Survey reveals awareness of effects of law student debt, recommends solutions
A new student debt study conducted by the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division offers new insights regarding young lawyers’ experiences with the COVID-19 student loan repayment pause, their plans in the event of loan forgiveness, their satisfaction with loan servicers and their mindsets regarding work-life balance.
ABA student debt surveys in 2020 and 2021 showed that those with the highest debt balances more often reported delaying or forgoing significant life events (e.g., marriage, homebuying and having children). The 2021 report also showed that lawyers of color are disproportionately likely to have borrowed for their education, carried high debt balances and saw their debt balances grow after graduation.
The 2024 survey results illustrate notable differences in borrowing and debt effects by respondent characteristics, including first-generation college status. The findings indicate:
• Just over a quarter (27%) of respondents have a current student loan balance that is higher now than when they graduated. Of those, 71% indicate their balance has grown because they are on an income-driven repayment plan and their monthly payments do not cover the principal.
• While 70% of respondents who borrowed report they were aware of their student balance each year they were enrolled in law school, only 42% report having an awareness of the impact of compound interest and other fees associated with deferring loan payments. Awareness was even lower for first-generation and racially underrepresented respondents.
• Most young lawyers (75%) who borrowed report their debt altered the career plans they had when they entered law school, and 76% report their debt caused them to delay or forgo life plans, such as marriage and children. Over half indicate their debt has prevented them from reaching savings, investment and retirement goals.
• Carrying student loan debt also causes stress and anxiety for most young lawyers who borrowed (68%), and 67% of all respondents, including those without debt, report feeling stressed about their finances.
• Among respondents who borrowed, 86% report benefiting from the COVID-19 student loan repayment pause. Of those, 76% indicated the money that would have gone to their monthly payment was instead used for essential expenses, and 54% used the money to pay down other debts.
• In the event of total loan forgiveness, half of borrowers would use the money gained to grow their savings, and 44% would contribute it to retirement accounts.
• More than half of respondents (54%) report spending less time vacationing, socializing with family and friends or engaging in exercise or self-care because doing so would jeopardize their prospects for a promotion or salary increase.
• Despite the burdens that accompany education debt, most respondents (74%) would still get a J.D. if they could go back and do it all over again.
Conducted over four weeks in April and May 2024, more than 700 young lawyers nationwide completed the survey and more than 800 provided partial responses. The data was analyzed by AccessLex Institute.
“The latest Student Debt Report provides a sharper perspective on the challenges recent law graduates face in balancing their loan repayment obligations with their personal and professional aspirations,” said Tiffane Cochran, vice president of research at AccessLex Institute. “For instance, we see that when the student loan repayment pause temporarily removed the specter of education debt, the shadow of other debts remained for over half of respondents who used the relief to pay on those obligations. These insights will continue to inform and motivate our efforts to partner with the ABA and others to advance financial well-being among rising legal professionals.”
Among the report’s recommendations:
• Augment student loan counseling and related financial education programming within law school
• Continue educating pre-law students on the legal job market, salary expectations and the financial realities of student loan repayment
• Strengthen the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to ensure public servants receive the forgiveness they earned in an efficient and timely manner
• Ensure that income-driven repayment plans remain available for borrowers to affordably repay their student loans
• Ease the ability to discharge student loans in bankruptcy
• Support law students and alumni in developing and prioritizing wellness.
ABA student debt surveys in 2020 and 2021 showed that those with the highest debt balances more often reported delaying or forgoing significant life events (e.g., marriage, homebuying and having children). The 2021 report also showed that lawyers of color are disproportionately likely to have borrowed for their education, carried high debt balances and saw their debt balances grow after graduation.
The 2024 survey results illustrate notable differences in borrowing and debt effects by respondent characteristics, including first-generation college status. The findings indicate:
• Just over a quarter (27%) of respondents have a current student loan balance that is higher now than when they graduated. Of those, 71% indicate their balance has grown because they are on an income-driven repayment plan and their monthly payments do not cover the principal.
