How can people afford to go to law school in NYC?? (computer science, NYU)

[JaxMover]

How can people afford to go to law school or any graduate program in NYC??

I really would like to know! With renting being $1000+ and the private law schools at $30k+ a year how can students really afford to live AND go to law school in NYC??? Are students really taking out $120k+ a year for this?

I would LOVE to be able to attend at top grad program in NYC but I just can't wrap my head around how I would be able to pay private tuition AND rent AND eat AND everything else I need to live.

[FarNorthDallas]

Yes, loans, huge loans. Or rich parents.

[GracieJJ]

....Or join the Military and have them shoulder the load, just be prepared to give 4-6years (of service) after graduation to pay it all back

[jessiegirl_98]

Loans. Also grants. First, most grad school programs have assistantships. Law schools often give out money. With law school, if you are in a top tier program, you can often get summer assistantships that pay a lot (I've had friends make 30K in one summer). This is only if you are really at the top of your class, but that helps.

[charolastra00]

$30K for grad school? That's on the cheap side. :P All the grad and law schools that I've looked out (which are all OUTSIDE of NYC for the record) are generally in the vicinity of $45-50K per year in residence.

At top grad schools, there are often decent scholarships. Plus it's expected that you TA and most grad students also do paid research. Finally, there's a reason why people are paying off their own student loans until their own children are college age nowadays.

Depending on your field, sometimes you can essentially contract yourself out to the government and they pay for your masters. My ex did that for a masters in information security (glorified computer science is how he explains it) and graduated with only his debt from undergrad. He is contracted with the government for 6 years, but that's great job security and great career experience. I know others who have done that in various international relations/area study/language fields as well. I don't know how that works with law school since there is a glut of lawyers in the system.

[RDSLOTS]

It can be done.

My best friend's son, and his girlfriend, will graduate from NYU's Law School this Spring. She went on full scholarship, and he has been able to do it by a combination of scholarship, grants and loans. The two of them also worked for law firms during the summer months, which led to their landing great jobs with firms in DC.

One of the benefits of attending a major university like NYU, and doing as well as you can, is that it puts you in a position to repay whatever you had to do to get there.

[pennquaker09]

Where you talk about the elite law schools, such as NYU and Columbia, a good portion of the students have rich parents paying full tuition.

[RDSLOTS]

That may be quite true, pennquaker, and more-the-norm, but a student who is of lesser means and determined to attend the school, can do it. I didn't mean to imply it was easy or fair, but the task is not insurmountable.

I could have attended Columbia's School of Journalism years ago had I made the effort, and made better choices along the way. My parents were in no position to help me with an expense like that.

[Anchorless]

1. There aren't any law schools that have tuition in excess of 40,000/yr (yet - they're creeping up there, though).

2. NYC is the center of the legal universe in the US, and has more firms that pay more money to first year associates - I believe market is currently at 160,000 before bonuses, which can be almost half of that.

3. Going along with that, there are simply more jobs in NYC to be had, both during law school and after.

4. However, the legal profession is very hierarchical and cutthroat - you have to really weigh your risks before taking on more than 100K of debt (which isn't much if you're considering NYC). So many of the best schools are located in NYC, and so many top schools elsewhere feed into NYC - really be careful.

My advice is that if you're not attending NYU, Columbia, or Fordham, be very cautious. Cardozo and Brooklyn do alright, but are spendy - I'd recommend only attending with a scholarship.

I'd really forget about attending other law schools located in the city or the vicinity - Pace, Touro, NY Law School - these are all spendy schools with very poor job prospects (and that is the primary reason one goes to law school).

[TGS]

NYU is already above $40,000 a year.

NYU School of Law - Office of Student Financial Services, Budget & Budgeting: Budget

Many other law schools are also. Law school tuition is out control.