A full 44 percent of law students expect to graduate owing more than $100,000 in student loans, according to a new survey of nearly 22,000 students. Fully 67 percent of those hefty borrowers anticipate they will leave law school with more than $120,000 in debt—up from 63 percent in 2011.
The latest iteration of the Law School Survey of Student Engagement, a student satisfaction survey conducted annually by Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research, focuses on student loan debt over the past 10 years and how that debt impacts law students while on campus. The survey, which included responses from 80 campuses, found that debt levels are increasing, are contributing to law student stress, and are hitting minority and lower-income students the hardest.
