Overview and Objective
Each year, some students pursue the JD program fully funded by a combination of bursary and loan funding. Students in the ICLP are required to repay the loan portion of their funding during the 10 years following graduation only if their income is sufficient. If their income falls below a predetermined threshold in a particular year, the loan repayment for that year may be forgiven in whole or in part.
The ICLP is designed to promote access and opportunity, encouraging highly talented and qualified potential law students to apply for admission to Osgoode when they otherwise might have been deterred by tuition costs and other barriers. The ICLP is also meant to enable participants to pursue careers of their choice after law school, without having their choices constrained by overwhelming loan repayment obligations.
The ICLP bursary is generously supported by Forum Equity Partners.
The ICLP Program Guide contains complete application and selection information.
Application Process
- Review ICLP information in the OLSAS Information Booklet
- Complete the online Financial Statement, including the supplemental ICLP portion, when you complete your application for admission to Osgoode through OLSAS. Your application must be submitted by November 1. Applicants wishing to be considered for the Income Contingent Loan Program must write the LSAT by the November prior to the year they intend to begin the program.
- Upon receipt of an offer of acceptance to Osgoode, you will be notified that you have two weeks to submit supporting documentation to complete your ICLP application. Required documentation is specified in the supplemental ICLP portion of the online Financial Statement.
- Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in early March.
- Recipients will be selected by the end of March.
Eligibility and Selection
Eligibility criteria for the ICLP will include (1) high financial need and (2) aptitude for legal studies. Selection criteria mirror the eligibility criteria. Recipients will be highly talented potential law students who have high financial need or other significant barriers too accessing a legal education.
Financial Need
To be eligible you must at minimum meet the criteria for receiving a high-level bursary from Osgoode. This means having a resource-expense shortfall of greater than $20,000 for the upcoming academic year, plus several other indicators of high financial need, which may include: a low-income background; extraordinary expenses (such as medical or caregiving costs); an already high debt load; minimal assets; or other barriers.
Aptitude for Legal Studies
The holistic admissions criteria will be reapplied with a view to selecting the most highly talented and qualified law students.
Participants will be required to provide documentation demonstrating their continued eligibility for the ICLP in their second and third years of the program.
Repayment Plan and Loan Forgiveness
The expectation is that participants will begin to repay their loans approximately two years following graduation from the JD program, and will repay their loan within 10 years of completing their articling year.
Each year during the repayment period, participants will be expected to pay back one tenth (1/10) of their loan and an annual administrative fee of $750.
Students must apply to have a loan installment considered for loan forgiveness. Along with their application, students will be expected to supply Osgoode’s Office of the Executive Officer with proof of individual/household gross income (i.e., notice of assessment(s)) from the previous tax year. All or a portion of a student’s loan and annual administrative fee could be forgiven. If income is below a minimum threshold, the entire year’s repayment amount (loan and program fee) is forgiven. If income is above an upper threshold, there is no loan forgiveness. In between these income thresholds, a certain portion of the loan is forgiven, along a sliding scale.