To find out if you are eligible for a subsidized loan for law school, or for any other kind of federal loan or grant, you need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Even when you are in law school, you will need to resubmit the FAFSA each year. To complete the FAFSA, you will need your income and tax information for the year immediately prior to the year you are seeking admission to law school. You do not need to submit your parents' income and tax information unless your desired law school explicitly requests it or you are not classified as an independent student. The FAFSA website will tell you if you are an independent applicant once you have completed the preliminary application.
Federal Stafford Loans are either subsidized or unsubsidized. Unsubsidized Stafford Loans begin accruing interest as soon as they are issued, but students can choose to defer payment on interest and principal until after they graduate and begin working. Almost all students are eligible to receive unsubsidized Stafford Loans, but the eligibility requirements for subsidized Stafford Loans are stricter. To find out if you are eligible for a subsidized Stafford Loan, you need to file the FAFSA.
Grad PLUS Loans are not subsidized. Before considering applying for Grad PLUS Loans for law school, first determine whether you are eligible for subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans. Grad PLUS Loans require a credit check, so having a poor credit history can hurt your chances of receiving one of these loans. The interest rates are 7.9 percent fixed for direct loans, and 8.5 percent fixed for Federal Family Education Loan Program, or FFELP, loans. You must also complete and submit the FAFSA before you are eligible for consideration for a Grad PLUS Loan.
Because of the higher level of selectivity in determining who will receive a subsidized Stafford Loan, the 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act made it possible to have the balance of your law school loans forgiven once you have worked as an attorney in a public-service capacity for 10 years. Loan forgiveness programs are also in place at several law schools, such as Hofstra, for students who go on to public service careers, and AmeriCorps has a pro-bono legal corps in place that will provide you with student loan deferment, a monthly stipend to cover your cost of living and approximately $4,500 to go toward paying off your loans.