• While 70% of respondents who borrowed report they were aware of their student balance each year they were enrolled in law school, only 42% report having an awareness of the impact of compound interest and other fees associated with deferring loan payments. Awareness was even lower for first-generation and racially underrepresented respondents.
• Most young lawyers (75%) who borrowed report their debt altered the career plans they had when they entered law school, and 76% report their debt caused them to delay or forgo life plans, such as marriage and children. Over half indicate their debt has prevented them from reaching savings, investment and retirement goals.
• Carrying student loan debt also causes stress and anxiety for most young lawyers who borrowed (68%), and 67% of all respondents, including those without debt, report feeling stressed about their finances.
• Among respondents who borrowed, 86% report benefiting from the COVID-19 student loan repayment pause. Of those, 76% indicated the money that would have gone to their monthly payment was instead used for essential expenses, and 54% used the money to pay down other debts.
• In the event of total loan forgiveness, half of borrowers would use the money gained to grow their savings, and 44% would contribute it to retirement accounts.
• More than half of respondents (54%) report spending less time vacationing, socializing with family and friends or engaging in exercise or self-care because doing so would jeopardize their prospects for a promotion or salary increase.
• Despite the burdens that accompany education debt, most respondents (74%) would still get a J.D. if they could go back and do it all over again.
Conducted over four weeks in April and May 2024, more than 700 young lawyers nationwide completed the survey and more than 800 provided partial responses. The data was analyzed by AccessLex Institute.
“The latest Student Debt Report provides a sharper perspective on the challenges recent law graduates face in balancing their loan repayment obligations with their personal and professional aspirations,” said Tiffane Cochran, vice president of research at AccessLex Institute. “For instance, we see that when the student loan repayment pause temporarily removed the specter of education debt, the shadow of other debts remained for over half of respondents who used the relief to pay on those obligations. These insights will continue to inform and motivate our efforts to partner with the ABA and others to advance financial well-being among rising legal professionals.”
Among the report’s recommendations:
• Augment student loan counseling and related financial education programming within law school
• Continue educating pre-law students on the legal job market, salary expectations and the financial realities of student loan repayment
• Strengthen the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to ensure public servants receive the forgiveness they earned in an efficient and timely manner
• Ensure that income-driven repayment plans remain available for borrowers to affordably repay their student loans
• Ease the ability to discharge student loans in bankruptcy
• Support law students and alumni in developing and prioritizing wellness.
ABA Death Penalty Representation Project honors volunteer attorneys
The American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project will honor the work of pro bono attorneys at its annual Volunteer Recognition & Awards Eventon Sept. 12 in Washington, D.C. (Livestream available).
The event will honor law firms Arnold & Porter and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner with the Exceptional Service Award and Cliff Sloan with the John Paul Stevens Guiding Hand of Counsel Award. The Honorable Elsa Alcala, a retired judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, will be featured as the keynote speaker.
Arnold & Porter is a national law firm with a longstanding commitment to pro bono capital representation. The firm’s legacy of pro bono death penalty work includes numerous high-profile cases, such as Troy Anthony Davis, Zacarias Moussaoui, Roger Coleman, James Briley and Dennis Stockton. In 2011, Arnold & Porter received the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project’s Exceptional Service Award for the first time. Since then, the firm has continued to zealously advocate for capital defendants across the country.
Within the last six years, Arnold & Porter has secured release for three of its capital clients. In 2018, Clemente Javier Aguirre was exonerated after spending ten years on Florida’s death row. The firm represented both Jimmy Dennis and Henry Daniels for over 15 years in Pennsylvania state courts and federal courts. In 2017, Dennis was released, and Daniels was released a few months ago.
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner is a 150-year-old international law firm headquartered in St. Louis, with 1,200 attorneys and 31 offices worldwide. BCLP strives to address the needs of the underserved and to advocate for the protection of human rights. It has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to representing prisoners facing the death penalty in Missouri and throughout the United States.
