CNBC reports the new student loan interest rate figures, and they are pretty dire for higher education in general and law schools in particular:

For graduate students, loans will probably come with a 8% interest rate, compared with 7% now, he said.

Plus loans for graduate students and parents may have a 9% interest rate, an increase from 8%.

From a simple student loan calculator, we can make some estimates on debt and repayment. $150,000 in student loans ($50,000 per year) at 7% interest results in around $90,000 in total interest. That jumps to $105,000 in total interest if the rate is 8%. That’s an extra $15,000 in interest (and debt), hidden from students at the outset of the loan, and that does not redound to the benefit of the law school.

On $75,000 per year in student loans ($225,000 in total), interest jumps from $135,000 to $158,000, an increase of $23,000.

Even more modest debt, like $25,000 per year ($75,000 in total) sees interest jump to from $45,000 to $53,000, although $8000 is much more manageable increase.

(These figures of course are exacerbated by another hidden cost, the ending of subsidized graduate student loans in 2011, which allows interest to accrue during law school.)

Student debt loads reported by the Department of Education can factor in these interest figures, and they can be helpful in assessing which programs see some of the highest debt loads upon graduation (and shortly after graduation), along with salary data.

But it makes a robust economy (as big law firm salaries are $215,000 to start and big law hiring remains high, for now, but is on the down slope), and a school’s robust loan repayment assistance program (LRAP), all the more important for legal education. But as a hidden cost, it requires some foresight from law schools to anticipate and prepare for the challenges ahead.