If you’re a young law school graduate, it’s highly likely that you’ve got a huge pile of debt to your name that will follow you for the next 10, 20, or 25 years, depending on your current repayment plan. What if there were a way to get rid of it — or at least a way to get rid of part of it? The America Bar Association wants to help you out with that.
The ABA’s Young Lawyers Division recently announced a Student Loan Relief Scholarship Contest in partnership with SoFi, a personal finance company. You just have to answer one question in 500 words or less by the end of the month, and you could win a grand prize loan payoff of up to $30,000. Of course, because this contest involves lawyers, there are other rules and regulations involved (an entrant must be 21 or older; a college graduate; a legal U.S. citizen or permanent resident, a current ABA member; and have student loan debt that is in repayment status). Here’s the question:
How would an ABA/SoFi Student Loan Relief Scholarship impact your world?
A panel of judges will review all entries submitted and select the finalists, who will then be asked to provide more information for additional judging by a panel of ABA members and staff. The grand prize winner will receive $30,000, the first runner-up will receive $15,000, and the second runner-up will receive $5,000 to pay off their student loan debt.[1] The application and official rules can be found here.
Sure, this money may represent only some of your outstanding interest, but be something is always better than nothing when it comes to paying off loans. Good luck!
[1] Winners are responsible for any and all taxes associated with their prizes.
ABA and SoFi offer student loan debt relief through new contest [ABA Journal]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.