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CLEO Blog - What's in Your Wallet? Paying for Law School: Part 1 |
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January 12, 2010
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What's in Your Wallet? Paying for Law School: Part 1
You can dream about law school all day, but writing that first tuition check can be a nightmare. CLEO asked Dean Reyes Aguilar University of Utah, SJ Quinney College of Law to "Talk Numbers" and help you face the facts about financing law school.
This is a four part series in which Dean Aguilar explores What You Need To Know about paying for law school. Let's start with the basics: Question: What steps can an undergraduate student take to prepare for financing law school? Answer: Dean Aguilar advises ... The first thing I want to address is stating the obvious, but warrants mention. From the perspective of financing law school, one of the best things one can do is perform well in courses and develop strong academic skills. So especially if you are early in your undergraduate career, it makes sense not only academically, but financially to focus on your studies and seek to excel. The second action students can take is to address debt. Be wary of debt. While it may be necessary to take on some debt to support an undergraduate education, acquire that debt in a prudent manner and at a reasonable level. Be aware that law school graduates are subjected to credit checks and review of their financial history as part of the Character and Fitness evaluations they go through when applying for bar admission. Too much debt or a bad credit history may raise questions or concerns from the character and fitness committees. The third action is to know and understand the types of loans to which you are obligating yourself. Know if you are taking out private or federally guaranteed loans. Most private educational loans have variable interest rates with no cap and limited repayment options. This could create issues if we enter an inflationary period with rising interest rates. Also, know if your loans are accruing interest while you are in school. Educational loans that are accruing interest while you are a student are called "unsubsidized" loans. Use earnings from work or other non-loan financial resources to make quarterly interest payments. You should not be making interest payments with borrowed money. As undergraduate students approach graduation and prepare to apply to law school they should begin setting a sound knowledge base for financing their legal education. Have a budget and plan to address the application process. Law student debt is wide ranging and varies from school to school. This also holds true for salaries of recent law school graduates. Salaries, in addition to being wide ranging, can vary dramatically from geographic region to geographic region and practice sector to practice sector. In short, as it relates to financing your legal education, do the cost/benefit analysis. Know what you are getting into financially before committing to attend law school. |
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