Every year, hundreds of students enroll in law school, each with a dream in their hearts of saving the world. Unfortunately, after generating up to six figures of law school debt, some find it difficult to follow through on their public-interest ambitions. Some law schools, however, are trying to make it easier for do-gooders to obtain both a costly education and a career in public service.
One of those schools is Cornell Law, which is currently ranked at No. 14 by U.S. News. As first reported by Reuters, starting in June, the elite law school will begin to fully fund loan repayments for graduates working in public interest and earning up to $120,000 each year.
Cornell’s prior salary cap for its public interest loan repayment program was $80,000, so this modification represents a cool $40,000 increase. Reuters has additional details:
That change, announced this month, sets a new standard among U.S. law school loan repayment assistance programs, widely known as LRAPs, for graduates who take jobs as public defenders or in civil legal services organizations, for example. Harvard Law School and New York University School of Law previously had the highest salary caps for full loan repayment through their LRAPs at $110,000.
Cornell will also extend partial federal loan repayment to graduates in public interest jobs earning between $120,000 and $150,000 annually for up to 10 years. The higher salary cap is intended to get more alumni into the LRAP and help them stay in the program longer as they advance through their careers, Cornell Law School officials said on Monday.
While the vast majority of Cornell Law graduates go on to enjoy lucrative careers in Biglaw, earning $200,000 or more as first-year associates, a “modest” number work for the public good, with salaries that start below $70,000. Kudos to Cornell for supporting graduates earning these humble salaries as they perform this important and often thankless work.
Cornell Law School sets more generous standard for public interest loan help [Reuters]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
