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PENNSYLVANIA BAR
ASSOCIATON
TASK FORCE ON STUDENT LOAN
FORGIVENESS AND REPAYMENT
ASSISTANCE
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
PBA Task Force on Student Loan
Forgiveness and Repayment
Samuel Tyrone Cooper, III, Co-Chair
Maureen P. Kelly, Co-Chair
Louis S. Rulli, Co-Chair
PBA Task Force on Student Loan
Forgiveness and Repayment Membership
Alfred J. Azen Laval S. Miller Wilson
Joseph A. Campagna Elizabeth C. Price
Catherine C. Carr Robert V. Racunas
James W. Creenan Dveera Segal
Pamela G. Day Susan Sherman
David Jackson DeVries Sandra Brydon Smith
Sheila E. Dow-Ford Thomas M. Thompson
Hon. Stewart Greenleaf James A. Wells
Hon. Kathy Manderino Andrew J. Gonzalez
Samuel W. Milkes Angel Revelant
INTRODUCTION
One of the most difficult challenges to the
profession is the alarming rise of student
loan debt and its adverse impact upon the
ability of law school graduates to engage
in public service employment.
The New York Times reports that high law
school tuition debts and low pay are
draining public interest law.
BACKGROUND
In 1990, PBA House of Delegates
approved the recommendation of the first
Task Force on Legal Services to the
Needy to endorse the enactment of an
educational loan repayment assistance
program that would encourage public
service legal employment by partially
underwriting a portion of monthly
educational loan obligations.
BACKGROUND
In the last 15 years, the problem of student loan
debt has substantially worsened.
In 2001, then ABA President Robert E. Hirshon
announced that staggering student loan debt
faced by young lawyers would be one of the
ABA’s top priorities.
In 2003, under the leadership of PBA Presidents
Tim Carson and Tom Golden, the PBA created
the current Task Force on Student Loan
Forgiveness and Repayment Assistance.
ABA Commission on Loan
Repayment Study
In 2001, the average Salary & Debt Comparison
American law school $80,000
$70,000
graduate owed $60,000
$50,000
Public Interest
$80,000 in student
$40,000
Private Practice
$30,000
$20,000
loans. $10,000
$0
Survey of 1,622
graduating law 2001 ABA Law School Debt Survey
students revealed
94% financed law 6%
No Debt
school and 50% owed
Under $75,000
50% 44%
Over $75,000
more than $75,000.
ABA Commission on Loan Repayment
Final Report Conclusions
Law school tuitions have skyrocketed
Vast majority of law students finance their
legal education
Law students are borrowing increasing
larger sums
Public service salaries have not kept pace
with rising student debt burdens or private
sector salaries
Final Report Conclusions
(Continued)
Many law school graduates who take public
service legal jobs must leave after 2-3 years due
to financial strains
Legal profession pays a severe price when law
students opt out of pursuing a public interest
career
Loan repayment assistance programs help law
school graduates take and remain in public
service legal jobs
The number of LRAPs is limited.
Pennsylvania’s Experience
The PBA Task Force made a concerted effort to
study the impact of this crisis upon
Pennsylvania by:
Surveying law students, legal aid attorneys, and young
lawyers
Collecting data from career planning and placement
offices at Pennsylvania law schools
Reviewed information from local bar associations and
foundations
Assembled profiles of many public service lawyers and
law students directly affected by the problem.
