What do I need to know about financing education beyond college, and what can I do now to make sure I don't have to borrow a lot of money?

(MT): It is important that you live within your means, make any credit payments on time, and minimize your debt – including paying off your credit card balances – before you go to law school. A large proportion of the financial aid you will need for law school will be loans that depend on your credit score. You must have good credit to qualify for the best loan rates.

(TH): Many law schools offer merit-based financial aid. Eligibility relies heavily on your undergraduate grade-point average and LSAT score. Other law schools offer need-based financial aid to applicants with demonstrated need. Hard work and planning may increase your chances of taking advantage of some of these forms of financial aid. Excessive credit card debt may negatively impact an applicant’s eligibility for some forms of financial aid.  Resist the urge to use your credit card to pay for certain purchases unless you have the ability to pay the debt down or in full before you begin the process of applying to law school.

(PB): Here is a checklist of things to do while you are in college and law school to be cost conscious. If you remember to live like a student while you are in school, you won’t need to live like a student when you graduate!

• Pay all your bills on time.

• Use your credit cards as little as possible and pay them off every month if you can.

• Put yourself on a budget. Save the receipts for everything you buy for one month, and then sort them by category – coffee, movies, food, snacks, laundry. You will be surprised how much more you are spending than you should. Then try to find ways to eliminate extra costs – buying frozen pizza instead of ordering, bringing coffee in a mug instead of buying a cup every morning, etc.

• Buy everything on sale only! And carefully evaluate what you really need rather than what you want. No extra expenses, like vacations, flat screen TVs, designer clothes. All that will have to wait because you now have to save, save, save!

• Get a FREE copy of your credit report from all three credit agencies each year to ensure that your credit report is accurate. You might be able to resolve a dispute if your report is incorrect, but it can take a long time for it to be removed. 

• Finally, find a job over the summer that pays well. You want to try to earn as much money as possible to reduce what you will need to borrow.