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Regardless if you think Penn State is worth it at half cost (probably not, for most people), this trend is very good for law schools everywhere. The non elite schools that stay open can have a use, but not a use that is worth 300k in debt. This is a good start, I think.

inb4 someone makes an inevitable joke about not knowing the difference between Penn State and U Penn, probably involving child molestation.

But no for real, that's good news. I feel like Penn State is a decent option for someone who has a scholarship to cover most of tuition and knows they're happy staying in Pennsylvania, without Biglaw aspirations. Now it's even better for that sort of person.

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I like how they're giving a 20k scholarship to all new students rather than actually lowering tuition. Current students get no benefit.

Don't touch this law school....

Tiago Splitter wrote:I like how they're giving a 20k scholarship to all new students rather than actually lowering tuition. Current students get no benefit.

This is a fair point. It is a good thing for new students, sucks for current students.

Inb4 Sandusky taking a shower.

Seriously, you couldn't pay me to go there.

Really sad to watch the long, slow demise of Dickinson (sorry--PENN STATE Dickinson) Law.

As a student at Penn State I can definitely tell you that there is a lot of talk about either dropping out and reapplying to the school next year (if possible as a 1L) or transferring to Pitt Temple. I kind of doubt any of that will really happen, law students being a risk- and change-averse group overall, but it is obviously a little insulting for students to suddenly learn that being a PA resident just became 20k (well more like 60k) more valuable and that they have no shot at any of the money.

jchiles wrote:As a student at Penn State I can definitely tell you that there is a lot of talk about either dropping out and reapplying to the school next year (if possible as a 1L) or transferring to Pitt Temple. I kind of doubt any of that will really happen, law students being a risk- and change-averse group overall, but it is obviously a little insulting for students to suddenly learn that being a PA resident just became 20k (well more like 60k) more valuable and that they have no shot at any of the money.

Meh. Everyone there decided that attending at the cost they were offered was worth it to them. It doesn't suddenly become not worth it just because other people are getting to go for less.

jchiles wrote:As a student at Penn State I can definitely tell you that there is a lot of talk about either dropping out and reapplying to the school next year (if possible as a 1L) or transferring to Pitt Temple. I kind of doubt any of that will really happen, law students being a risk- and change-averse group overall, but it is obviously a little insulting for students to suddenly learn that being a PA resident just became 20k (well more like 60k) more valuable and that they have no shot at any of the money.

Something tells me that this 20K isn't separate from other scholarships they'll be offering. A lot of people who used to pay 40K will now get 20K, but a lot of people who would have got 20K will still just get the same 20K. If that's the case it's possible they won't even be giving out that much more money or taking in less revenue than they did this year.

Now if you are currently paying sticker and are in-state then yes, you are straight up missing out on 20K. But if you're paying sticker at PSU...my God.

Good points, and I think you're right in that it won't really change total amount of aid given out; its more of a marketing technique to try an attract instate applicants who would have looked at the cheaper (and arguably better) schools in PA that accept similarly qualified applicants. I think the main issue people have with it is that they could point to their scholarships as at least nominally based on some sort of academic criteria from their GPA/LSAT, while now the award is automatic. And yes, paying sticker price is a bad idea, I think for most people even paying the new "instate" price + living expenses would be too much.

Tiago Splitter wrote:

jchiles wrote:As a student at Penn State I can definitely tell you that there is a lot of talk about either dropping out and reapplying to the school next year (if possible as a 1L) or transferring to Pitt Temple. I kind of doubt any of that will really happen, law students being a risk- and change-averse group overall, but it is obviously a little insulting for students to suddenly learn that being a PA resident just became 20k (well more like 60k) more valuable and that they have no shot at any of the money.

Something tells me that this 20K isn't separate from other scholarships they'll be offering. A lot of people who used to pay 40K will now get 20K, but a lot of people who would have got 20K will still just get the same 20K. If that's the case it's possible they won't even be giving out that much more money or taking in less revenue than they did this year.

Now if you are currently paying sticker and are in-state then yes, you are straight up missing out on 20K. But if you're paying sticker at PSU...my God.

Paul Campos wrote:only 18% of last year’s [Penn State Law] student body got tuition discounts of half or more

This is from the LGM article above. "...my God" is right.

I like the fact that they are trying to entice young men(and women) to come over by massaging their tuition lower

jchiles wrote:Good points, and I think you're right in that it won't really change total amount of aid given out; its more of a marketing technique to try an attract instate applicants who would have looked at the cheaper (and arguably better) schools in PA that accept similarly qualified applicants. I think the main issue people have with it is that they could point to their scholarships as at least nominally based on some sort of academic criteria from their GPA/LSAT, while now the award is automatic. And yes, paying sticker price is a bad idea, I think for most people even paying the new "instate" price + living expenses would be too much.

It also preserves the MSRP just in case applicant numbers rebound over the next few years. I'm sure a lot of deans and faculty think that there is a huge backlog of people just waiting in their parents' basements to apply to law school and we're going back to the good times of conferences in the Sorbonne and five figure research bonuses.

Why Dickinson in the middle of nowhere still costs over 20K while CUNY (located in a major market with presumably much higher built in costs) is only 13K, is a mystery maybe your school's dean can enlighten you about.

Apparently Iowa cut tuition across the board by 16%, even for upperclassmen.

As ATL points out, PSU is not *really* halving tuition. --LinkRemoved--