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FINANCING LAW SCHOOL
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT |
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Undergraduate students should check out FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TIPS.
Law school students and graduate students should check out FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TIPS. |
| To calculate APR, compare financial aid offers, see SELECT A CALCULATOR. |
The "Student Loan People" provide a useful GLOSSARY.
Annual Percentage Rate (APR) - A calculation that reflects the total cost of a loan (interest plus all fees) on an annual basis. |
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FINANCING LAW SCHOOL
ADVICE AND INFORMATION |
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- How to Pay for Your Law Degree, 2008-2010 by Gail Ann Schlachter and David Weber ($30 or less).
- Law and Legal Information Directory, Gale Research, annual.
Contains a chapter on scholarships and grants and another chapter on awards and prizes
With a $578.00 list price, you may be tempted to look for this book in a library; the call number is KF190 .L35 |
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FINANCIAL AID
ADVICE AND INFORMATION |
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- Law school scholarships and grants are most desirable but competition for law school scholarships and grants is intense.
- Law schools have a financial aid office that will assist you in planning how to pay for law school.
- For financial aid purposes, graduate and professional students are automatically considered "independent." This means that your parents income and assets have no effect on determining your financial need.
- At the graduate and professional level, with the exception of some government loan programs, there is an emphasis on merit rather than need. For law-school students, there is an emphasis on law-school funded awards rather than university-funded loans.
- If you are considering law school at an out-of-state public university that very likely will accept you (or even better, you have been accepted and your admission has been deferred for one year), in order to avoid paying out-of-state tuition, you may want to move to that state and do what it takes to become a legal resident. Plan ahead, so that, as early as possible, you do what it takes to become a resident; the financial aid office at the law school of your intended state university should be able to tell you what you have to do to become a resident.
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FINANCIAL AID
LINKS |
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- SIMPLETUITION.COM is free to all students, parents, and schools. They receive their revenue from lenders (23 at the moment). They say that this makes them similar to other online comparison shopping services, such as mortgage, car loan and travel sites.This website considers neither Perkins Loans nor Stafford Loans. This website gives, for an amount you indicate, the the lowest the monthly payment can be (good chance you will not qualify for this low payment), the APR corresponding to the lowest monthly payment, the number of payments, the total cost of loan, and first payment day (usually six to twelve months after graduation). To get the full benefit of this website, use the compare buttom (bottom left). After choosing to compare one or more lenders to compare, you will see much more detailed information including the highest your monthly payment can be.
- Arizona State University Pre-Law gives advice on FINANCING LAW SCHOOL including useful information about how to develop a budget, good financial habits, and good credit.
- The Law School Admission Council offers some valuable information about FINANCIAL AID FOR LAW SCHOOL.
- FinAid has BOOKS ABOUT LAW SCHOOL FINANCIAL AID.
- FinAid says that it "was established in the fall of 1994 as a public service. This award-winning site has grown into the most comprehensive annotated collection of information about student financial aid on the web." Both GUIDE TO FINANCIAL AID and FINANCIAL AID FOR LAW SCHOOL provides links to loan information sources.
- The Hispanic National Bar Association gives advice on FINANCING YOUR LEGAL EDUCATION.
- The Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) was founded in 1968 as a non-profit project of the American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education to expand opportunities for minorities and low-income students to attend law school and become members of the legal profession by providing pre-law recruitment, counseling, placement assistance and training. CLEO indicates some FINANCIAL AID RESOURCES and gives ten FINANCIAL AID FACTS,
- AccessGroup has a good webpage on COMPARING COSTS OF LOANS.
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SOME LOANS PROVIDERS FOR STUDENTS
ATTENDING LAW SCHOOL OR
SOON TO BE ENTERING LAW SCHOOL
Let the borrower beware |
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LENDER |
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PHONE
NUMBER |
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COMMENTS |
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| Access Group |
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800-282-1550 |
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"Access Group is a nonprofit student loan provider with over 20 years of experience specializing in graduate and professional student loans." Their website is informative.
Special treatment for law students includes:
Low or No-Fee Law School Loans. |
Bank of
America |
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800-344-8382 |
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Bank of America offers STAFFORD LOANS, PLUS LOANS FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS, and PRIVATE LOANS (STANDARD and TERI). ****WE ARE CHECKING B of A PRIVATE LOANS |
| Chase |
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800-487-4404 |
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Chase offers PRIVATE STUDENT LOANS AND FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. |
| citibank |
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800-967-2400 |
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Citibank offers STAFFORD LOANS and GRADUATE PLUS LOANS.
