Ep 69: Paying for Law School with Ass. Dir. of Financial Aid, UT Austin Law
How do I pay for law school? Is it even worth applying, when you have no idea how you can afford it? For this episode, I have the pleasure to speak with Abigail Mbuvi, the assistant director of financial aid at the University of Texas Austin School of Law. We go over the whole process of financial aid starting from the types of aid, how to strengthen your chances of receiving merit-based aid, and what resources in general that are available for you to utilize if you or are applying to law school.
Episode Highlights
Need-Based Aid - regardless of what you're trying to do, need-based aid is based off of FAFSA (Free Application For Federal Student Aid) information that you put down
Merit-Based Aid - everything regarding your academics. Your LSAT score, GPA during your undergraduate years, personal essays, application to the school, resume, etc. If you took some time off between undergraduate and coming to law school, what were you doing?
There are three types of loans: institutional loans, federal loans, and private loans
Institutional loans - loans provided by the school (varies from institution to institution).
Federal Loans - loans based off of the FAFSA application
Unsubsidized Federal Loan - this loan is regulated and capped at $20,500 per academic year. And so it, there is a limit to how much you can have
Grad Plus Loan - this loan is in the student's name. It is a bit more expensive on the interest rate. There is no cap to the grad plus loan theoretically, but when it comes to loan borrowing from the federal government, they do have a total cap in a year that you can take.
Private Loans - loans given by a private organization. These aren’t meant to replace scholarships, grants, and federal loans.
One thing students can do to be an attractive candidate for merit-based aid is being completely transparent and honest about your experience, where you've come from, and where you want to go. Communicate through strong writing skills and write essays and personal statements that let financial aid know who you are and why this opportunity is something you want to do.
There are a ton of resources for scholarships after you started law school (linked below). Don’t worry if you may not have received much aid in the beginning because there are many other opportunities to finance your education while attending law school for grants and scholarships
In terms of the loan repayment, there are multiple paths and programs such as, the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). Each program has their own specific requirements.
Tweetable Quotes
“I want people to know going in [that] it is okay to share your story and it is okay to let people know when you need help and how they can best help you... I hope that at least when students are open and honest with me about their financial situations, my hope is that they leave my office saying, ‘Thank God I told her what was going on.’ ...get to know your financial aid person at your law school”
“You are more than just numbers. You are a whole person...who has so much to give to a school, even if the numbers don’t tell the whole story. ”
Resources:
https://www.aauw.org/resources/programs/fellowships-grants/current-opportunities/
Also check out our blogs revolving around financial aid and scholarships: