Top Law Schools

Hey everyone. This might sound extremely naive, but here it goes. How does one finance law school? Luckily, I don't have any undergrad loans, but will be bringing in close to $5,000 consumer debt. How do schools offer loans? Will they offer me enough for tuition/books/living expenses for three years? Then I'm expected to start making payments to them 6 months after graduation? Do they have high-interest? I'm not applying for another year, but have been extremely nervous about this whole process lately....Help :/

You will be offered federal loans after you have been accepted and submitted your financial need forms. Most of these loan will have to be begun to be paid back right after you graduate. Some of them do not have to be started until 3 or 6 months after graduation. There are set limits to how much you can take out under the more lenient loans (better interest rates and longer until repayment must start) and how much you are offered is based on demonstrated financial need. Grad Plus loans cover the rest of the Cost of Attendance that your school sets. Interest rates for grad plus loans are probably around 7-8% and the better loans are closer to 6%. However, there are repayment options such as IBR (Income Based Repayment) which can make getting into a repayment schedule easier at the front end and allow you to pay a set percentage of your income instead of owning a set number which may be too high for you to pay right out of school. Go ahead and start to look into these options.

It says the Federal Direct Stafford Loan offers students $20,500. Is that per year, or for all three years??

Per year.

Maryam19 wrote:It says the Federal Direct Stafford Loan offers students $20,500. Is that per year, or for all three years??

That is per year, but it is both subsidized and unsubsidized. If you qualify, you will be offered. $8,500 in subsidized and $12,000 unsubsidized. And the rest in Grad Plus. That's the best you can get I believe. (not sure about the Perkins)

How often do students pay for everything from their loans, without receiving ANY help from their parents? Is it fairly common?

Perkins are just awesome, but they're need-based and more selective than Stafford loans. I believe you can qualify for up to $8k/year in Perkins. They're also subsidized (don't build interest while in school + 9 months after school) and carry a 5% interest rate.

beachbum wrote:Perkins are just awesome, but they're need-based and more selective than Stafford loans. I believe you can qualify for up to $8k/year in Perkins. They're also subsidized (don't build interest while in school + 9 months after school) and carry a 5% interest rate.

Not all schools offer Perkins loans for law schools either