US Law Students Rush to Start Classes Early as New Federal Loan Caps Threaten Access to Legal Education

Faced with impending restrictions on federal student loans, some aspiring US lawyers have found a creative solution: start law school early.

A small number of US law schools allow new students to begin their studies in May or June, ahead of the traditional autumn semester. Demand has risen this year as students try to beat a federal loan cap that comes into effect on July 1, according to administrators at five law schools.

At least two institutions — Stetson University College of Law and Rutgers Law School — introduced summer start options specifically to help students benefit from the current student loan system. New students who take out federal loans before July will be grandfathered into the existing loan programme for the rest of their studies under final US Department of Education regulations released on Thursday.

Since 2006, the federal government has allowed students to borrow the full cost of tuition and living expenses. From July onwards, however, federal loans for professional degree programmes, including law and medicine, will be capped at $50,000 per year and $200,000 in total. The change could force many students to rely on higher-interest private loans that cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.

 

Stetson Law dean Benjamin Barros said avoiding the new loan cap could especially help students with poor credit histories or existing student debt who may struggle to secure private loans.

“We’re doing it as a service to our students,” he said.

The new loan framework, introduced last summer as part of President Donald Trump’s budget legislation, is intended to reduce “excessive loan debt” and encourage universities to lower costs, Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said last week when the rules were finalised.

According to an analysis of US Department of Education data by Robert Kelchen, a professor of education leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a quarter of American Bar Association-accredited law schools recorded average annual federal student borrowing above the new $50,000 cap in 2025.

 

Gerald Heppler, assistant dean of admissions at Seattle University School of Law, said the school’s long-running summer start programme is expected to attract between 80 and 90 students this June, up from 65 last year.

 

Heppler said much of the increased demand is being driven by the upcoming loan changes. Seattle’s programme allows students to take criminal law during the summer, helping them ease into law school and reduce their workload later in the academic year.

 

Private loan eligibility is a major concern for Rutgers students, many of whom come from low-income backgrounds or are the first in their families to attend university, said Matthew Saleh, senior associate dean of enrolment and financial aid.

 

Rutgers expects nearly double the number of students in its existing summer programme at its Camden campus and has also launched a one-year-only summer intake for incoming students at its Newark campus. Together, the two programmes are projected to attract as many as 120 students, Saleh said.

 

Ave Maria School of Law said it had to turn students away after its summer start programme reached its 30-student capacity, according to Associate Dean of Admissions Roxanna Cruz. The school had highlighted the loan advantages of beginning early in its communications with admitted students.

 

Meanwhile, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law has also seen a modest rise in interest in its summer programme. Dean Dan Filler estimated the 2026 intake would be about 10 per cent larger.

“My big concern is that the information about the new loan situation has not really been absorbed broadly by law school applicants,” Filler said.

 

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