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Giving students more
power over their careers.
The Flywheel Fund for Career Choice is a new nonprofit designed to give students more power to choose career paths that inspire them—by easing the burden of costly loan repayment. Our first initiative is a pilot project created in collaboration with Stanford Law School¹ and currently open only to member of its classes of 2027, 2028, and 2029. If you are interested in helping to create a Flywheel Fund for your school please email us at info@flywheelfund.org.
About The Fund
Together, we can reshape legal education and practice by connecting donors, students, and graduates in a virtuous circle of giving back and giving forward—we call this the flywheel effect.
For Students
As a Flywheel Fellow, your tuition and expenses (up to
$56,666.67 per academic year, for a maximum of $170,000.00 over three (3) years) will be covered upfront.²,³ If you graduate and go on to earn less than $100,000, you’ll owe zero repayment. If you earn more, you’ll make repayments based on your income, building the Fund and powering future generations of Fellows.³
For Donors
Philanthropic contributions to the initial Fellow’s cohort, seeding a self-sustaining fund by year 13. At 15 years, we project that each donor dollar will generate more than $3.50 for the fund, increasing every year. This means every dollar has an impact.
For the Future
The debt burden of a legal degree can limit diversity of law school applicants and restrict the range of career choices for graduates. We seek to create a future in which more law school graduates are empowered to choose a career path that inspires them and moves the world forward.
Why We Exist
1 in 3
1 in 3 new lawyers chose a career path different from what they initially expected because of loans.
37%
37% say they chose a job that pays more money “instead of a job I really wanted.“
Source: ABA Young Lawyers Division, 2020 Law School Student Debt Survey Report
The Flywheel Effect
Our three sources of revenue ensure that the Fund should always be receiving payments that can fund future Fellowships.
1
Initial philanthropic contributions start the flywheel moving, by funding the initial Fellowships.
2
Payments by Fellows create ongoing revenue for the Fund and finance future Fellowships.
3
Finally, payments by Stanford Law School will ensure the fund is partially replenished for Fellows earning below $115k, and fully replenished for Fellows earning below $100k, following graduation.³
“I’m proud that Stanford has been a leader in establishing and improving efforts to support diversity among our students and in the careers they are able to pursue.”
— Jenny S. Martinez, Richard E. Lang Professor of Law,
Former Dean of Stanford Law School
Our Partners
The Flywheel Fund for Career Choice
The Flywheel Fund for Career Choice is an innovative nonprofit organization that seeks to expand career choices for law school students, enabling them to pursue public service or other lower income careers more quickly after graduation.
Get in Touch
Who We Are
â’¸ 2022 The Flywheel Fund for Career Choice
¹ Stanford does not endorse the Flywheel Income Share Loan. The Flywheel Fund is not affiliated with Stanford University nor Stanford Law School. FinWise Bank loans made available to you through the Clasp Platform are not endorsed by Stanford University nor Stanford Law School. Selection as a Flywheel Fellow is not guaranteed and is not determined by Clasp or FinWise Bank.
² Loan products vary by school and issuer. Clasp is not a bank. Loans are issued by FinWise Bank, a Utah-chartered bank, Member FDIC. Flywheel Fellows’ may borrower up to $170,000.00 in total loans, over three (3) years. Re-application is required each year. There is no guarantee of funding or approval. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms and conditions apply.
³ The effective Income Share Percentage (“ISP”) on your Flywheel Income Share Loan (“FISL”) is a fixed percentage of your monthly-gross income and will range between 0.33% and 3.33% for a period of 144 months after the beginning of your payment term. Monthly payments are required and will vary greatly in amount because they depend on your specific ISP and your reported monthly gross-income. The monthly repayment amount is based based on your designated ISP and monthly gross-income, not an Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”); the APR you actually pay will be dependent on your actual ISP and gross-income for the entire duration of the loan repayment period. Your loan has a maximum repayment period of 216 months inclusive of any months where monthly payments are made as well as any months that are deferred months after you enter repayment.
To help illustrate how much you might pay on your Flywheel Income Share Loan (“FISL”), we are providing the following example showing the total monthly payments for a loan that has a maximum ISP and the highest financed amount. For this example, we are assuming an ISP of 3.33% an amount financed of $56,666.67, a 144 month payment period, 33 months until graduation, plus a 6-month grace. If your salary started at $260,000.00 and didn’t increase over the next 144 months, your monthly payment would be $722.22 per month and would end after making total overall payments of $104,000.00 over 144 months, with an APR of 6.99%. Note the number of months until graduation used to estimate the payment schedule above may not be applicable to you.
For this $56,666.67 example, your total monthly payments would end after 144 months, because you have reached the Maximum Monthly Payment Period and the Maximum Payment Cap (1.84X the funded amount) even though you would not have reached the Maximum Implied Annual Percentage Rate of 8.94%. You may repay more or less than the amount your received, depending on your specific circumstances. Your loan has a maximum repayment period of 216 months, inclusive of any months where monthly payment are made as well as any months that are deferred months after you leave or graduate from your program.
For fellows earning under $100,000.00 per year, the monthly payment may be paid by SLS pursuant to the Loan Repayment Program (“LRAP”). Due to the Income Cap of $21,666.66, when your monthly income is at least $25,000.00 your Qualified Monthly Gross income is adjusted to equal $21,666.66, despite your actual Monthly Gross Income being greater than this.
Please review your final disclosure for the total payments applicable to your final certified total loan amount.