Pennsylvania Survey Results
Not surprisingly, the Task Force
determined that national findings on the
problem of law school debt applied with
equal force to Pennsylvania
The problem continues to worsen
Pennsylvania Survey Results
Law school debt
presents a major
hurdle for both the
Pennsylvania Legal
Aid Network and law
school graduates
considering a career
in civil legal aid
Pennsylvania Survey Results
Findings Regarding Legal Aid Attorneys
Initial survey of 232 Initial Overview of Legal Aid Attorney
full-time legal aid Debt Obligations
attorneys, garnered Under
$10,000
123 responses
$10,000 -
$25,000
$25,001 -
Nearly 58% of
$40,000
2% 7%
$40,001 -
$55,000
respondents had law
9%
$55,001 -
44% 7% $70,000
school debt
$70,001 -
$85,000
7% $85,001 -
Debt obligations
$100,000
6%
3% 4% 4% 7% $100,001 -
$115,000
ranged from $10,000 $115,001 -
$130.000
to over $130,000
over $130,000
No Debt or
Debt Retired
Pennsylvania Survey Results
The average student loan debt obligation of Pennsylvania’s legal aid
attorneys is $68,740; Pennsylvania’s average starting salary for a
legal aid attorney is $30,985
68% of legal aid attorneys with less than 5 years of legal work
experience have educational debt
Salary & Debt Comparison including PA Legal Aid
$80,000
$70,000
$60,000
$50,000 Average Starting Salary
$40,000
$30,000 Average Amount of Law
School Debt
$20,000
$10,000
$0
Legal Aid Public Private
Attorney Interest Practice
(PA) (National) Attorney
Pennsylvania Survey Results
Law Student Findings
661 current law students
Students with Law School Debt
at Pennsylvania’s law
schools responded to the
survey
459 or 69.4% responded
that they plan to practice 6%
law in Pennsylvania Law School Debt
94.7% (624 out of 661) No Debt
of the survey respondents 94%
indicated they will leave
law school with
educational debt
Pennsylvania Survey Results
Law Student Findings
Current law students report an average
educational debt burden of $98,324
Amounts of individual debt burdens range
from $10,000 to $225,000
77.9% of students report that the amount
of debt burden will dictate career options
Key Survey Findings
The vast majority of law students borrow to finance their
legal education. 96.8% of Pennsylvania law students
surveyed indicated that they borrowed to finance their
legal education.
Law students are borrowing increasingly larger sums to
finance their legal education. The Pennsylvania Bar
Association’s original Task Force on Legal Services to the
Needy reported in 1990 that “the typical education debt
carried by a new attorney contemplating a public service
position now exceeds $30,000.” The average debt
burden of current law students in 2006 is $98,324, with
a range of total student debt from $10,000 to $225,000.
Key Survey Findings
High student debt bars many law school graduates from
pursuing public interest careers. A majority of law
school students (77.9%) and a strong showing by
attorneys new to the profession indicate that law school
debt burdens have already impacted, or will impact
career options.
Some law school graduates who take public service legal
jobs must leave after they gain two to three years of
experience. The Task Force believes that the public
interest suffers when some civil legal aid attorneys with
large debt burdens report that long-term employment
with legal aid is not an option due to increasing family
responsibilities, expiring loan deferments, etc.
Recommendations
of the
Task Force on Student Loan
and
Repayment Assistance
The Task Force Recommends that
the Pennsylvania Bar Association:
I. Endorse the establishment of a
statewide Loan Repayment Assistance
Program (LRAP) designed to enable law
graduates to enter into and remain in
public service
The Task Force Recommends that
the Pennsylvania Bar Association:
II. Endorse and advocate for the enactment of
state legislation authorizing the Pennsylvania
Higher Assistance Agency (PHEAA) to
administer a statewide loan repayment
assistance program for law graduates
engaged in a qualifying public service
employment project
The Task Force Recommends that
the Pennsylvania Bar Association:
III. Approve and advocate for a comprehensive
statewide loan repayment assistance program
that is carefully structured to respond
effectively to the needs of law graduates
entering into or remaining in qualifying public
service employment in Pennsylvania
The Task Force Recommends that
the Pennsylvania Bar Association:
IV. Approve and advocate for a strong public-
private partnership that will provide
adequate, reliable, and recurring funding for
a statewide loan repayment assistance
program to assist law graduates employed in
qualifying public service employment in
Pennsylvania
The Task Force Recommends that
the Pennsylvania Bar Association:
V. Strongly encourage each Pennsylvania law school to
establish and maintain an effective and well-funded
loan repayment assistance program, independent of
this statewide program, that is designed to make
public service legal employment financially feasible to
its graduates, regardless of the state in which such
graduates choose to pursue public service
employment
The Task Force Recommends that
the Pennsylvania Bar Association:
VI. Provide technical assistance and financial information
to law schools, prospective and current law students,
and law graduates by, among other things, serving
as a depository for information related to financial
planning, counseling, public interest fellowships,
LRAPs, and other resources that are available to help
students and law graduates enter into and remain in
public service employment
The Task Force Recommends that
the Pennsylvania Bar Association:
VII. Support federal legislation and efforts
that advance the goals and
recommendations of the Task Force
Conclusion
As a matter of access to justice, the PBA
should take a leadership role in advocating
for a strong, effective, and well funded
statewide loan repayment assistance
program
Thank You
for your thoughtful consideration
of these recommendations!
