Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance
A Program of the Board of Regents

John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program

The John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program in Louisiana provides for the payment of eligible educational loans (both Federal Family Education Loan Program [FFELP] and Federal Direct Loans) for state and federal public defenders and state prosecutors employed in Louisiana who agree to remain employed as public defenders and prosecutors for at least three years.

  • Eligibility

    To be eligible for the John R. Justice Program in Louisiana:

    • Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen.
    • Have an outstanding balance of at least $20,000 due on eligible student loans. Eligible loans include FFELP and Direct educational loan(s) (Federal Stafford loans, Graduate PLUS loans, federal consolidation loans) and Federal Perkins loans.
    • Be an attorney continually licensed to practice law in Louisiana, and
    • a full-time employee of the state of Louisiana or unit of local government (including tribal government) who prosecutes criminal or juvenile delinquency cases at the state or unit of local government level, including supervision, education, or training of other persons prosecuting such cases (Prosecutors who are employees of the federal government are not eligible), or
    • a full-time employee of the state of Louisiana or unit of local government (including tribal government) who provides legal representation to indigent persons in criminal or juvenile delinquency cases including supervision, education, or training of other persons providing such representation, or
    • a full-time employee of a nonprofit organization operating under a contract with Louisiana or a unit of local government who devotes substantially all the employee’s full-time employment to providing legal representation to indigent persons in criminal or juvenile cases including supervision, education, or training of other persons providing such representation, or
    • employed in Louisiana as a full-time federal defender attorney in a defender organization, according to Subsection (g) of section 3006A of Title 18, United States Code, that provides legal representation to indigent persons in criminal or juvenile delinquency cases.
    • Not be in default on any federal student loans.
    • State and federal public defenders and state prosecutors employed in Louisiana must have been employed a minimum of one year in a qualifying position as of December 31. If awarded, they must agree to remain employed as a full-time prosecutor or public defender for a minimum of three years following receipt of the award.
    • Contract employees are not eligible to participate in the John R. Justice Program.

How to Apply

  1. The online application for the 2026 award is now open. The deadline for applying is June 1, 2026. To access the online application, click here to acces the J.R. Justice Online Application through the Louisiana Award System.
  2. Upon receipt of your application, LOSFA will forward you a Service Level Agreement for your signature. You must return this signed agreement to complete the application process and be considered for an award. If you fail to return the service agreement within the time allotted, you will be disqualified and eliminated from consideration. If it is determined that you are one of the least able to pay in your region, LOSFA will contact you to request documentation to substantiate the statements made in your application.  For each subsequent year you wish to apply, a separate application must be completed.