Grad PLUS

Grad PLUS is a federal program which gives professional and graduate-school students unlimited access to below-market-rate loans from the government. It's done well since enacted in 2006. Of the government’s $1.1 trillion student loan portfolio, 40 percent of the money is owed by graduate and professional school students — who make up only 16 percent of all student-loan borrowers.

It has been a big seller among law schools. Law-student indebtedness grew from an average of $66,000 for public institutions in the 2005 academic year to $88,000 in 2012. The figures for private law schools were $102,000 in 2005 and $127,000 in 2012. More than half of law students use Grad PLUS. Maybe Grad PLUS has not worked so well here as only about 60 percent of the Class of 2013’s law degrees landed immediate employment.