George Mason Law School: $13m Budget Deficit In FY25 ($38m Over 6 Years); Dean Charged With Balancing Budget And Maintaining #28 U.S. News Ranking

Following upon my previous posts:

• ABA Finds George Mason Out Of Compliance With Accreditation Standard That Requires Law Schools To Have Sufficient Financial Resources (Dec. 8, 2023)
• ABA Finds George Mason Law School Back In Compliance With Financial Resources Accreditation Standard (Mar. 18, 2024)

Law360, GMU Law School Set To Lose Nearly $40M By 2025:

George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School will have incurred more than $38 million in losses over five years by the end of its 2025 fiscal year, according to budget projections shared with the wider university's board of visitors at a meeting Thursday.

The amount the Virginia-based law school is poised to lose by next year eclipses $30 million in naming gifts the school received in 2016 from an anonymous donor and the Charles Koch Foundation in honor of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The financial challenges come amid fallout over bombshell allegations against a former longtime faculty member of GMU Law, Joshua Wright, who was accused by former students of sexual misconduct.

The annual losses the school has posted have increased nearly every year, from $3.8 million in 2020, to $3.3 million, $4.3 million, $5.8 million and $7.8 million in the years following. In its 2025 fiscal year, the law school is projected to lose $13.2 million. ...

The wider university has made a proposal to law school Dean Ken Randall, aimed at remedying its financial needs. "The dean has been informed that the university wants to find creative ways to address the financial status of this important school," documents included in Thursday's BOV agenda said. Those include discharging a loan and setting aside more money to offset the school's discounting, but there are strings attached.

"The above is contingent on the following: Going forward, the law school is held to the expectation of break-even bottom line at the end of each fiscal year given its ability to grow non-JD revenues, reduce operating costs, and/or significantly increasing fund raising. The law school should also maintain rankings," the document said.

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