In Missouri, BCLP has partnered with the Midwest Innocence Project and federal defenders to represent Marcellus Williams, who remains on death row despite DNA evidence that proves his innocence.
Professor Sloan is a retired partner and dedicated pro bono death penalty lawyer from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He continues to represent death-sentenced prisoners while teaching the next generation of pro bono lawyers and capital defenders at Georgetown Law.
At Skadden, Sloan took on numerous pro bono matters, including twice achieving a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Moore v. Texas. He also has made significant legal contributions by representing numerous amici, including the ABA, in the Supreme Court and other courts.
Alcala was a judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court in Texas to hear appeals in death penalty cases, from 2011 to 2018. She has also worked as a prosecutor, defense attorney and forceful advocate for judicial reform. After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, she worked as a prosecutor in Harris County for almost a decade. At the end of 2018, with 20 years of service on the judiciary, she made another career shift towards criminal defense to focus on justice reform advocacy. She has co-written bills and advocated for legislation to improve the justice system and also serves as a board member for the Innocence Project of Texas and the Anthony Graves Foundation.
The ABA Death Penalty Representation Project works to ensure that everyone facing a death sentence has qualified counsel by locating and supporting law firms that take on pro bono cases and advocating for due process.
The event will honor law firms Arnold & Porter and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner with the Exceptional Service Award and Cliff Sloan with the John Paul Stevens Guiding Hand of Counsel Award. The Honorable Elsa Alcala, a retired judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, will be featured as the keynote speaker.
Arnold & Porter is a national law firm with a longstanding commitment to pro bono capital representation. The firm’s legacy of pro bono death penalty work includes numerous high-profile cases, such as Troy Anthony Davis, Zacarias Moussaoui, Roger Coleman, James Briley and Dennis Stockton. In 2011, Arnold & Porter received the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project’s Exceptional Service Award for the first time. Since then, the firm has continued to zealously advocate for capital defendants across the country.
Within the last six years, Arnold & Porter has secured release for three of its capital clients. In 2018, Clemente Javier Aguirre was exonerated after spending ten years on Florida’s death row. The firm represented both Jimmy Dennis and Henry Daniels for over 15 years in Pennsylvania state courts and federal courts. In 2017, Dennis was released, and Daniels was released a few months ago.
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner is a 150-year-old international law firm headquartered in St. Louis, with 1,200 attorneys and 31 offices worldwide. BCLP strives to address the needs of the underserved and to advocate for the protection of human rights. It has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to representing prisoners facing the death penalty in Missouri and throughout the United States.
In Missouri, BCLP has partnered with the Midwest Innocence Project and federal defenders to represent Marcellus Williams, who remains on death row despite DNA evidence that proves his innocence.
Professor Sloan is a retired partner and dedicated pro bono death penalty lawyer from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He continues to represent death-sentenced prisoners while teaching the next generation of pro bono lawyers and capital defenders at Georgetown Law.
At Skadden, Sloan took on numerous pro bono matters, including twice achieving a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Moore v. Texas. He also has made significant legal contributions by representing numerous amici, including the ABA, in the Supreme Court and other courts.
Alcala was a judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court in Texas to hear appeals in death penalty cases, from 2011 to 2018. She has also worked as a prosecutor, defense attorney and forceful advocate for judicial reform. After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, she worked as a prosecutor in Harris County for almost a decade. At the end of 2018, with 20 years of service on the judiciary, she made another career shift towards criminal defense to focus on justice reform advocacy. She has co-written bills and advocated for legislation to improve the justice system and also serves as a board member for the Innocence Project of Texas and the Anthony Graves Foundation.
The ABA Death Penalty Representation Project works to ensure that everyone facing a death sentence has qualified counsel by locating and supporting law firms that take on pro bono cases and advocating for due process.
