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June 17, 2008
Legal Education's Perfect Storm: Schools, Enrollment, Tuition, and Debt Are Up, Jobs Are Down
Following up on my post last week that the ABA has accredited its 199th and 200th law schools (Charlotte & Elon): From today's Associated Press: Law Schools Growing, But Jobs Aren't, by Justin Pope:
[S]tudents don't realize at first that the high-paying law firms recruit almost exclusively at institutions ranked in the top 15 or so. Overall, the median salary for new lawyers is $62,000. For public interest law jobs, new lawyers can expect about $40,000. Meanwhile, the average amount students borrow to attend a private law school surged 25 percent between 2002 and 2007 to $87,906, ABA figures show. For public law schools, borrowing averages $57,170. ...
The problem is that law schools, obsessed with rankings, have been less than straight with students about what they can expect. Too many stats are self-reported. [Professor Bill] Henderson's research has found evidence of "massive exaggeration" by law schools when they report what graduates are up to.... It's time, he argues, to send in the accountants, to audit what law schools advertise and make sure everyone is reporting numbers the same way. Only then can customers make an informed decision about whether law school will really be a good investment.
For more, see:
- Above the Law: Once More, With Feeling: Law School Is Not A Golden Ticket
- American Lawyer: Law School: A Ticket to Massive Debt?
- Legal Blog Watch: The Am Law School 200 -- Too Many Law Schools?
- Temporary Attorney: Toilet Law Schools Popping Up Everywhere!
June 17, 2008 in Law School | Permalink
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Comments
I don't think the ABA should focus on "truth in advertising".
Instead they should focus on a de facto quota system for minority students. Even when doing so violates state law.
That would ensure credibility in our accreditation institution.
Yeah that's the ticket.
Posted by: Boris | Jun 17, 2008 7:12:45 PM
Maybe some disgruntled grad should sue his law school for whatever s/he can think of? Misrepresentation or something? I'd throw a few bucks in the pot for fees.
Posted by: JorgXMcKie | Jun 18, 2008 3:40:47 AM
I am very interested to see law schools ranked on how many students still have student loan debt 20 years after graduating.
Posted by: Suzanne L. Wynn, Esq., LLM Tax. | Jun 19, 2008 9:23:11 PM
I would like to see the Law Schools greatly improve their data reporting so that JD applicants could make informed decisions. The ABA could, if it choose to, require accredited law schools to provide good information. THE ABA has chosen otherwise. It is even worse for LLM applicants who can't even determine the actual rate of admissions at most top programs. In fact the disparity of reporting between LLM and JD shows that without ABA intervention (The ABA does not regulate LLM program reporting), most Law Schools will not act on their own. For more see:
http://adam-markus.blogspot.com/2007/08/lack-of-transparency-in-llm-application.html
http://adam-markus.blogspot.com/2007/09/who-regulates-law-school-admissions.html
http://adam-markus.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-hard-is-it-to-get-into-top-us-law.html
Posted by: Adam Markus | Jun 21, 2008 10:23:37 PM
