As someone who will be repaying student loans for the next 20-something years, I feel compelled to suggest a 17th commandment (or an adjunct to the 9th): Do not borrow money to attend school. Community colleges offer a good basic education for significantly less money, and you can transfer to a state four-year college to finish your degree. Work during the summers to pay for your tuition and books, and live at home if you can. If you cannot afford to attend college any other way but to borrow money and work during the year, borrow only the amount you absolutely need to pay for tuition and books, and start paying it back during the school year so that you have the year's tuition paid by the end of that year.

I made a promise that if I ever got to a point where I could see daylight, I would pass this along to anyone and everyone so that they could learn from my mistakes.

Lawyerchik and I sometimes disagree. But she is dead right: "As someone who will be repaying student loans for the next 20-something years, I feel compelled to suggest a 17th commandment (or an adjunct to the 9th): Do not borrow money to attend school."

I would qualify this by saying that if you are reasonably certain that the money is actually an investment--a professional degree, technical certification, or something else--that is reasonably certain to pay itself back soon, borrow. But most people do not borrow money for school this rationally, and once in college they certainly tend not to act as if they're investing in their future, instead of investing in Sink the Biz.

"if you are reasonably certain that the money is actually an investment--a professional degree, technical certification, or something else--that is reasonably certain to pay itself back soon, borrow."

Paul, I actually was told by my economics professor in undergrad that my prospective legal career justified borrowing the money to complete my education - that's a huge gamble, considering the economic climate in the U.S. these days, and especially considering that the value of even a professional degree can be overestimated just as any other prospective investment. Although you're dead on about what usually happens once students matriculate... :)

The best advice I have gleaned since graduation is: don't borrow money to invest. If you have to borrow, only borrow what you absolutely need, and begin paying it back as soon as you can. There are student loan programs that allow you to begin repayment during school - if you can do that, do it. It will save you a world of heartache down the road.

The advice about index funds is valuable only because most people don't take it. If millions of people invested in index funds, the values of their underlying stocks (or whatever instruments are being indexed) would become massively inflated, reducing their value as investments in addition to disconnecting their performance from the markets they are supposed to represent.

LC1--$10 or $20k is reasonable, I think, for a JD; but much more than that, and it really is too much. And most people who head into law school (or MBA or PhD programs) do so out of an aversion to the working world--which puzzles me: the real world is much more fun than grad school....

"the real world is much more fun than grad school...." I think depends rather a lot on the relevant bits of the real world, and the relevant grad school. If you can't land more than a gruntish office job, I would think that grad school might well be more _fun_ (if not as remunerative in the long run) for some people.

Paul, if I had only $10-$20K for law school, I'd be dancing in the streets, but unfortunately, depending on where you go (and realizing that the advice I'm giving now is the result of what I didn't do during school), the tab can run between $30K-$60K.

When you figure 60-90 credit hours for law school (depending on the school program) and a rate of between $350-$500/credit hour, that's a lot of money to come up with unless you plan for a very long time to do it.

And I agree that it's too much - but what seems crystal-clear now wasn't 10 years ago...... (As my grandmother used to say: too soon old, too late smart).

Just for funsies, I went to my old law school to see the current cost for law students: Tuition $893.00 per credit hour. And that's at a state university..... YIKES!!!

I may have a jaundiced view of school v. work: I worked much harder in school than most, and have substantially more autonomy (but more responsibility) than most at my current job. On the other hand, any complaints about alienation from the product of one's labor must apply with far greater force to most students than to most workers.

For me the cost of law school was roughly $60K. $30K went to tuition and the other half went to booze, substances and housing.

My decision to go to law school was definitely made with financial considerations in mind. In my case, it was partly because, while I was interested in law school, I had no convictions at the time of ever becoming a lawyer. Thus, I had to decide how much I was willing to pay for something that (while certainly valuable in itself) I wasn't sure how I was going to make back. My solution was to apply mostly to law schools that offered some scholarships, and mostly to state schools. I was fortunate to find a great place to go to school, where they made it possible for me to be there at not much cost. As it turned out I've ended up working for a big firm that I like, but it wasn't something I contemplated when starting out.

Thanks for linking to these posts, btw. Very interesting.

I ended up in law school largely because I had no clue what kind of career I wanted to pursue. And a law degree seemed much more practical than a master's in either of my undergraduate majors.

As for expense, based on some quick figuring, law school tuition ran me about $10K, rent for three years was about $11K, and then whatever else for utilities and books.

And what did that earn me? I spent a whole year interviewing without a single job offer. But there's an interview tomorrow I'm putting a lot of prayer toward.

It's all very, very relative. I like my job enough now, but my first go round of college was a fantastic experience, one that you certainly do not get going to a community college.

Gee after this thread I can't imagine why I'm in no rush to get to Law School.

I'm wondering much the same thing myself... But actually, aside from having no time for much of a life (with what little I have being spent reading ITA!!), and having substantial loan payments leaving little extra cash for socializing, and long days turning into 6- or 7-day weeks, being a lawyer is not a bad way to make a living.

If you went to law school in the last 5 years or so, you got your loans at a great rate. I think my consolidation dropped my rate to 1.35%. That's free money. I don't feel bad in the least about borrowing $35K with that rate.