Harvard Law to Waive 3L Tuition for Students Entering Public Service
Harvard Law School announced today that it will launch the Public Service Initiative Program, a pilot program that would waive up to a year's tuition for all students who spend at five consecutive years after graduation in public-service jobs and have satisfied summer job, public interest clinic and community involvement requirements. The initiative is the first of its kind in the U.S., and will operate in addition to the school's current loan repayment forgiveness program. Those students who are not continuously employment in public service must pay up to 110% of the foregone amount at an above market interest rate over 10 years.
Dean Elena Kagan estimated that the initiative will cost the school around $3 million annually, and will save participating students more than $40,000 in tuition. “I want all of our students to have the ability to make public service their first choice after law school,” she said. The Chronicle of Higher Education noted that many law students graduate with more than $100,000 in debt, “making it difficult, if not impossible, for them to consider low-paying public-service jobs.” The WSJ Law Blog posed the underlying question: “Do loan forgiveness programs steer undecided law students into public interest careers?
The program defines public service work as :- Any full time job for a governmental unit, which includes federal, military, state, or local government, or the overseas equivalent.
- Any full time job for a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization or the overseas equivalent, with the exception of jobs at institutions of higher education.
- Any full time job for a political campaign.