To encourage public service
BU law school will double size of its program for loan forgiveness
In a push to increase the number of graduates pursuing public-interest careers, the Boston University School of Law plans to double the size of its loan repayment program for students who take low-paying legal jobs after graduation.
The increase puts the school's total commitment at more than $1 million, and BU hopes to raise more money for the effort. Currently, fewer than half of all law schools in the country offer loan forgiveness programs.
BU's move, which comes at the time of year when law firms recruit, stems from a perennial struggle for law schools: persuading students to consider positions in public interest or legal services rather than big-money jobs at private law firms, where median pay for first-year associates is $100,000, according to the National Association for Law Placement, which provides legal career counseling. In contrast, the median starting salary for lawyers at public-interest jobs is $38,000.
It is not simply the allure of a six-figure salary that deters many law school graduates from working as public defenders, prosecutors, and legal aid attorneys or for nonprofit advocacy groups, government agencies, and organizations that represent indigent clients. With the vast majority of law students graduating with substantial debt -- nearly 87 percent of all law students borrow money to finance their legal education, according to the American Bar Association -- hefty loan payments often force students to take high-paying positions. Average debt upon graduation in 2004 was $76,563 for private law school graduates and $48,910 for public school ones, including undergraduate loans, according to the ABA.
BU's infusion of money, unveiled at a welcome-back gathering for law school students yesterday afternoon, will enable BU to provide between $30,000 and $50,000 in total grants yearly. That means individual students will receive relatively small loans, and law school officials acknowledge that BU's loan assistance program is modest compared to others. But they say the seven-figure endowment is an important start.
The school, where tuition, fees and living expenses for the 2005-6 academic year are $49,416, also hopes to use the endowment as a starting point for a fund-raising campaign specifically for loan forgiveness.
The law school's interim dean, Maureen O'Rourke, set out to bolster BU's loan repayment program after hearing repeated complaints from students and alumni that it was not economically feasible for them to take public-interest jobs because meager compensation prevented them from paying both their debt and living expenses. After studying data on law school cost and indebtedness, she concluded that there was a crisis in the works.
''It's amazing how much law school tuition has gone up and private sector salaries have soared while public sector salaries have not," O'Rourke said. ''Lawyers are the guardians of the constitution and now more than ever we need really good bright minds in public service."
As an example of a student who could benefit from loan forgiveness, BU administrators point to Holly Lincoln, a third-year student who is editor of the Law Review, a prestigious post that has made her an attractive candidate for top law firms jobs. The New York firm where she worked last summer offered her a first-year associate position with a $125,000 salary. But Lincoln turned down the offer after deciding she wants to do public-interest work focusing on voting rights.
Lincoln, 28, a Connecticut native who said she ''loves law school, besides the money part," believes that ''so many more people would take public-interest jobs if they paid better or their loans were less burdensome."
She is not alone. A 2002 study co-sponsored by three nonprofit groups -- the National Association for Law Placement, the Partnership for Public Service, which promotes government service, and Equal Justice Works, formerly the National Association for Public Interest Law -- found that law school debt prevented 66 percent of students from considering a public interest or government job.
State and federal legislative efforts to bolster loan forgiveness for law school graduates are also underway, but an ABA spokesman said any proposed legislation that amounts to a subsidy for lawyers faces an uphill battle in Congress.
Only 81 of the 189 ABA-accredited law schools in the country offer loan repayment programs. Typically, law school students and alumni are eligible for loan repayment assistance -- which can range from grants, scholarships, and stipends to outright forgiveness -- based on the type of public-service work they do, the salaries they make, or a combination of the two.
The funds distributed per student frequently are modest. Boston College Law School, for example, awarded $170,000 in loan assistance grants to 49 alumni this year, but the maximum amount awarded to any one graduate was $6,000, according to Maris Abbene, director of career services. Suffolk University Law School has dedicated $120,000 a year for the past two years to loan repayment assistance for students making less than $42,000 a year in public-interest careers, with awards ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per student, said Amy Goldstein, assistant director for public interest.
Northeastern University School of Law, whose graduates work in public-interest positions at five times the national average, will spend $210,000 this year on loan relief assistance. Harvard Law School, always a fund-raising powerhouse, spent $2.2 million last year through its Low Income Protection Plan, the oldest loan repayment effort in the country.
Sacha Pfeiffer can be reached at pfeiffer@globe.com 
