Law school investment may not pay off for the majority of law graduate students

Whether or not it is worth going into debt for law school is open to question. As law school tuition rises, the number of job openings in the industry is falling. Even so, law school enrollment has ballooned during the recession, and also the industry is flooded with young, starving lawyers.

Too much debt with law school wounds with wages

The number of people taking the LSAT jumped more than 20 percent between 2007 and 2009. This year we are seeing a growing number of unemployed law students and graduates. This is bad since the student loan debt taken out for this degree is great. An average of $71,436 in debt was taken out for public law school students that graduated in 2008, Annie Lowery at Slate reports. Private law graduates averaged $91,506. Law school is only a good investment if the starting salary is quite high. It would need to be $65,000 or more. About $45,000 to $60,000 is what most graduate students end up making after law school.

Minority of attorneys see a good ROI

In 2009, a study about investing in law school came out by Vanderbilt law professor Herwig Schlunk called, “Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be … Lawyers.” Whether or not law school is a worthwhile investment is what Schlunk is really concerned about in this study. The record discusses some of the opportunity cost of lost income when going to school. The high student loan financial debt is discussed also. Schlunk concludes that investing in law school will only settle for a small minority of “hot prospects.".

Take my law degree back … please!

A law student at the Boston College Law school has learned Schlunk’s lessons the hard way. Based on AFP, the dean of BC law got a letter from a student. The tuition is over $40,000 a year at that school. The student had been about to be a father and was graduating in 2011. This student had been also in deep debt and didn't think he'd be able to find a job. He said that it had been a win-win situation for BC Law to give him a refund on tuition if he just quit law school instead. He would not have the terrible debt anymore while being able to teach again and provide for a family. BC Law would in turn not have to report his future unemployment to the US News and World Report. This can be a magazine that gives United States of America law schools rankings. BC Law did not accept his offer.

Details from

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/30/AR2010103004638.html

Morningstar

news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=357051

AFP

google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hB_oEndpokUpUn4qaCEJ2GweXW0Q?docId=CNG.5a8fb2fbd292773edd5b18a29f896aaa.7f1