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

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Conclusion55The Commission was charged with examining the law student debt burden issue andits impact on law graduates’ ability to serve their communities by accepting andremaining in public service legal employment, and with making recommendations to theAmerican Bar Association and the legal profession about strategies to respond to thisimportant issue. The Commission appreciates this opportunity to present itsconclusions and recommendations to the leadership of the Association and to colleaguesand organizations throughout the profession.Respectfully submitted,Curtis M. Caton, Co-ChairJudge Frank M. Coffin, Co-ChairRamon P. AriasDavid L. ChambersDavid J. DeVriesFlorence W. PrioleauNancy B. RapoportMichael V. SaxlGary SlossbergJamienne S. StudleyRobert N. WeinerDiane C. YuAUGUST 2003Conclusion
56AppendixAPPENDIX 1COMMISSION PUBLICATIONSLifting the Burden: Law Student Debt as a Barrier to Public Service, The Final Report ofthe ABA Commission on Loan Repayment and Forgiveness (August 2003)Meeting the Challenge of Law Student Debt: Loan Repayment Assistance Programs(August 2003)State LRAP Tool Kit: A Resource Guide for Creating State Loan Repayment AssistancePrograms for Public Service Lawyers (May 2003)All publications are available through the ABA’s website at www.abalegalservices.org/lrap.SUMMARY OF COMMISSION ACCOMPLISHMENTSFederal Level• Coordinated ABA lobbying efforts for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act• Lobbied Congress and the U.S. Secretary of Education to improve the incomecontingentrepayment option of the Federal Direct Lending Program• Stafford Loan Program - advocated for the creation of loan forgiveness for lawyersin public service and an increase to the cap on annual amount borrowed• Perkins Loan Program - advocated to extend forgiveness to attorneys working inpublic service, such as public defenders and legal services attorneys (broadeningbeyond existing categories of teachers, child and family service workers, and lawenforcement, prosecution, and corrections personnel)Law Schools• Developed a brochure for use by law schools to promote LRAPs, Meeting theChallenge of Law Student Debt: Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (tri-foldbrochure, August 2003)• Encouraged U.S. News & World Report to include LRAPs as a feature in its annualrankings issue• Submitted a proposed Interpretation to Accreditation Standard 510 to incorporatediscussion of methods of debt reduction, such as LRAPs and post-graduatefellowships, into the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools. The StandardsReview Committee of the Section of Legal Education denied the proposal. TheCommission then submitted a proposed Policy Statement encouraging law schoolsto include discussion of debt reduction methods, such as LRAPs, for adoption bythe Council. The proposed statement is pending and the Council will consider itat its August 2003 meeting.States• Developed sample LRAP legislation and a related resource manual, State LRAP ToolKit, to interest and encourage states in considering legislation and to assist barleaders in creating statewide LRAPs•Mounted an educational campaign targeted to state and local bars and foundationsAppendix
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Copyright © 2003 American Bar Asso
Page 6: Table of ContentsTable Of ContentsP
Page 10 and 11: Executive Summary9THE PROBLEM: EDUC
Page 12 and 13: 4 ( ) () () (GDP
Page 14 and 15: • In addition to creating law sch
Page 16: y the rest of the members of the ba
Page 20 and 21: position - should also help make cl
Page 22 and 23: one with the lowest total payments
Page 24 and 25: Ms. Median Takes the Job with the P
Page 26 and 27: TABLE 5Starting Salaries of New Law
Page 28 and 29: As the size of educational debts ri
Page 30 and 31: monthly debt obligations. Public se
Page 32 and 33: law graduate debts. Since August 20
Page 34 and 35: Federal 33OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL LOAN
Page 36 and 37: assistance to lawyers, including th
Page 38 and 39: Education Loan Program. When Senato
Page 40 and 41: disliked the twenty-five year repay
Page 42 and 43: A number of bills expanding or init
Page 44 and 45: Congress should amend Section 125 o
Page 46 and 47: A recent Office of Personnel Manage
Page 48 and 49: Law Schools47OVERVIEW OF LAW SCHOOL
Page 50 and 51: strong recruiting tool. Pre-law stu
Page 52 and 53: encourage them to keep borrowing to
Page 54 and 55: programs, sample LRAP legislation w
Page 58 and 59: ABA Policy• Developed policy pert
Page 60 and 61: APPENDIX 3AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
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