Villanova Law students pursuing public interest careers say the school's career programming leaves them without adequate guidance for internships and jobs outside the private sector.
Qing Hu, a law student at the Charles Widger School of Law in Lower Merion Township, wrote in a Thursday, Oct. 8 opinion piece in The Villanovan that most Professional Development programming is geared toward students entering BigLaw or mid-sized firms. Events for students seeking public interest roles are limited, Hu wrote, and guidance for JD Advantage jobs is nearly nonexistent. JD Advantage positions are roles where a law degree helps but passing the bar is not required, such as think tanks and federal law enforcement.
Hu described arriving at law school with a public interest focus and feeling "extremely lost navigating the internship and job search." She wrote that she has since pivoted toward JD Advantage roles and found the Career Strategy Office's guidance for those positions limited.
Janine Dunlap-Kiah, director of Public Interest and Pro Bono Initiatives at the law school, discussed the school's resources in an interview published alongside Hu's piece. Dunlap-Kiah attended Villanova Law as a student and is the first person to hold her position.
"We did not have a 'me' back then," she told The Villanovan, referring to her role as the school's inaugural director of public interest initiatives. She said she could not compare the access to information students have now to what existed 20 years ago.
Current programming includes practice-area panels for first-year students, alumni clerkship panels, a New Jersey clerkship event featuring visiting judges, Armed Forces recruiting for Judge Advocate General programs and special cohort programming for students on public interest scholarships. Dunlap-Kiah described the effort as a collaboration between the Professional Development Program and Career Strategy Office.
Recent federal loan policy changes compound the challenge for students weighing public service careers. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, eliminated the Graduate PLUS Loan Program for new borrowers effective July 1, 2026. The law also capped annual federal borrowing for JD students at $50,000 per year with a $200,000 lifetime limit. A separate Department of Education rule, finalized Oct. 30, 2025, grants the department authority to exclude certain nonprofit employers from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Both provisions face ongoing legal challenges.
Dunlap-Kiah said loan repayment uncertainty is the top concern she hears from students. She told The Villanovan it used to be simpler to explain how income-driven repayment could make loans affordable and lead to forgiveness after years of public service.
No response from Villanova Law's administration appeared in public records as of publication.
Dunlap-Kiah said she wants to see more opportunities for students to build a public interest identity, especially those with no prior exposure to the field.
