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Easing the Burden: Loan Repayment Assistance Programs
By:
Lee Paddock, Director of Environmental Program, Pace Law School
Mike Murphy, 3L, Pace Law School, LRAP Rep

So you want to work for the good guys after passing the bar, but your debt won't let you? Both public interest organizations and government agencies have experienced increasing difficulty in recruiting and retaining lawyers because of the growing debt load that students face by the time they graduate. One of the reasons for this increased debt load is the steep and persistent rise in tuition at public and private law schools since the early 1970's. In the period between 1992 and 2002, the cost of living in the United States rose 28 percent while the cost of tuition for public law schools increased by 134 percent (100 percent for non-resident students) and private law school tuition has increased 76 percent. If the average debt load of law school graduates exceeds $80,000 resulting in monthly repayment costs of more than a $1,000, how can any young lawyer afford to take the average entry-level public interest salary of $36,000?

A survey conducted by Equal Justice Works and several other organizations found that law school debt prevented two-thirds of student respondents from considering a public interest or government job. An equal percentage of public interest employers reported difficulty in recruiting the attorneys they need and reported problems retaining qualified attorneys. On the hopeful side, the survey showed that loan repayment assistance of $6,000 per year would increase the number of law school graduates who would consider federal government jobs to 83 percent.

A recent report by the American Bar Association expressed concern over this growing problem by noting that "the legal profession cannot honor its commitment to the principle of access to justice if significant numbers of law graduates are precluded from pursuing or remaining in public service jobs."

Loan Repayment Assistance Programs or LRAPs are one of the ways to address this issue. Over 50 law schools, 14 states and a few public interest employers have LRAPs for public service work. See NAPIL for details on which schools, states and employers have LRAPs. However, many of these programs are very limited and, even as a whole, fall far short of the goal of allowing students interested in public service careers to make that choice without inordinate concern about their loan burden.

So what can NAELS or its member schools do? Several things. NAELS can help develop support for LRAPS through national organizations such as the National Association of Attorneys General, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Public Defenders Organization, national environmental organizations and others by encouraging these organizations to adopt supporting resolutions or policy positions.

Individual Environmental Law Societies can: