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I have $135,000 in undergraduate/graduate federal loan debt. To my knowledge, I've already reached the limit a student can take out in federal student loans.

At this point I am trying to figure out if Law School is even possible, seeing that I'd probably need to take out at least an additional $160,000 in loans.

Does anyone know the latest "max-out" limits for private loans? Is it possible for a student to be approached for an additional 160-180 in law school loans, when they're already $135K in the hole from undergrad?

I don't think there's an actual maximum for GradPLUS loans. Talk to the financial aid office of a law school for actual information, though.

Just a heads-up, people have failed the Character and Fitness Examination because of their excessive / irresponsible debt (including student loans). I read on Abovethelaw.com about a guy who was denied admission to the bar because he had accumulated $400k in college debt.

There are lifetime limits for stafford loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized). There is no limit for GradPlus. This means that even if you do reach your stafford limit you will just have to take your entire loan in gradplus, which just means the parts of your loan that would otherwise be at the 6.8% stafford rate, will be at the 8.5% gradplus rate.

Geist13 wrote:There are lifetime limits for stafford loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized). There is no limit for GradPlus. This means that even if you do reach your stafford limit you will just have to take your entire loan in gradplus, which just means the parts of your loan that would otherwise be at the 6.8% stafford rate, will be at the 8.5% gradplus rate.

Thank you SO MUCH for providing this clarification.

Geist13 wrote:There are lifetime limits for stafford loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized). There is no limit for GradPlus. This means that even if you do reach your stafford limit you will just have to take your entire loan in gradplus, which just means the parts of your loan that would otherwise be at the 6.8% stafford rate, will be at the 8.5% gradplus rate.

Yes, I read that story as well. That guy failed to pay a single dollar on any of his loans (including undergraduate) which is why he was not admitted to the bar. I cant see how taking out student loans out of financial need illustrates "weak character" given today's economic climate and the lack of availability of scholarship/grant funding.

But hey, you never know.

theoryland wrote:

Geist13 wrote:There are lifetime limits for stafford loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized). There is no limit for GradPlus. This means that even if you do reach your stafford limit you will just have to take your entire loan in gradplus, which just means the parts of your loan that would otherwise be at the 6.8% stafford rate, will be at the 8.5% gradplus rate.

Yes, I read that story as well. That guy failed to pay a single dollar on any of his loans (including undergraduate) which is why he was not admitted to the bar. I cant see how taking out student loans out of financial need illustrates "weak character" given today's economic climate and the lack of availability of scholarship/grant funding.

But hey, you never know.

Yeah, the C&F issue has to do with defaulting on loans and other obligations. I would be very surprised to see trouble with the amount of loans taken out as a student. Would the Bar see a 500,000 dollar mortgage as a problem? Probably not.

theoryland wrote:

Geist13 wrote:There are lifetime limits for stafford loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized). There is no limit for GradPlus. This means that even if you do reach your stafford limit you will just have to take your entire loan in gradplus, which just means the parts of your loan that would otherwise be at the 6.8% stafford rate, will be at the 8.5% gradplus rate.

Yes, I read that story as well. That guy failed to pay a single dollar on any of his loans (including undergraduate) which is why he was not admitted to the bar. I cant see how taking out student loans out of financial need illustrates "weak character" given today's economic climate and the lack of availability of scholarship/grant funding.

But hey, you never know.

Link? I'm wondering if he went straight into law school from undergrad.

My guess is that he accrued thousands in penalties by not attempting to pay anything, thinking he would just "let it ride."

http://abovethelaw.com/2009/07/400000-i ... ness-fail/

As noted in the article, the review of his bar application found "his student loans were too big and his efforts to repay them too meager". It wasn't just that he had that much debt, it was that he wasn't attempting to pay it off.

“Applicant has not made any substantial payments on the loans,” the judges wrote in a terse decision and an unusual rejection of the committee’s recommendation. “Applicant has not presently established the character and general fitness requisite for an attorney and counselor-at-law.”

Mr. Bowman, 47, appears to have crossed some unspoken line with his $400,000 in student debt and penalties, accumulated over many years.

ATL links to this New York Times story for more info: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/busin ... ml?_r=2&hp

“The size of this account is extremely unusual, but not surprising given that the customer took out 32 loans to pursue undergraduate, law and masters of law studies and has not made a single monthly payment over his 26-year student loan history,” Ms. Holler said. “We are performing an extensive review of his extraordinary case, and if we identify any errors we will quickly rectify them.”

Yeah, I think it's about more than just the size of the debt.

..

Yes, Comission will evaluate whether you are responsible person. They know that students get into financial trouble and look whether there is something really arrogant that you did about it - like ignored bunch of payments for years. Now, with such a huge debt load (almost 300K) I suggest you try to get into as good ranking school as ppossible, in a large legal market too. You will need that crdential later to get a job that can allow you to pay off that debt. Or, try to score on LSAT as high as possible and get a max scholarship at a lower ranking school. It is up to you. If not, then you might want to tight your belt after graduation and work for public interest entity or state or fed government for 10 years after graduation and then get that debt discharged. The question is - do you really want to be a lawyer? Do you know what you are getting yourself into? You might hate being a lawyer, so get ready for such outcome just in case. Alternativelly - you can try medical school and hate your job for a somewhat better pay:). If you definitelly set your mind to it - good luck and work hard for the next 15 years.