Law School Debt

I saw this article on Slate a few days ago, and I meant to comment on it, before I got involved with the new job. The gist of it are the options one has regarding public service work with a law degree, in light of the substantial debts that are generally associated with a legal education.

As it stands now, I'm in a similar position - my total debt is somewhere around $100k. However, my first issue was getting a job, let alone finding a job that fits my own personal ideas, goals, wants, needs, and whatnot. Paying the rent seems like a good first start :).

There are a lot of great public service jobs - and Income-contingent repayment combined with loan forgiveness, with the excellent benefits some of the non-profit organizations provide, make public service a tempting, tempting career option. Of course, the dozen or so resumes and letters I sent out to the various public service jobs were largely in vain.

As horrible as the $100k debt trap sounds, it doesn't seem that horrible to me. Sure, I'm not "living large" right now, but I never wanted to. My goal is to repay my loans within 10 years - a noble goal, and perhaps only partially naive. My student loan debt is a rather high priority, especially the private loan that covered my summer classes and BarBri (and it's 11% interest).

And anyway, the 7% or so I'm paying on my federal loans, that gave me the chance to really make something of myself, is cheap at the price.