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There used to be a thread on this here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/archives ... =1&t=28154

The information in that thread seems dated now. And the NYU LRAP overview on TLS also seems not to be up to date.

I was hoping someone with experience on NYU's plan and CLS's plan could go into depth. From what I am seeing NYU seems miles ahead. Basically as I understand it as follows.

NYU's plan covers 100% of qualified debt so long as annual income is under $80k. 40% of all income over $80k is expected to be paid toward debt. There is also a portion of debt that does not "qualify" based on assets (401k and retirement savings excluded). The minimum contribution is $1,700 per year in law school, or $5,100 overall. They recommend you reduce your borrowing by this amount at any point over the three years. So NYU covers up to all tuition - $5,100 if you make under $80k; and all tuition - $5,100 - ((salary - 80K) * .4).

Columbia's plan does not seem to be competitive. As I understand it, it is basically the same as NYU's, except that instead of paying 40% of income above $80k you would pay 34.5% of income above 50k. Columbia does subtract annual undergraduate debt payments from yearly income before calculating yearly contributions, though unless you had some significant undergraduate debt, this will likely be no more than a few thousand dollars per year. I am not sure if NYU also does this.

Basically, if you earn $268,000 per year or less, you will end up with more take home income under NYU's plan. This adjusts moderately depending on undergraduate debt.

Am I understanding this correctly? Is there a silver bullet that CLS has that I am missing? Maybe there is something about the vesting period or terms that would heavily favor Columbia, but what I glean from this is that if you are interested in PI, then NYU's LRAP program is much better.

Aren't both tied to IBR/PAYE. If so it would be extremely risky to rely on them.

Columbia's plan is not tied to IBR.

Then Columbia wins.

I had to meet with the head of LRAP at CLS to get that information because their materials are confusing. I suggest meeting with LRAP advisors at each school if you're trying to figure this out.

NYU currently has two LRAPs. One tied to IBR/PSLFP and one for those not eligible for PSLFP. If PSLFP goes away, this means the program will revert to how it was pre-PSLFP, meaning everyone will qualify for the non-PSLFP LRAP which I think is virtually identical to the standard Columbia LRAP.

NYU's is the best hands down until the feds get rid of PSLF, which is becoming a strong possibility. Columbia's is marginally worse, as you pointed out, and the no-contribution cap is 71k instead of 80k.

However, in a post-PSLF world, Columbia's plan of "a third over 50k" is pretty solid, though your interest-free school funded loan isn't forgiven completely until year five, unlike NYU's at year three.

The big benefit to NYU used to be its superior PI network, but Columbia has made excellent strides in recent years. Now it basically comes down to personal preference.