A Juris Doctor (JD) is one of the most expensive professional degrees you can buy, yet most applicants walk through the door without adding up the numbers beyond the advertised tuition. This law school cost calculator rolls tuition, living expenses, scholarships, and any undergrad debt you bring with you into a single loan balance, then shows the monthly payment, total repayment, and the share of your starting salary that will leave your bank account every month for the next decade or more.
Slide the inputs and the result card updates instantly. Run the stress test on your dream school's sticker price, then drop in the scholarship letter you actually received and watch the loan balance move.
How to Use
- Enter Annual Tuition — the per-year tuition plus mandatory student fees published by the law school, before any aid. Private JD programs commonly fall between $50,000 and $80,000 per year; public in-state schools are often $20,000–$40,000 cheaper.
- Set Annual Living Expenses. Law schools publish a cost-of-attendance budget that includes rent, food, transport, health insurance, and personal spending. Use your target city's actual numbers — a JD in New York or San Francisco costs far more to live in than one in the Midwest.
- Pick the Program Length. Most JD programs are three years; accelerated two-year tracks and part-time four-evening tracks are less common but exist.
- Type your Scholarships & Grants total across all years. Only count aid that is guaranteed for all three years; "first-year only" scholarships that require top-15% class standing are not safe to assume.
- Add Existing Undergrad Debt if you will fold your undergrad loans into the same repayment plan. This is the most commonly omitted number and can push your post-bar monthly payment over $1,000 before you borrow a single JD dollar.
- Set your Blended Loan APR. Federal Grad PLUS loans currently price around 8%, and private law-school loans range from roughly 6% to 13% depending on credit. Take the weighted average.
- Choose a Repayment Term. The federal standard plan is 10 years; extended, graduated, or refinanced terms stretch to 15, 20, or 25 years and lower the monthly bill but raise the total interest.
- Enter your Projected Starting Salary. Big law in a major market starts near $225,000; public-interest and government roles start near $60,000–$80,000. The debt-to-income line tells you how comfortable that monthly payment really is.
The result card breaks the cost into sticker price, net cost after aid, loan balance at graduation, monthly payment, total repayment, total interest, and the debt-to-income ratio.
How the Math Works
Total program cost is simply (tuition + living) × years. Subtract guaranteed scholarships to get the net cost, then add any undergrad debt you will consolidate. The monthly payment uses the standard amortization formula used by the CFPB and every federal servicer:
M = P × r(1 + r)ⁿ / ((1 + r)ⁿ − 1)
Where P is the loan balance at graduation, r is the monthly APR (annual rate ÷ 12), and n is the number of monthly payments (term in years × 12). If the APR is 0%, the formula divides evenly.
Worked example on the default numbers: $60,000 tuition + $30,000 living = $90,000 per year, × 3 years = $270,000 sticker. Subtract the $30,000 scholarship and the net cost is $240,000. At 7% over 15 years, the monthly payment is about $2,157, and the borrower pays back roughly $388,000 over the term — meaning interest alone is about $148,000, more than half of the original balance.
Why the Sticker Price Is Not the Number That Hurts You
Law school published tuition is the marketing number. The number that shapes your twenties is the net cost after aid spread over a 10- to 25-year repayment. A $90,000/year private school that gives you a $45,000/year guaranteed scholarship can be cheaper than a "cheap" public school that gives you nothing. Always compare net cost, not sticker.
The second trap is living expenses. Law schools build an estimated cost of attendance, and federal Grad PLUS loans let you borrow up to that number. Students who max out the living allowance in an expensive city often graduate with six-figure loan balances they never expected. A $15,000-per-year gap in rent between two schools compounds over three years and adds roughly $75,000 to the final repayment bill.
The third trap is the debt-to-income ratio. A rule of thumb used by financial aid offices is that your total monthly student-loan payment should stay under 8–10% of gross monthly income. If the calculator shows your payment at 25% or more of your starting salary, you should look at PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness), an income-driven repayment plan, or a cheaper school.
Examples
Example 1 — The default JD profile. Tuition $60,000/yr, living $30,000/yr, three years, $30,000 total scholarship, no undergrad debt, 7% APR, 15-year term, $90,000 starting salary. Sticker cost is $270,000, net cost $240,000, monthly payment about $2,157, total repayment about $388,000, and the loan eats about 29% of the starting salary before taxes. That ratio is the red flag: on a $90,000 salary, the payment is roughly $26,000 a year, which is most of your take-home after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
Example 2 — Big-law outcome. Same $240,000 loan at 7% over 15 years, but the graduate lands a $225,000 big-law job. Monthly payment stays $2,157, but the debt-to-income ratio drops to about 11.5%. The same loan is comfortable at that salary, which is why the school's employment report matters as much as its scholarship letter.
Example 3 — Elite sticker shock. A top private law school costs $90,000/yr tuition plus $35,000/yr living, three years, no scholarship, 8% APR over 20 years. Sticker cost is $375,000, the loan balance at graduation is $375,000, the monthly payment is about $3,137, and total repayment is roughly $753,000 — more than double the amount borrowed. Run this before you sign the deposit check.
FAQ
How much does law school actually cost?
Total cost is tuition plus living expenses multiplied by the number of years. A typical private JD runs $60,000–$90,000 per year in tuition and $25,000–$40,000 per year in living expenses, so a three-year program lands between $255,000 and $390,000 before scholarships. Public in-state schools cut the tuition line roughly in half.
Is law school worth the debt?
It depends on the school and your expected job. Graduates of top-14 law schools feeding big-law or federal clerkship pipelines usually clear the debt comfortably. Graduates of lower-ranked schools with weak employment outcomes can owe $150,000–$250,000 and earn $65,000–$80,000, which is a much harder math problem. Use the debt-to-income line on this page as your gut-check.
What is a reasonable monthly law-school loan payment?
Aim for the monthly payment to stay under roughly 10% of your gross starting salary. On a $90,000 salary, that means under about $750/month. If the calculator shows $2,000 or more, you are looking at an income-driven repayment plan, a refinance later, or a cheaper school.
Should I refinance my law-school loans after graduation?
Refinancing can cut the APR from 8%–9% to 5%–7% if you have strong credit and a stable job, but it gives up federal protections: deferment, forbearance, income-driven repayment, and PSLF forgiveness. Refinance only if you do not plan to work in public service and you can lock in a meaningfully lower rate.
What is PSLF and does it help law graduates?
Public Service Loan Forgiveness forgives the remaining federal loan balance after 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full-time for a government or 501(c)(3) employer. Law graduates going into prosecutor, public defender, legal-aid, or city-attorney roles commonly use PSLF. It only applies to federal Direct loans, not private refinanced ones.
How do scholarships change the loan balance?
Scholarships subtract directly from total cost, dollar for dollar. A $30,000 guaranteed scholarship across three years reduces the loan principal by $30,000, and because interest compounds on that principal, the lifetime savings are even larger — often $50,000–$70,000 over a 15-year term.
Does undergrad debt affect law school borrowing?
Federal Grad PLUS loans let you borrow up to the school's cost of attendance minus other aid, regardless of your undergrad balance, but the undergrad debt still shows up on your credit report and counts toward your debt-to-income ratio. Consolidating undergrad and law-school loans into one repayment is standard practice and is exactly what this calculator models.
Disclaimer
This law school cost calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, lending, tax, or legal advice. Estimates are based on the inputs you enter and the standard amortization formula; actual loan terms, APRs, fees, and forgiveness programs vary by lender, credit profile, and federal program. Always confirm your final cost of attendance, aid package, and repayment options directly with each law school's financial aid office and your loan servicer before committing.