Introduction
A higher education in law is not only competitive, but it is also very expensive. As a prelaw undergraduate student, I plan to go to law school in the next two years. However, I am looking at what is the possibility of attending law school without the financial support of heavy student loans. Based on the academic journals that I have read, the cost of a higher education in law is constantly raising. Majority of the students that are currently attending law schools have high student loans to pay back once they graduate. The problem that is gradually increasing is the fact that jobs in the legal arena are hard to find. As a result, law students are barely making ends meet when they graduate. They vast majority of law graduates have little to no money to spend after they have paid their student loan bills. If the cost of obtaining a legal education continues to increase, gradually there is going to be a decrease in the amount of students who are applying to law schools.
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this research is to gather information that will tell whether or not the value of a judicial degree is diminishing. This research will also look at why law schools are so competitive and what can they do to make law school more affordable to potential law students.
Literature Review
In the academic journal, “The Crisis in Legal Education: Dabbling in Disaster Planning” the theme is to examine the cost of an American legal education and then develop structural changes that can reduce the cost of obtaining a legal education. This academic journal was published in 2012. This academic journal is not the most current research that has been done on the topic of the cost of the legal education. However, after searching differ...
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...p of student loans. Law schools cannot continue to increase the cost of tuition and at the same time expect to keep their enrollment status high. After I have fully conducted my research it will show that if the cost of attending law school does not decrease, then there will be less students attending law school. With the help of academic journals I look a possible alternative that law schools can implement in order to decrease their tuition cost. This research will also shed light on the significant financial challenges that a lot of law graduates face.
Works Cited
McEntee, K. P., Lynch, P. J., & Tokaz, D. M. (2012). THE CRISIS IN LEGAL EDUCATION: DABBLING IN DISASTER PLANNING. University Of Michigan Journal Of Law Reform, 46(1), 225-266.
Campos, Paul, The Crisis of the American Law School (July 9, 2012). University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 2102702
Pagan writes a captivating story mingled with the challenges of the Eastern Shore legal system. This book gives a complete explanation backed up by research and similar cases as evidence of the ever-changing legal system. It should be a required reading for a history or law student.
...f-regulate? A reasonable case for increased regulation can be made given the massive cost of recent financial turmoil and attorneys’ ostensible role in these crises. Moreover, as lawyers effectively operate as gatekeepers and rubberstamps for much of business decsionmaking, they may serve as the most efficient risk bearer to reduce externalized costs, whether through a division of ethical responsibilities between in-house attorneys and independent firms or simply staying the drastic course of Lawson. This modification of the role of attorneys does present a difficult contradiction as the exact value added by lawyers is leveraged into a social duty and it’s not obvious whether the two can co-exist. Given the relative lack of traction and progress, however, it seems the stickiness of established behavior may present too much value, for attorneys and clients alike.
One-L, by Scott Turow, outlines the experience of attending Harvard Law School as a first year law-student. Turow weaves his experiences with those around him, and intertwines the professors of Harvard law, as well as their lectures. Initially, Turow enters Harvard law in a bit of disarray and awe. As a world of hornbooks, treatises, law-reviews, group studies, and legal terminology unfold beyond comprehension; Turow is confronted with the task of maintaining sanity. Time appears to be the most important variable, as Turow begins to study for contracts, torts, property, civil procedure, and criminal law; because time is so precious, one key-highlight for law-students is to balance family. Moreover, Turow is part of section-1, and two of his
Justice was dilatory, expensive, uncertain, and remote. To the rich it was a costly lottery: to the poor a denial of right, or certain ruin. The class who might profit most by its dark mysteries were the lawyers themselves. (Plucknett 73)
One statistic that Owen and Sawhill presented was “Hamilton Project research shows that 23- to 25-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees make $12,000 more than high school graduates but by age 50, the gap has grown to $46,500 (Figure 1). When we look at lifetime earnings—the sum of earnings over a career—the total premium is $570,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $170,000 for an associate’s degree. (Owen, Sawhill pg 641). Owen and Sawhill also mention that “with tuitions rising faster than family incomes, the typical college student is now more dependent than in the past on loans, creating serious risks for the individual student and perhaps for the system as a whole, should widespread defaults occur in the future. Federal student loans now total close to $1 trillion, larger than credit card debt or auto loans and second only to mortgage debt on household balance sheets” (Owen, Sawhill pg 642). Basically, what the authors are saying is college is expensive, but for some career paths, the training and education received in college is necessary to have that job and the benefits outweigh the costs. With a high paying career where a college education is necessary, paying off student loans is no problem. On the other hand, people who go after low paying careers that don’t necessarily need a college degrees,
An education is one of the most important tools a person can acquire. It gives them the skills and abilities to obtain a job, earn a wage, and then use that wage to better their lives and the lives of their loved ones. However, due to the seemingly exponential increase in the costs of obtaining a college degree, students are either being driven away entirely from earning a degree or taking out student loans which cripple their financial prospects well after graduation. Without question, the increasing national student loan debt is one of the most pressing economic issues the United States is dealing with, as students who are debt ridden are not able to consume and invest in the economy. Therefore, many politicians and students are calling on the government to forgive their student loan debts so that through their spending the slowly recovering economy can finally return to its pre-2008 strength.
For the past decade, The United States has stressed the importance of college education, to those seeking employment, and better careers. For most people, college is the logical next step in education, as it provides a working knowledge of a desired field and opens the door to many opportunities, but college has become increasingly more expensive as time goes on. Many people feel that college is no longer an option financially. Even with financial aid and scholarships, the cost of a college education can still be very taxing. This is due to massive price increase across the boards, but the main issue on most people’s minds is the debt that will be acquired from higher education.
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Abadinsky, Howard. Law and Justice: An Introduction to the American Legal System. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
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Students who are at a higher risk of dropping out, are the ones who most likely have a hard time payback the loans. According to the report Investing in Higher Education, “The largest increases occurred among lower income and older, independent students who largely attended for-profit and community colleges” (Council of Economic Advisers, 4). They are
From the time they enter high school, American students are conditioned to believe that pursuing a higher education is necessary to their success. Advanced classes and extracurricular activities are justified as being preparation for the future. However, as colleges continue to raise costs, it has become practically infeasible to expect young adults and their families to pay for an education out of pocket. Although student loans are available, they are extremely difficult to pay off quickly, so students are leaving school with thousands of dollars in debt, often without employment. Receiving a college education, a vital tool in today’s society, now presents an economic crisis to recent graduates in the form of student loan debt that threatens the financial security of the future workforce as well as the rest of the American population.
Simpson, A. W. B. (1991). Legal Education and Legal History. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies,