Overview
U of T's Post-Graduation Debt Repayment Assistance Program (PDRAP) was the first program of its kind in Canada and is only one of two such programs currently offered in the country.
Its purpose is to provide law school loan repayment assistance for JD graduates who have lower incomes for up to 10 years after graduation. The goal is to ensure that our graduates can make career choices based on their interests rather than debt-induced financial pressure.
PDRAP loans assist graduates with the repayment of eligible academic student debt after graduation. The assistance provided to the participant is in the form of loans from the Faculty of Law. The PDRAP loan covers the annual amount that the participant is required to pay on their law school debt (e.g. the monthly minimum payment for government student loans and Faculty of Law authorized Lines of Credit).
A participant can enter, leave, and re-enter the program any time within 10 years of their graduation. Graduates may be eligible on the basis of the nature of their employment, health or disability-related issues, staying at home to care for dependents, and/or because they are continuing as full-time students after law school.
At the end of each year, percentage of the outstanding loan is forgiven. For each subsequent year the student qualifies, the Faculty of Law will continue to provide a loan and forgive a higher percentage of the cumulative loan. PDRAP’s loan forgiveness schedule is designed to provide the most forgiveness to those participants who remain in lower-paying careers for the longest period of time. If a student stays in the program for 10 years, the loan will be forgiven in its entirety.
If the participant is no longer eligible to participate in PDRAP due to an increase in income, they will be required to start paying back the remaining balance of their PDRAP loan (i.e. amount that was not forgiven). The loan is non-interest bearing and must be paid back by the end of the participant’s 10 year eligibility period.
2023 PDRAP |
University of Toronto, Post Graduation Debt Repayment Assistance Program
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ALLOCATION OF PDRAP FUNDS
The Financial Aid Office will allocate PDRAP funds among eligible participants for each application year. Eligible participants will receive PDRAP benefits that are prorated based on the number of participants receiving assistance and funds available for disbursement in any given year. This means that a participant's benefit that is calculated using the allocation formula may not be available in a given year.
