Customize Your Weekly Pathways Content Law school applications: Loans
*** NOTE: Congress has enacted significant changes to federal educational loans. Most take effect in July 2026 and will apply to students starting law school in Fall 2026. These changes do NOT apply to students starting law school in Fall 2025. Contact your law school for the most up-to-date information. ***
Most law students finance some part of their education through loans. This overview should help you understand the different types of loans available, and their relative advantages and disadvantages. For more information on federal loans, the US Department of Education has an extensive explanatory website. Make sure you’re reading the most up to date info about the loan programs that apply to your entering year.
Law students primarily finance their legal education through two federal loan programs: the Direct Unsubsidized Loan (formerly known as Stafford), and the Direct PLUS Loan (also known as Grad PLUS). In both cases, the federal government is your lender, and the loans are unsubsidized, meaning that interest accrues on your loan from the day it’s disbursed to you.
Direct Unsubsidized loans have a fixed interest rate (7.94%, as of July 2025), which means that the interest rate won’t change during the life of the loan. There is an origination fee of 1.057%, meaning that 1.057% of your total loan is deducted when your loan is disbursed to you. Students beginning law school in Fall 2025 can borrow up to $20,500 each academic year. Students beginning law school in Fall 2026 or later will be able to borrow up to $50,000 each academic year with an aggregate cap of $200,000.
The Direct PLUS Loan (aka Grad PLUS Loan) also has a fixed interest rate (8.94% as of July 2025) and a 4.228% origination fee, and students can borrow up to the Cost of Attendance certified by their law school (the school’s COA less any scholarships or other resources you may have). Direct PLUS borrowers cannot have an “adverse credit history” as defined here. For students beginning law school in Fall 2026 or later, this program will not be available. The only federal lending program available to you will be the Direct Unsubsidized loan program above, with an annual cap of $50,000.
Most students beginning law school through Fall 2025 have been able to meet their costs of attendance through a combination of these two federal programs. (And students beginning law school in Fall 2025 will continue to have access to these programs through their three years of law school.)
However, many students first entering law school in Fall 2026 will need to seek private loans. If your school’s cost of attendance minus any scholarship awards is greater than $50,000, you will need to fill the gap another way, usually via loans from a private lender. Private loans vary widely both in the terms of the loans, and in their availability. In particular:
- Most private lenders take your credit history into account to determine whether they will lend to you and at what interest rates.
- Private lenders do not generally offer income-driven repayment plans.
- Private lenders do not offer public service loan forgiveness or other types of forgiveness.
- Private lenders apply different rules for hardship deferrals of loan repayments.
Your best source of information for private loans is your law school’s financial aid office. Your law school financial aid office should also provide you with up-to-date information about how to apply for the federal loans. AccessLex, a private non-profit organization, also has continuously updated information about lending options. AccessLex also provides a range of free financial advising services to pre-law students, law students, and lawyers.
It is critical that you try to minimize the amount you borrow. Your law school will certify you to borrow from federal and private sources up to their expected cost of attendance. In many cases, the cost of living expenses that they calculate are higher than what students actually spend, especially if they are savvy renters. You don’t have to borrow as much as they certify you to borrow! Every dollar you don’t borrow can be as much as two to three dollars you never have to pay back (depending on interest rates, term of your loan, etc.)—it’s like giving your future self more money! Live like a student, not like a lawyer.
Finally, you’ll really want to look at the repayment options and numbers before you sign up for those loans. You can find a general overview here.
