Is going to an expensive prestigious school worth it when you want to work for the government?

dcstyles51

What it says in the title. Specifically I want to work as a prosecutor, and I'm wondering if it is worth it to shell out the extra cash to go to a T14 or if it would make more sense to go to a less prestigious school and pay less.

Just wanted to hear some opinions on the matter!

MambaMentality93

I tend to believe that going to a good school can never be a bad investment. Some opportunities and doors are only available to T14 students.

noonawoon

Yes (from what I've heard, disclaimer haven't gone to law school). Networking opportunities from T14 are incredibly useful, and going to a T14 often broadens the geographic markets you can work in. So if you are asking if a T14 helps your job prospects, then absolutely. If you are asking if it's "worth it" to pay more tuition and have a larger monthly debt payment after college when you aren't going to be making biglaw kind of money, then that's more of a personal decision.

10000019

If you're certain you're going to do PI work then go to the best school you can get into. The top schools have their own programs that go along with PSLF. Many will make your PSLF payments.

taschasp

Look into loan repayment forgiveness programs for any schools you're considering, and see if they apply to (and if so, how they apply to) working as a prosecutor. If you're forgiven for 80% of a 200k loan at a top tier school, compared to being forgiven for 50% of a 100k loan, you could actually be saving money by going to the more expensive school. So make sure you consider those details! And pay special attention to what counts as "public interest" for schools that only offer loan forgiveness for public interest work.

Loan repayment programs for T14 schools:
Yale: https://law.yale.edu/admissions/cost-financial-aid/post-graduate-loan-repayment
Stanford: https://law.stanford.edu/apply/tuition-financial-aid/loan-repayment-assistance-program-lrap/
Harvard: https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/sfs/lipp/
Chicago: https://www.law.uchicago.edu/financialaid/LRAP
Columbia: https://www.law.columbia.edu/financial-aid/lrap-public-interest-lawyers
NYU: https://www.law.nyu.edu/financialaid/lrap
Penn: https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/financing/applicants/pi-toll-loan-repayment.php
Virginia: https://www.law.virginia.edu/public-service/loan-forgiveness
Michigan: https://www.law.umich.edu/financialaid/Pages/loanrepaymentprograms.aspx
Duke: https://law.duke.edu/apply/financial/lrap/
Northwestern: http://www.law.northwestern.edu/admissions/tuitionaid/lrap/
Berkeley: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/admissions/jd/financial-aid/loan-repayment-assistance-program/
Cornell: https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/admissions/tuition/aid/Public-Interest-Low-Income-Protection-Plan-II.cfm
Georgetown: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/loan-repayment-assistance-program/

dcstyles51

Thank you so much to everyone who replied! I did not know these kinds of programs existed! This is going to help a lot!!!