<ul>
<li><p>huge tax burden at the end if your loans get forgiven</p></li>
<li><p>huge amount to pay off if you do end up in a higher-paying job at some point (I believe the interest recapitalizes when you leave IBR…and you have to leave IBR if your income gets above a certain point relative to your debt)</p></li>
<li><p>extremely difficult to explain IBR or LRAP to mortgage brokers…they see this ballooning debt and don’t want to loan to you. good luck explaining “but it’ll get forgiven in 7 more years!” or something. I just had this experience this year.</p></li>
<li><p>many recent law grads have private loans…i took them out in the pre-CCRA days, when it made sense to do so, since the interest rate was super low and no one knew there’d be debt forgiveness like this.</p></li>
<li><p>doesn’t affect undergrad loans</p></li>
<li><p>IBR is slow to adjust to changes in income, so if you lose your job or something it can be a while til your payments go down. This can be an issue for contract lawyers and others working sporadically.</p></li>
<li><p>doesn’t take into account dependents, cost of living in different areas, etc. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>I benefit from IBR, LRAPs, and public service loan forgiveness. I’m thrilled they exist. But they don’t make post-law-school life easy for everyone.</p>