How to Apply and Forms

Department of Justice employees serving in or hired to serve in an attorney position may be eligible for ASLRP subject to the provisions below.

• Incoming Honors Program (HP) Attorneys hired for 3-year term and permanent appointments are eligible but, if selected, are subject to repayment provisions if found unsuitable during the background investigation/adjudication process or if they entered on duty prior to bar admission and are separated for failure to become bar admitted with 14 months (e.g., fail to qualify for an attorney appointment).
  • Incoming Honors Program attorneys must be able to meet the statutory three-year service obligation (which commences upon initial entry on duty for incoming HPs); those hired for less than three-year appointments do not qualify.

• Ineligible individuals include:
  • Non-permanent attorneys, including those on Schedule B appointments or other term appointments with less than three years remaining before the appointments expire;
    • The service obligation starts when the individual is approved for the ASLRP; retroactive service does not qualify.
  • Political appointees, or employees occupying a position which is excepted from the competitive service because of its confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy advocating character (i.e., employees serving under Schedule C appointments);
  • Those serving on detail from other agencies (e.g., Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys, or those on temporary or time limited appointments).
  • Individuals with a J.D. who are not in an attorney appointment.
  • Parents/guardians/spouses seeking repayment for otherwise qualifying loans taken out on behalf of a third party (e.g., child or spouse). To be eligible for ASLRP, the loans must have been taken out by the attorney and used to defray educational costs incurred by the attorney.

Eligibility Worksheet – A tool designed to assist attorneys determine whether they are eligible for the ASLRP

Initial Request Forms are appropriate if you are:

• an incoming attorney hire, or
• an attorney who never participated in the ASLRP, or
• a prior ASLRP participant reapplying after fully completing your service obligation, or
• a prior ASLRP participant who received your third award during the last open season whose service obligation will be complete this year.

Individuals seeking ASLRP awards during the second and third year of an existing service obligation should file a renewal request.

The Initial Request for Consideration for Participation in ASLRP form contains sections to be completed by the requesting attorney and by component reviewers. Instructions are provided within the form and summarized below.

Requesting attorneys must complete Parts 1 and 2, and the Service Agreement portion of the Initial Request form, then submit it electronically to their Component Contact by the submission deadline with the two mandatory attachments listed below. Use the Loan Information Continuation Page as needed.

Mandatory Attachments:

1.  A scanned copy of your loan payment history, and

2.  Your Justification and resume (one PDF with both documents).

•  DOJ components may, at their discretion, identify certain factors and associated factors of recruitment/retention difficulty to serve as guidelines for their attorneys in crafting their justification, which are published as Appendix A of the ASLRP policy.  Attorneys are not required to address component-specific factors in their justification (if applicable), and failure to do so does not create any negative inferences; the Panel independently reviews and evaluates all ASLRP requests.

Loan history documents must establish the following for each student loan:

• Borrower’s name
• Loan holder’s identity (e.g., Department of Education, Navient, etc.)
• Loan status (must be in good standing)
• Loan account number(s) & any associated loan identification number(s)
• Type of loan (e.g., Direct, Stafford, etc.)
• Loan balance
• If a prior ASLRP participant who received your third award during the last open season, the amount of the final ASLRP payment credited to your loan account

Optional Forms:

1. Loan Information Continuation Page: Use this form if you have more than two qualifying loans.
2. Demographics form (voluntary): OARM separately collects voluntarily provided demographic data from applicants for statistical purposes only. It has no impact on and is not considered during the selection process.  Email this form directly to OARM using the subject line: Demographics when you submit the rest of your request to your component point of contact. Do not attach it to your request or forward it through your component.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control Number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 2 hour per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to OARM, 450 5^th Street, NW, Suite 10200, Washington, D.C. 20530, and reference the OMB Control Number 1105-0086. Note: Please do not return the completed ASLRP request to this address.

Use the Renewal Request Form if you are a current ASLRP participant entering the second or third year of your existing service obligation. Instructions are listed on the form and summarized below. Use the Loan Information Continuation Page as needed.

Renewing attorneys must complete Parts 1 and 2 of the renewal request, then submit electronically (with one attachment consisting of scanned copies of their loan history) to their Component Contact by the submission deadline. 

Loan history documents must establish the following for each student loan:

• Borrower’s name
• Loan holder’s identity (e.g., Department of Education, Navient, etc.)
• Loan status (must be in good standing)
• Loan account number(s) & any associated loan identification number(s)
• Type of loan (e.g., Direct, Stafford, etc.)
• Loan balance
• The 2023 ASLRP payment(s) credited to your account (even if that loan has been paid in full).