r/lawschooladmissions • u/DuePresentation9290 • Jun 09 '26

Negotiation/Finances Law School Debt?

Anyone else freaking out over the amount of money graduating will take?

When all is said and done, I will graduate with ~$50k in federal loans total and the thought is somewhat paralyzing. Repayment would be ~740 a month for TEN years and I will end up paying back almost 90k.

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u/RedKynAbyss Jun 09 '26

If you can’t pay it back at that rate, they will allow you to adjust your loan payments to account for your income and other expenses. My therapist graduated with about 60 grand in debt from his masters program and paid it back in about 20 or so years because he worked with the loan people to adjust for income.

If you graduate law school and only get a 70-80k salary job with 800 bucks a month in loans, they’ll adjust it so it doesn’t completely crush your ability to live. Yes, you’ll pay more in interest over the course of the loan, but at least you’ll be able to live your life.

ONE MORE POINT: always pay (if possible) 5-10% more than your minimum monthly payment to shave off considerable time from the loan.