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Make no mistake about it: an education in law is expensive. However, there are a number of ways that students can lower their costs and receive financial aid in order to pay for their legal education.
Some students who have worked their way through their undergraduate education often assume that they can do the same in law school. However, this is not the case for most full-time law students. Law school is so intense that law schools assume (and sometimes require) that their students devote all of their time and energy to their legal students. This means that most students must support themselves and pay for their legal education through some other means.
LOANS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
Most law students who receive financial aid do so through the federal student loan program. Students may apply for subsidized and unsubsidized student loans through the U. S. Department of Education. And students are often happy to learn that, unlike during their undergraduate years, a student's family income generally does not impact the financial aid decision for graduate and professional education. Of course, student loans must be paid off after one completes their education. But the student loan programs offer an accessible means by which large numbers of students may pay for their education.
Another means by which you may lower your expenses is by applying for law school scholarships. The number of law school scholarships is much less than at the undergraduate level. However, they exist and many law schools offer tuition waivers for students with exceptionally high LSAT scores and GPA's. In the past few years, for instance, UMass Dartmouth has had students who have been accepted into prestigious top-20 law schools. However, these same students also gained acceptance at lower ranked schools which offered them 50% or 100% tuition waivers. It's awfully hard to pass up a free (or half-price) legal education. Students have accepted these offers, saving themselves tens of thousands of dollars.
SHOP AROUND
Another often overlooked way to lower legal education expenses is to attend law schools that have lower tuition and fees. The cost of law school can vary dramatically from school to school. Unfortunately, New England offers few public law schools with lower costs. But other regions of the nation offer high-quality legal education through state universities that can save students lots of money.
Some state schools offer the opportunity to pay significantly lower in-state tuition rates after the first year. For example, Florida State University Law School tuition (for out of state students) is approximately $31,000 per year. In the second and third years, however, students who move their residency to Florida can pay the in-state tuition rate of around $11,000 per year. Thus, the tuition for a Florida State law degree would be around $53,000 -- compared to $108,000 for three years at Boston University. A Florida State law student will pay less than HALF the tuition of that of a student at BU! In New Engalnd, the University of Connecticut charges tution of approximately $20,000 for in-state residents. Again, these costs are significantly lower than many private schools in the area.
The bottom line is this: law school costs a lot of money, but you don't have to be rich to become a lawyer. Fortunately, there are ways to pay for law school and/or minimize the expense. But you've got to be a smart consumer.
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