COA - PLEASE READ... Tuition and Costs of Law School Forum

[LawStudents42014]

Petition directed at Law Schools across the nation:
LOWER TUITION COSTS, for the sake of the future of the legal profession and the national economy...

Those bright law students you wish were applying to your schools right now?
Here we are, fed up at the high cost of tuition and law schools' blind adherence to the rankings game.
Is this the legacy that the legal profession deserves? Over-charging students who want to contribute to the legal profession itself?
We understand that institutions of higher learning have become for-profit based on a demand for certain degrees, including the J.D., but we do not concede to the incredible indebtedness that most of us will graduate with. It will limit our job choices. Even loan forgiveness programs for public interest are not guaranteed to those of us who may want to pursue that route.

The U.S. and World News Rankings allow for this insanity of elitism, over-charging and discrimination to endure. The game is dangerous in that it allows for the NUMBERS to do all the talking. Students have been as much at fault for adhering to the U.S. World News "recommendations" as law schools themselves, but as the cost of legal education rises beyond students' means for paying it, we become burdened with life-long debt that can eventually contribute to a crippling of the economy AS A WHOLE.

If the middle class (as most law students are) is burdened with crippling debt, the rest of the nation will also suffer. Any economist will attest to the fact that the middle class is an important pillar to the success of a nation's economy. If today's youth is put in a stranglehold of debt since their early twenties, how can we ever expect to recover, and therefore, contribute positively to the economy?

This is a petition signed by law students and anyone else who believes in the future of the legal profession in allowing opportunities for future attorneys and practitioners to follow their passions by attaining economic stability.

A law degree should not be worth the same amount as a mortgage.

Sincerely,

Prospective law students of the United States

[El Principe]

"Let's win this for Mother Russia!"

[McAvoy]

Flame? I hope.

[heythatslife]

Lol @ USNWR being responsible for tuition hikes. Is "elitism" at the top schools the cause of all this? Apparently not, because most TTTs cost almost as much as any one of the T14s ater

[SFrost]

I think the cost is reasonable for much of the T14, especially considering most students don't pay anywhere near sticker or they have significant family support.

I aim to pay off my loans in under 3 years if I get big law. I really don't see that as burdensome.

If tuition was tied to USNWR rank, then the system would make a lot more sense. I'll be taking out the same amount of debt at a T6 as my friend did who graduated from TTTT Barry Law. THAT doesn't make sense.

[UnicornHunter]

Petition with your wallet. If a school is unreasonably expensive, don't go. It's already starting to happen.