Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP)

The LRAP distributes forgivable loans to qualifying graduates in public interest careers for up to three years. Here are some of their stories.

Kassidy Hetland

Kassidy Hetland, JD ’20

Kassidy currently works as a staff attorney for the Oregon Innocence Project (OIP). As an attorney with OIP, Kassidy works to exonerate individuals convicted of crimes they did not commit. During law school, Kassidy interned with OIP and at a private criminal defense firm in Eugene. Before joining OIP as a staff attorney, Kassidy worked as a public defender in Multnomah County.
 

 

Elissa Karim

Elissa Karim, JD ’24

Elissa hails from Nevada City, a small, rural town in Northern California. While at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, she began participating in the nuclear disarmament movement. Elissa then moved to San Francisco to work for Ploughshares, a nonprofit dedicated to nuclear disarmament and progressive foreign policy. In law school, Elissa worked at WaterWater of Oregon, Wildlands Network, Cascadia Wildlands, and the Oregon Department of Water Resources.  She is currently completing a two-year clerkship at the Oregon Court of Appeals with the Honorable Josephine H. Mooney and the Honorable Ryan T. O’Connor.   

 

Tom

Thomas Perkins, JD ’23 

Thomas grew up in Half Moon Bay, California, and received a BA in English from BYU. After serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Guatemala, he decided that he wanted to work in a field where he could help people navigate the US immigration system. His volunteer work has included immigration work with No More a Stranger Foundation. He currently practices immigration law at the Oregon Law Center.

 

Application Information:

The 2026 LRAP application will open October 1, 2025

Email the Public Service and Policy Program or call 541-346-8946 with questions.