Money doesn't actually talk. We do.

Columbia Law Grads: Forgive Them, But Don’t Forget Us

A number of Columbia Law School graduates, most of who work in the public sector, are pissed at their alma mater. The school recently announced that it’s sweetening its loan forgiveness program for current students, but it’s not extending all of the changes to recent graduates. The angry alumni are now pressuring the school to grandfather them into the new policy.

The school’s former loan assistance repayment program provided financial support for up to ten years to graduates engaged in human rights work, government service, and other non-profit legal work. The benefits phased out once a graduate made more than $25,000 a year. The new program doubles the salary threshold to $50,000 for students graduating in 2008 and later.

This seemingly insulated battle between an elite law school and a handful of its former students is a telling symptom of the student debt maelstrom underway.

For years, the exorbitant costs of higher education have made it difficult for graduates to pursue lower-paying public service work. This year, well-endowed colleges and universities are revamping their financial aid packages and loan repayment programs in an effort to woo top (and socially-conscious) students. But it often feels more like a price war than an awakening. Many students and recent graduates still feel the acute pain of debt.

“It’s a testament that debt is enough of a burden that…graduates busy pursuing their careers are also willing to take the time to fight this issue,” notes Luke Swarthout, a Higher Education Associate at U.S. PIRG and one of FiLife’s favorite financial aid gurus.

Columbia Law contends that the changes make their loan repayment program competitive with the repayment programs of peer schools. However, it says its $504 million endowment can’t afford to shoulder the cost of extending the program to all graduates.

“At this time it is absolutely not possible to fund for all students,” says Elizabeth Schmalz, the Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Columbia Law. “We would have had to lower the threshold to a number that would not have been a meaningful increase from the $25,000 in order to include everyone.”

Schmalz points out that Columbia announced other program changes, such as more family-friendly policies and an accelerated repayment rate, which do apply to all graduates.

Still the Columbia grads, well-versed in grass-roots activism, are ready to fight. They distributed a press release to news outlets and a petition to Columbia Law alumni. As of Friday, 242 people had signed it. The dean of the law school agreed to sit down with the leaders of their group sometime in the coming weeks.

We’re interested to see if the graduates can win. If they do, will other alumni groups slighted by changing financial aid policies jump into the fray?

– Kristen Sullivan

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