The strings attached to some scholarships may hurt students, experts say.
By Delece Smith-Barrow
For all that's uncertain about the future of legal education in America, some things remain consistent.
Law school enrollment continues to decline, according to a December report from the American Bar Association, but tuition and fees remain high at many institutions.
While some schools have decreased or capped tuition to attract students, getting a J.D. is still expensive. The average tuition and fees in 2012 for private institutions was $40,634, according to the ABA. At public schools the average was $23,214 for in-state students and $36,202 for out-of-state students.
[Draft a law school budget early.]
"It makes sense for aspiring law students to carefully examine the total costs of earning a law degree and the broad consequences of financing a legal education with borrowed money," wrote Heather Jarvis, a law school financial aid expert who graduated from the law school at Duke University, in an email.
Below are four important things prospective students can consider as they determine which school will give them the best return on investment.
1. Weigh career and life goals: Long before students become 1Ls, the common term for a first-year J.D. candidates, they should map out what life may look like as a professional, says Matthew Shinners, a senior consultant at jdMission, which helps prospective law students get into school.
Where students want to practice, he says, can make a difference in their paycheck.
"If you’re going to be practicing in Kentucky, obviously the salary you’re going to be earning is less but at the same time the amount of money you’re going to have to spend to live is a lot less,” says Shinners, a 2009 graduate of Harvard Law School.
He encourages applicants to think about what kind of job they want, the salary it could lead to and where they want to work. Prospective students should also review employment data at the websites for NALP, an association for legal professionals, and Law School Transparency, he says.
[Make an informed decision when considering law school.]
2. Beware of scholarships: If a school offers prospective students a scholarship, they should carefully review the terms of it, says Hanna Stotland, who advises law school applicants and legal professionals as a private consultant.
Recipients should ask, "Is that scholarship guaranteed for all three years?" she says.
Some schools may offer several students a scholarship that requires them to maintain a high GPA. Because students are graded on a curve and a school may predetermine the number or percentage of students who will get a certain GPA or grades, it may be impossible for all of the 1L scholarship recipients to meet the requirements that would enable them to keep the scholarship as 2Ls.
“It’s very important to read the fine print and then probably ask more questions beyond the fine print," says Stotland, who also graduated from Harvard Law. Prospective students should ask what the GPA requirement is for keeping a scholarship and how many people can realistically achieve that GPA, she says.
3. Think twice about part-time attendance: Part-time students may be able to work full time, which lets them get a paycheck all while going to class, but this route might not always be the cheapest.
Shinners has seen a number of students start off part time and then later switch into a full-time program. Because of the demands of law school, it can be hard to keep up while also maintaining a job, he says.
"Most people burn out on that really quickly," he says.
And working part time might limit a student's options for summer internships because an employer may not give the student time off to work elsewhere, he says.
[Decide if you should work during law school.]
In some cases, though, going to school part-time can lead to more scholarship money, says Stotland. If a school's part-time program doesn't have an incoming class that's as strong as the full-time program, it may offer students accepted into the full-time program money to go part time.
4. Consider lower-ranked schools: If student can get into a competitive school, that same applicant may also be accepted at a lower-ranked school and receive a scholarship.
"Let’s say you get into a law school in the second tier. You may also get into a law school in the fourth tier at a huge discount," says Stotland.
But if a student accepts the offer from the lower-ranked school, he or she may sacrifice graduating from a school with a stronger brand, she says. Students who do this may only save money for the first year if they are eventually unable to meet the scholarship's requirements and must pay full tuition and fees.
For that price, students could have gone to a better school, says Stotland.
She also encourages students to speak with professionals in the field they want to get into and to make sure they'll actually need law school to reach their career goals.
Prospective students should also ask a school specific questions to find out as much as they can about employment options. They can even ask to be put in touch with a recent graduate who lives in a certain location and works in a certain field, she says.
The school may not be able to meet their request, Stotland says, but students won't know until they speak up.
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