Law Students Receiving Better Value

Summary: In a recent report, the National Jurist notes that more schools are offering a better value education to law students.




National Jurist reports that law students are receiving a better value for their education compared with even just a year ago. The National Jurist ranks law schools by best value every year. This year, 11 schools were added to the list, increasing the total from 53 to 64.

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Many schools improved their numbers due to increased employment scores and an greater use of scholarships. The official rankings will be published in September, along with grades for each school.

Most schools reported that their employment numbers improved over the past year. Employment is a major consideration in the rankings, and is weighted at 35 percent of a school's total score.

In many schools, improved employment rates are due to smaller class sizes. Some schools have decreased their enrollment instead of lowering their academic standards. This means less competition for legal jobs once students graduate. Many schools have also strengthened their career services departments.

National Jurist also examined tuition, indebtedness upon graduation, and the cost of living in the analysis. As applications decreased across the country, many schools offered more scholarships. Therefore, attending law school is not as expensive as it may have been a few years ago. Although the move has hurt some schools, students have benefited.

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New schools that were added to the list this year include: University of Connecticut; Washburn University; University of Missouri, Kansas City; Southern Illinois University; Rutgers-Camden; Northern Kentucky University; Michigan State University; West Virginia University; University of Montana; Northern Illinois University; and Arizona State University.

Two private schools were also added to the list: Emory University and Boston University. Two other private schools, Ohio Northern University and Baylor University, were removed. Baylor's indebtedness and tuition went up, and Baylor's employment rates decreased.

The University of Wyoming and the University of Pittsburgh were the only two public schools that were kicked off the list.

The best value schools in the eight biggest metropolitan regions except for San Francisco will be recognized. Last year, no school was named a Best Value school in that area.

Stanford was removed from the list because its tuition and indebtedness increased. St. Mary's University and Vanderbilt were also dropped from the private school list. New private schools included University of St. Thomas-Minnesota; Washington & Lee University; Oklahoma City University; and Drexel University Kline School of Law.

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Source: National Jurist

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