14 · Professional Life

Personal Finance

A plain guide to money in law school: loans and the changes coming in 2026, budgeting for rent and groceries, buying and reselling your books, what to do with a summer paycheck, how to afford an unpaid summer, and which purchases are actually worth it. No jargon, no upsell, just the moves that keep your debt down.

Money topics

Start with the overview, then jump to whatever you need. The three ideas in the first tab run underneath everything else here, so it is worth reading before the rest.

Watch out

A quick disclaimer: this page is general information, not financial, tax, or legal advice, and everyone's situation is different. Loan rules in particular are changing right now, so always confirm the current numbers and your own options with your school's financial aid office before you make a decision.

Law school is expensive, and how you handle money during these three years follows you for a long time after. The good news is that the whole thing comes down to a few simple ideas: know what your education really costs, spend less than the money you are given to live on, and borrow as little as you can. Everything else on this page builds on those three.

Idea 1

Know your real cost

Your cost of attendance is more than tuition. It includes housing, food, books, transportation, and fees, and it is the number your aid is built around.

Idea 2

Live below your refund

After aid pays tuition, the leftover is disbursed to you for living costs. Treat that as a ceiling, not a target, and keep whatever you do not spend.

Idea 3

Borrow the minimum

Loan money is not free money. Every dollar you borrow grows with interest, so the less you take now, the less you owe later.

How the money actually flows

From cost of attendance to your bank account

1
Your school sets a cost of attendance. This is a yearly budget for tuition and fees plus an allowance for housing, food, books, and transportation. For many law students the total lands somewhere around fifty to ninety thousand dollars a year, depending on the school and the city.
2
Your aid is applied to tuition first. Scholarships, grants, and loans go toward tuition and required fees before anything else.
3
The leftover is refunded to you. Whatever aid is left after tuition is disbursed to you, usually at the start of each term, to cover rent, groceries, and the rest of your living costs.
4
You make it last. That refund has to stretch across the whole term. Spending less than it gives you, and returning the unused part of a loan, is one of the easiest ways to cut what you eventually owe.

Real talk

Loan money spends like income, but it is the most expensive kind of money you will ever touch as a student, because it follows you for years and grows the whole time. If you treat your refund as a budget to beat rather than a paycheck to spend, you will graduate with less debt than almost everyone around you, and that single habit is worth more than any investing trick.