Special treatment for law students includes:
CITASSIST® LAW LOAN offer low, credit-based variable rates, flexible terms and high annual limits.
and
CITIASSIST® BAR EXAM LOANS provide the money you need to prepare for the Bar Exam so you can focus on studying. They feature low, credit-based, variable interest rates, and flexible repayment terms. |
Collegiate
Funding
Service |
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866-922-9965 |
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***CHECK INTERNET CONNECTION. *****As of June 30, 2005, Collegiate Funding Services had facilitated the origination of more than $20 billion in education loans.
Special treatment for law students includes:
0-Fee Law Stafford Loan
0-Fee Law Private Loans |
Education
Finance
Partners |
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866-308-1071 |
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***CHECK INTERNET CONNECTION. *****Education Finance Partners say that they are "dedicated to helping students and their families get the money they need to achieve their education goals. Our innovative private loan programs are affordable and easy to obtain." |
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Key Bank |
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800-539-5363 |
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Key Bank offers STAFFORD LOANS, GRAD PLUS LOANS, AND FEDERAL PLUS LOANS. |
| Nellie Mae |
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800-634-9308
800-367-8848 |
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Nellie Mae offers the usual STAFFORD LOANS, GRAD PLUS LOANS, and PLUS PARENTS LOANS as well as their private loan (SIGNATURE STUDENT LOANS), Privaet loans include LAW EXCELL (scroll to the bottom left; you should see "Law Excell" at the end of the penultimate line and continued onto the last line), MBA EXCELL (scroll to the bottom left; you should see "MBA Excell" at the end of the last line), and EXCEL GRAD LOANS. CONSOLIDATION LOANS are also offered. Nellie Mae became a wholly owned subsidiary of SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae) in 1999. Has informative FAQs section. |
| Nelnet |
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866-866-7372 |
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Nelnet offers STAFFORD LOANS and PRIVATE LOANS |
| Sallie Mae |
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888-272-5543 |
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Sallie Mae offers Stafford loans, Graduate Plus Loans, and private school loans, The combination of these loans, when loaned to a law school student, Sallie Mae calls Law school loans. Sallie Mae promises the recipients of these loans "the convenience of one available combined billing, and 24/7 online account management. |
Total Higher
Education
(T.H.E.) |
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888-843-3095 |
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T.H.E. is a non-profit organization where borrowers are the stakeholders.
Special treatment for law students includes:
LAW LOAN PROGRAMS.
Features of the T.H.E. Law Loan Program include: ZERO FEES and repayment bonus.
"Unlike some lenders, T.H.E. does not deduct origination or guarantee fees from your Stafford or private loan proceeds. You get MORE MONEY NOW, up to $555 for the first year. With private loans, you receive the total amount you are eligible to receive. On Graduate PLUS loans a 3% Origination Fee applies; however, T.H.E. credits this fee within six months of fully funding your loan."
REPAYMENT BONUS. "Begin SAVING MONEY immediately upon entering repayment on Stafford and private loans with the T.H.E. Repayment Bonus. |
| Wachovia |
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800-338-2243 |
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Wachovia offeres STAFFORD LOANS, PLUS LOANS FOR PARENTS, PLUS LOANS FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS, and PRIVATE LOANS (WACHOVIA EDUCATION LOANSM). |
| Wells Fargo |
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800-658-3567 |
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Wells Fargo offers STAFFORD LOANS, PLUS LOANS FOR PARENTS, PLUS LOANS FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS, and PRIVATE LOANS (Wells Fargo Collegiate® Loan). |
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FINANCIAL AID
INFORMATION ABOUT SALLIE MAE |
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SALLIE MAE was created in 1972 as a quasi-governmental agency whose purpose was to encourage private banks to loan to students who were considered to be a credit risk. Sallie Mae did not make the loans itself. In 1995, Sallie Mae severed its ties to the government and became a private lender, much like a bank. That transformation has proved lucrative for Sallie Mae, to say the least. Since 1995, the company's stock price has gone up almost 2,000 percent. Sallie Mae is the largest originator of federally insured student loans. Most of the preceding is from a 60 MINUTES segment (May 7, 2006), Does the Lender's Success Come at too Steep a Cost to Students and Tazpayers? No matter what the answer to this question is, you may want to read what Sallie Mae has to say about LOANS FOR UNDERGRADUATES, LOANS FOR PARENTS, and MANAGING YOUR LOANS AFTER GRADUATION. Also you may want to see their website FINANCING YOUR EDUCATION. I guess we can say that Sallie Mae came into the student loan business to do good and they ended up doing well. |
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FINANCIAL AID
ADVICE AND INFORMATION |
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A good first step toward calculating the educational costs and living expenses that you will incur while attending law school is to approximate your expenses for the last year. Most of your expenese will occur in the following categories:
Educational: Tuition, fees, books, supplies, and other related expenses.
