Lifting the Burden: Law Student Debt as a Barrier to Public Service

48RECOMMENDATIONSLaw schools should create programs to help reduce student debt burdens andfacilitate a student’s decision to enter and remain in a public service job. Theseprograms should include financial aid programs, such as loan repaymentassistance programs (“LRAPs”), public service scholarships and post-graduatepublic service fellowships.Many students enter law school with aspirations of using their legal skills toserve their communities through working in public service jobs after graduation.Some aspire to government service, such as working in a state attorney general’soffice enforcing consumer protection laws or representing elderly persons who havebeen the victims of abuse by family members. However, after borrowing significantsums to finance their legal education, many find that earning traditionally lowerpublic service salaries and meeting their monthly student loan debt obligations areincompatible with their public service dreams.Law schools, as the gateway to the legal profession, should facilitate the full rangeof career options for law graduates. Many law school deans and administratorsrealize that, at higher debt levels, graduates truly cannot support themselves andtake public service jobs without making a significant sacrifice, such as moving backwith their parents, taking a second job, and/or postponing major life decisions, likebuying a home or having children. Schools also are aware of the important role theyplay in cultivating and supporting the public service bar.Therefore, law schools should create programs, such as public service fellowshipsand scholarships and LRAPs to help alleviate the educational debt burden of lawgraduates who want to serve their communities by working in public serviceemployment settings. By doing so, law schools are not only helping their alumnirealize their dreams, but also they are making a positive impact on the communitiesin which they are located and on the legal profession.Law Schools• Law schools should treat as a priority the funding of programs, such as LRAPs,designed to make public service work financially feasible for graduates.Most law schools’ missions have, at the core, the goals of facilitating public serviceand improving society through the legal profession. LRAPs help law schools supporttheir mission by making careers in public service possible. By creating and supportinga LRAP, a law school sends a message to its student body, alumni and the communityin which it operates that it places a high value on public service to the community.A responsive law school financial aid program is enhanced by a sound LRAP to helpsupport graduates who want to enter public service. Financial aid is often providedto law students based on the assumption that borrowers can repay their student loanswhile earning relatively higher salaries. While this assumption may generally holdtrue for graduates who pursue jobs in the private sector, many graduates pursuingpublic service jobs are unable to meet their monthly debt obligations while earninglower salaries. Therefore, it is critical that law schools supplement available financialaid by making LRAP benefits available to graduates in public service careers.There are many other reasons why law schools should make funding LRAPs apriority. LRAPs also help law schools cultivate a student body with diverse views andcareer plans. If more law graduates have access to LRAPs, then a larger and morediverse pool of attorneys will be afforded the opportunity to pursue and remain inpublic service legal careers. Loan repayment assistance programs can also act as a