payment history: servicer, address, account number, monthly payment and total debt load.
Copy of your Federal Student Aid Summary from the National Student Loan Data System

If you have any questions, please e-mail admin@ncleaf.org.