Law School Loses Luster as Debts Mount and Salaries Stagnate Forum

[Pomeranian]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/law-school ... _news_pos5

Just a regular reminder that there are still too many law school graduates and not enough good paying law jobs: "Only a dozen of the nation’s law schools leave students earning annual salaries two years after graduation that exceed their debts, according to the Education Department data covering roughly 200 programs."

[tlsguy2020]

I was very confused when I read this story. The fact that (a) law school is too expensive and (b) only the most elite law schools can guarantee high-paying jobs seems to have been a well-known fact for over a decade.

[Law2019]

I was very confused when I read this story. The fact that (a) law school is too expensive and (b) only the most elite law schools can guarantee high-paying jobs seems to have been a well-known fact for over a decade.

That was my thought as well. It was extremely easy, before applying to law school, to figure out what schools are worth attending and what debt load is manageable. It seems like the people in this article buried their heads in the sand and chose to ignore the reality that law school is not a good idea for most people.

[nixy]

There are still lots of people who don't have any information about law school besides the pop culture image of lawyers and lots of family members (who aren't lawyers) telling them it's a great option. You have to know to research the costs/benefits and a lot of undergrad advisors still aren't giving very reliable/helpful information on the subject.

I mean, ideally more people would figure this out, but there are too many schools and they're good at self-promotion. The information is out there, but there's still a lot of misinformation (and survivor bias) as well. I agree that the article isn't exactly news, but I'm not going to put all the blame on applicants.

[cheaptilts]

I was very confused when I read this story. The fact that (a) law school is too expensive and (b) only the most elite law schools can guarantee high-paying jobs seems to have been a well-known fact for over a decade.

That was my thought as well. It was extremely easy, before applying to law school, to figure out what schools are worth attending and what debt load is manageable. It seems like the people in this article buried their heads in the sand and chose to ignore the reality that law school is not a good idea for most people.

Agreed. If this was, e.g., an article from 2008 or 2009, id have more sympathy. But I don’t have much sympathy for a 22-year old adult who mortgages their financial future away to go to UM at sticker without a concrete plan or solid understanding of the employment outcomes from UM (or worse schools). (And UM is a fine school for the right price!)

[ALCA1920]

Let the buyer beware. But frankly, I don’t feel sympathy for a grown adult borrowing so much money to finance their education.

Second, now would be a good time for legislators to act and save the public from itself. I still wonder how this system of government loaning hundreds of thousands of irredeemable dollars on dubious degrees hasn’t imploded yet. Our tax money is used as loans for theater majors and Cooley law students, for crying out loud! We the people should be outraged.

I don’t think people should abandon their plans to go to law school because of this article, though. At the right price, a law degree can be invaluable, and there are still many people who desperately need legal assistance and can’t afford a good lawyer (think of all the work done by public defenders’ offices and legal aid societies). I pray we do better.

[nixy]

God FORBID we fund theater majors.

[victoremsemper]

Oft Repeated but as long as the federal gov't continues to guarantee Student Loans with no restrictions, the schools risk nothing & tuition will keep rising at astronomical rates.

AndI don't see Biden acting on making them dischargeable in bankruptcy which might give schools pause (since he wrote the 2005 law that started all this crap)

[cavalier1138]

Oft Repeated but as long as the federal gov't continues to guarantee Student Loans with no restrictions, the schools risk nothing & tuition will keep rising at astronomical rates.

AndI don't see Biden acting on making them dischargeable in bankruptcy which might give schools pause (since he wrote the 2005 law that started all this crap)

We couldn't cap tuition, could we?

No, that's insanity. Only literally every other country with a system of higher education regulates tuition costs.