Living: Housing, food, clothing, and utilities.
Transportation: Public transportation, car repairs, car insurance, and trips home.
Medical expenses and insurance:
Miscellaneous: Entertainment and other personal expenses
For students with dependents, child care and life insurance may be needed.
The next step is to use this expense log to estimate your expenses at each of the law schoolsl that interest you. Most of your law school expenses will be educational (educational expenses depend on the law school and can be estimated quite accurately) and housing (housing expenses depend on the location of the law school and may be difficult to accurately estimate unless you visit the law school). For a given law school, one has almost no control over the educational expenses but one always has some control over housing expenses. For most law schools, you can obtain their estimate of housing expenses that a law student will occur.
Note that because of inflation, your annual cost of law school will increase over the three years (or four years) that you are there..
It will be of value to know how much money, if any, you will have saved by the time law school begins.
Unless you are enrolled in a part-time program, the ABA recommends that you should not plan on working
during your first year.
Cost may well play a leading role in your choice of law school. |
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FINANCIAL AID
BAR LOANS |
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Law students may apply for BAR Loans for the period after graduation when they are studying for the bar. A BAR loan is an unsecured consumer loan offered to graduating law school students to assist with expenses related to the bar process. These related expenses may include the following: bar examination fees, bar review courses, and living expenses during the period after graduation and prior to being notified of the exam results.
From UCLA financial aid resources. |
| The Christian Science Monitor has an article IN DEBT FROM DAY ONE. The article states that For many students debtors, a career in public service is but a distant dream. The emphasis of this article is on law students. |
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SOME WEBSITES WE LIKED |
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WEBSITE WINNER (Most informative): View the FINANCIAL AID LETTER sent to admitted 2006-2007 UCLA law school students with estimated cost of attendance and financial aid awards. All law schools should put such a letter on the internet.
WEBSITE WINNER (Most informative, second place): The UCLA website FINANCIAL AID RESOURCES gives an explanation of the financial resources available to law students at UCLA, along with eligibility requirements, application procedures, and deadlines. All law schools should gives an explanation of the financial resources available to law students at to students at their law school, along with eligibility requirements, application procedures, and deadlines. |
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FINANCIAL AID
SCANDAL |
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| When Ronald Reagan was president, savings and loan criminals were made to look like honest business people. Fortunately New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo does not have this attitude toward student loan swindlers. His idea seems to be to fine and reform these miscreants. Hopefully criminal action will be next. |
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So far two student loan lenders, Citibank and Sallie Mae, have agreed to pay a fine ($2 million each) and agreed to to follow a new set of guidelines restrictring their relationships with financial aid offices. Should you deal with these two lenders? I say "Yes" assuming that the loan rate is right. Citibank and Sallie Mae will, presumably, be closely watched and will keep whatever criminal intentions they have in check. |
| Private student loans totaled some $17.3 billion in 2005-2006 and have grown at an annual average of 27 percent in the past five years, according to the College Board. They represented 20 percent of all educational borrowing. In 2005-2006, compared with 4 percent a decade earlier. From U.S. News & World Report (April 23, 2007, p30). |
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SALLIE MAE was created in 1972 as a quasi-governmental agency whose purpose was to encourage private banks to loan to students who were considered to be a credit risk. Sallie Mae did not make the loans itself. In 1995, Sallie Mae severed its ties to the government and became a private lender, much like a bank. That transformation has proved lucrative for Sallie Mae, to say the least. Since 1995, the company's stock price has gone up almost 2,000 percent. Sallie Mae is the largest originator of federally insured student loans. Most of the preceding is from a 60 MINUTES segment (May 7, 2006), Does the Lender's Success Come at too Steep a Cost to Students and Tazpayers? No matter what the answer to this question is, you may want to read what Sallie Mae has to say about LOANS FOR UNDERGRADUATES, LOANS FOR PARENTS, and MANAGING YOUR LOANS AFTER GRADUATION. Also you may want to see their website FINANCING YOUR EDUCATION. I guess we can say that Sallie Mae came into the student loan business to do good and they ended up doing well. |
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FINANCING LAW SCHOOL
INTRODUCTION |
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FINANCING LAW SCHOOL
LINKS |
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