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Lately I have been thinking about going to law school. I have a bachelor's and have been working as a police officer for 5 years. I have been considering going to law school, I have always been interested in it and both the pay and hours would be better then I make/work now. I would have to go to part time law school because 1) I have a wife and two kids, and while she works (currently as an lpn but she just finished her rn) we are currently unable to be a "one income family" she worked part time during nursing school and that was barely feasible. and 2) I took out loans for my BA and am on a public safety forgiveness loan program. In my current department I work nightshift (12 hr shifts) have a rotating work schedule. one week I am off on wed and thur and the next week I would be off mon tue fri sat sun. If I get hired at the department I want to go to I would work 4 on and 4 off (10.5 hr shifts), but the days off would be different every week and as a new hire I would probably be slotted to work nights there as well. Would it be possible to attend a part time law program with this kind of schedule? In reality there would be times that I would be scheduled to work on class days. That doesn't included mandatory court appearances, training, or meetings. I fl believe that if I got a law degree and was hired in the field my schedule and pay would be much better then it is now, however is it feasible to work this kind of schedule and attend a part time program. Would the professors work around this type of schedule?

Their hands are tied with regard to class attendance because of accreditation requirements. You can ask and find out what they can do in terms of scheduling, but my guess is that you will be pretty much locked in to whatever schedule they give you. never ended up doing it because of that but it was a situation where I would save 30k by working but that would delay my graduation another year which definitely would cost 30k in missed earnings. Plus the stress of trying to balance everything seemed harder than being able to focus on school.

Most, if not all, law students take out loans to deal with cost of living expenses during law school. You get a deferral on your undergrad loans while you are in school. Make sure to think about it from all angles and see how it works out for you.

I should also say that with a family, part time plus a full time job is going to be really difficult.

Good luck (and congratulations on your wife's RN.)