Advising

PRE-LAW ADVISING

It is important to consider you career goals when borrowing.  Keep a personal budget and monitor your spending. 
Federal Stafford Loans

You are an independent for graduate or professional school and you may qualify for $20,500 in US Government Loans

GradPLUS Loans

You may borrow additional money, up to the Cost of Attendance minus all other aid.

Repayment Options

College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) Effective July 1, 2009

Two parts to CCRAA — Income Based Repayment (IBR) and Loan Forgiveness.

The IBR section of the act allows those in repayment to pay back their federal loans based on income, rather than on the amount borrowed.

Maximum Monthly Payments under Income Based Repayment-IBR (2010)

AGI  Annual Gross Income - (assumes family size of 1)

—    $30,000           $172
—    $40,000           $297
—    $50,000           $422
—    $60,000           $547
—    $70,000           $672
—    $80,000           $797
—    $90,000           $922
—  $100,000        $1,005

The second part of the act, the forgiveness portion, allows forgiveness of certain federal loans after 120 months of payments while employed full-time in public service employment AND making qualifying loan payments on Federal Direct Loans.  If the individual is not employed in a public service job full-time for less than 120 months, the loan could revert to the original monthly payment with a 10 year amortization.  As a back-end loan forgiveness program, the public service loan forgiveness is an all-or-nothing benefit. If a borrower stops working full-time in a public service job, even with just a few of the 120 payments left, they get no forgiveness.

The public service loan forgiveness option's main impact is to remove debt as a disincentive to pursuing a career in public service. Most borrowers will still earn less in a public service job than in the private sector, despite the forgiveness. But previously borrowers were precluded from long-term employment in public service jobs because the debt-to-income ratios were unaffordable.

For those not employed in public service jobs, forgiveness of the outstanding principal and interest of federal loans occurs after 25 years.

Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAPs)

LRAPs provide loan repayment or forgiveness, lower interest rates on loans, or postponed payment of law school loans to graduates entering specific types of employment, usually law-related public interest jobs.

All LRAPs are not the same.  When visiting a law school to make your final decision on attendance be sure you understand your particular law schools program.  For example, some schools include spouse income and other do not, or some schools no longer allow you forgiveness once you cross a particular pay increase often only several years out. 

What are LRAPs? *

List of LRAP Progs *

Access Group

Access Group is a nonprofit student loan provider that specializes in graduate and professional student lending.  Their web site features many articles and tools for students.

Information about credit and your credit score

It is important to be informed about your credit and your credit score. FICO scores are your credit rating. Most lenders base approval for credit, and often the rates at which they will lend, your FICO score.

Application Timeline for Financial Aid

This broad outline will keep you on track in attaining the funds you need to pay for law school. This timeline begins in the summer a year prior to law school matriculation.

Resources

www.finaid.org

Stephen Brown, Assistant Dean, Fordham University School of Law

Katherine Gottschalk, Assistant Dean for Financial Aid, University of Michigan Law School

Duke Law has it laid out clearly with a chart for easy review: www.law.duke.edu/admis/financial/handbook/sec5#a

 

Miscellaneous Financial Resources

There is a "Craig's List" for most of the major cities in the U.S. and several abroad, serving as a virtual showcase for classified ads.  Listings include housing, jobs, items for sale, carpooling and more. www.craigslist.org

A roommate finder and roommate search service nationwide.  You must be a member, but membership is free.  www.roommates.com

Online help finding apartments:
www.apartments.com
www.apartmentguide.com
www.apartmentfinder.com
www.move.com/apartments/main.aspx