2013 (not notre dame) law grad

The answer is really dependent on a lot of things...

For choosing a particular school:
- Where does he want to practice (geographically)
- Where are the law schools he is considering in relation to where he wants to practice?
- What kind of law does he want to do?
- What is the median salary in the field and geographic area he expects to practice in?
- How important is the prestige of the law school he intends to him?
- Does ND/the other school(s) have programs aimed at the areas he is interested in?

Finances...
- How much less tuition does the regional school represent?
- When did he apply to law school in the application cycle?
- If he did not apply at the beginning of this cycle, how would he feel about reapplying earlier in the next cycle to have a better chance at getting more financial aid?
- Is there a chance he can increase his LSAT score to get into a better school and/or get more financial aid if reapplying?

It is definitely "safer" to go regional at a lower cost but that is only true for certain markets and schools. There are plenty of lower cost schools that have awful job prospects. To be completely honest there is only one "safe" option and that is if you can go to a law school on a free ride -- even the holy trinity of Harvard, Yale, and Stanford Law Schools cannot guarantee a top-of-the-market salaried job that would make paying down loans relatively easy.

I would be happy to chat more about the specifics of the situation with you (email linked), so feel free to email me, you or your son directly whichever you would prefer.