The Associated Press

Law school debts forcing recruits to private sector
November 18, 2002
WASHINGTON (AP) - Most new lawyers won't consider working for
government or public advocacy groups because their need for money
to pay off massive student loans leads them to the more lucrative
private sector, a study being released Monday found.
Legal education debt, which tops $84,000 for the average new
lawyer, prevents 66 percent of law students from taking public
interest jobs, according to the joint study by Equal Justice Works,
the National Association for Law Placement and the Partnership for
Public Service. The Washingtonbased groups promote public interest
work.
"The bottom line is America's law school graduates are drowning
in debt and shut out of public service at a time when the federal
government is facing losses of over half its work force due to
retirements," said Max Stier, president and chief executive of the
Partnership for Public Service.
More than 94 percent of law students reported borrowing money to
attend law school, where median tuition is nearly $23,000 a year,
but law students are not alone in having to contend with spiraling
education costs.
The need to pay off student loans discourages doctors from going
to rural communities or inner-city hospitals. A chronic teacher
shortage has led some states to consider ways to help
teaching-educa-tion students pay off college debts.
The student loan agency Nellie Mae says the average college
graduate's student-loan debt has reached at least $19,400. In
addition, figures for 2000 showed that graduates had average credit
card debt of around $2,750.
In the law study, about 68 percent of public interest employers
surveyed - government offices, legal aid organizations, public
defenders and other nonprofit groups - reported recruiting
difficulties. Most blamed the combination of low starting salaries
and high law school loans for discouraging law students from public
service jobs.
The report encourages law schools and employers to create
programs to help students who choose public service pay back loans
in their lower-paying jobs. A few schools, including Harvard, New
York and Georgetown universities, already have them.
The median starting salary last year at private law firms, was
$90,000. By contrast, public interest groups pay new graduates
about $35,000, while government pays $40,000 to $45,000.