New Loan Forgiveness Program for Law School Students
Have you ever thought about going back to school to get your law degree? Well now is the perfect time thanks to two colleges that have introduced brand new loan forgiveness programs to law students. Essentially what this means is that your student loans will be forgiven simply by obtaining your law degree and finding a job in the public service sector. Public interest lawyers may earn less than those working for private law firms, but the amount of student loan savings is significant enough in most cases to make it all worth it.
The two participating universities are the University of California at Berkeley and Georgetown University—two very prestigious schools with very good law schools. These schools are offering new law students the chance to erase their student loan debt simply by completing their law degree and finding work in the public service sector (i.e., court appointed attorney, etc…). These lawyers on average start out at $41,000/year and go up from there. It’s not uncommon for students with law degrees to graduate with $100,000 or more in student loan debt, so being able to have that debt forgiven could be very attractive option to many students thinking about a career in law.
University of California at Berkeley
Both Georgetown and Berkeley are offering to make student loan payments for a period of 10 years following graduation and upon finding work in the public sector. Berkeley grads making less than $65,000/year would have 100% of their student loan debt paid for, while those making up to $100,000 per year will have only a portion of their student debt paid. Georgetown graduates earning less than $75,000 can expect to have their student loan debt covered.
Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
These programs only cover federal financial aid and not private funding. This may change in the future, however, so we’ll let you know if and when it does. Federal aid limits are higher for law students pursuing a law degree, so in most cases, federal student loans will cover most–if not all–of the college expenses incurred while attending school.
No word yet on whether other colleges and universities plan to follow the lead of Georgetown and Berkeley in granting loan forgiveness to their law degree graduates. The hope is that other schools do implement similar programs and not only for law students but also for other graduates finding jobs in other areas of public service.
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