How to Pay For Law School

by Krystal Wascher

According to U.S. News and World Report getting your law degree can cost upwards of $150,000, or about as much as a brand spankin’ new Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG. I can attest to this as my own outstanding student loan balance is nearly $180,000 (no Benz for me). But before I give you my two-cents on how I should have paid for law school, let me tell you EXACTLY WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO…

The Wrong Way to Pay For Law School

The wrong way to pay for law school is to finance the whole damn thing… at 4-10% interest (compounded annually of course). That’s what I did and it was admittedly stupid. To my defense, I entered law school at a time when law firms were still hiring and paying first year associates $150k a year. I even had a friend who made $30k as a summer associate the year before I went to law school. That was for 2.5 months of work! So I figured I’d be able to pay it all off a year or two after graduating from law school (dumb, dumb, dumb).

Then the bottom dropped out of the legal industry

When I graduated in 2009, lawyers were being laid off by big law firms by the thousands. Those lawyers, who had years of experience, were now pursuing lower paying jobs in smaller firms. These were positions that were traditionally filled by newer attorneys.

So where did that leave recent law school graduates?

<Crickets. Shoulder shrugs.>

To be fair, I do know of a few law firms that prefer to hire “fresh” lawyers so that they can mold them into billable machines. But given the option between a lawyer who already knows how to handle a substantial caseload and a brand new attorney who needs to be trained, most mid-size and small firms will go for the one with more experience. Wouldn’t you?

The moral of this little tangent is to show you that big salaries aren’t handed out like candy on Halloween. Nothing is guaranteed. So why gamble with your financial future?

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go to law school.

Despite all of the negative backlash from bitter contract attorneys who say things like, “the world doesn’t need anymore lawyers,” I think some people are just meant to go to law school and they shouldn’t be denied the opportunity. Hell, given the chance, I’d do it all over again…but I wouldn’t have financed the whole thing.

So, If you have any hopes of holding the keys to the CL63 Benz before you’re 93 years old (or a lottery winner…whichever comes first) here is how I would suggest paying for law school.

Seek out scholarship money aggressively

Chances are good that if you got a halfway decent score on the LSAT that someone will try to entice you with a little bag of financial aid goodies. The problem is that most law school applicants would rather pay more to go to a law school that’s ranked higher and forego the scholarship money. (Wtf? I know. But that’s what I did.)

The thinking behind this arrogant move is that they will have better opportunities by going to the more prestigious law school. I’m not totally discounting this theory, but look at what happened at the University of Illinois and Villanova in the past year. Hell, even my own law school dropped down an entire tier while I was there. It can happen at any law school at any time.

I had the opportunity to go to a lower ranked law school in a less desirable part of the country for next to nothing…and I turned it down. If I wouldn’t have turned my nose up at the $20k/year scholarship, I would still be a lawyer, I’d just have a lot less debt. If you are offered the same opportunity, consider the option VERY carefully before you sign the next 30 years of your life away to American Education Services or Sallie Mae.

Save Money Before You Go

Holy crap! This is such a novel idea, right? I know it sounds kinda lame, but if you aren’t one of the lucky ones who manages to squeeze scholarship dollars out of the law school coffers, then you might just have to help yourself out the old fashioned way.

I know, I know. If you don’t go to law school right after college you’ll never go, right? I can promise you that if that’s your attitude toward the legal profession, you probably shouldn’t go at all. In fact, if that’s you, you should probably go here.

I took a year off to work before going back to law school and I was able to save up a couple grand…and thank God I did! Here’s a little secret for those of you planning on “living on loans”… it’s nearly impossible. It’s true that most law schools let you take out loans to cover the “cost of living,” but it’s usually less than $1k/month during the school year (you’re on your own for the summer).

You might think that a thousand bucks a month sounds reasonable, but by the time you add up rent, utilities, car payments, credit card bills and the mandatory health insurance policy that the law school makes you buy, you probably won’t even have enough left over for Ramen.

I’m not saying that you should work your tail off for 10 years to cover the entire cost of law school before you enroll- that’s probably not realistic- but if you can stomach moving back in with your parents and working for a year or two, you could save up some serious cash which will put you way ahead of the curve come graduation day.

Work It Out In the Library

Here’s a third option that can put a little cash in your pocket while you study. Most law schools have “work-study” programs that pay students for doing simple tasks on campus, including working the counters in the law library. These jobs aren’t very labor intensive and you can usually study while you work (hence “work-study”). Manning the library counter won’t cover the entire cost of your legal education, but it can help offset your living expenses. You’re going to be spending some serious time in the library anyway, why not make a make a few bucks while you’re there?

Got any other tips on how to pay for law school? Leave your comments below.

Wondering if you’ve got what it takes to get into law school? Check out “The Easiest Way to Predict Your Chances of Getting Into Law School“… it’s a classic.