Law School Tuition: The Terrifying Future

The Law School Class of 2016 By The Numbers

Last week, Above The Law released an infographic with the latest data on the class of 2016. And it reflects some intriguing trends.
As expected, law school enrollment is declining. The Top 14 law schools, as ranked by US News and World Report, had a 1.44 percent drop in students, while the Top 100 showed a 3.19 percent decrease. Mean GPAs in both categories were nearly the same as the previous class, while Mean LSATs fell by .44 percent and 1.03 percent in the Top 14 and Top 100 respectively.
Some law schools did experience increased enrollment. For example, Wake Forest’s enrollment jumped by 42 percent. However, they were offset by steep declines in schools such as Washington and Lee University and the University of Iowa, which tied for 26th place in the latest US News and World Report rankings. Their enrollments dropped by 40.96 percent and 38.8 percent respectively.
Some schools also reported changes in the average grade point averages of their incoming class. At the University of Oklahoma, for example, the average grade point rose by .14 percent. At Marquette University, however, incoming GPAs dropped by .18 percent. There were winners and losers in LSATs too, with the University of California at Berkeley coming in at a 3 point increase and the University of Florida revealing a 4 point decrease.
To review all of the schools featured on Above The Law’s infographic, click below.
Source: Above The Law

Bloomberg CEO Makes Large Gift to University of Chicago Law School

Over his career, Michael Bloomberg has given away over a billion dollars. Now, his chief lieutenant is getting into the act.
This week, the University of Chicago announced that Dan Doctoroff, CEO of Bloomberg LP, had donated $5 million dollars to the law school. The money will be used to develop an integrated law and business curriculum known as the Doctoroff Business Leadership Program.
Like many schools, the University of Chicago maintains a 4-year dual program where students can attend law school and business school simultaneously. However, most law students don’t take specific business courses. Through Doctoroff’s gift, the law school will be able to offer a customized business curriculum to law students through seminars and one-on-one counseling. As a result, law students can learn business fundamentals without spending additional semesters (and tens-of-thousands of additional dollars) on an MBA or a dual program.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the new program will include courses in finance, accounting, microeconomics, and business strategy. Steve Kaplan, a recognized expert on venture capital and corporate governance at the Booth School of Business, is already slated to teach a course on corporate and entrepreneurial finance at the law school in 2014. The remaining courses will also be taught by Booth faculty.
Doctoroff is a 1984 graduate of the University of Chicago School of Law His wife, Alisa, is a 1983 graduate of the Booth School of Business.
Source: Crain Chicago Business, Jewish Voice NY, Wall Street Journal

ABA Committee Recommends Pushing All Jurisdictions To Disclose Bar Exam Results To Law Schools

“What gets measured gets done.”
That seems to be the thinking behind a new recommendation by the ABA’s Standards Review Committee, which is proposing that law schools document that 80 percent of its students pass the bar exam within two years of graduation.
Currently, the ABA requires law schools to meet its standards in one of two ways. First, law schools can verify that 75 percent of their graduates passed the bar exam in at least three of the past five years. Otherwise, schools must show their students’ first-time bar pass rates are within 15 percent of other schools’ rates. The new proposal, which would eliminate the 15 percent stipulation and require an 80 percent pass, also forces law schools to compile bar pass information on at least 80 percent of its graduates. Schools that fail to meet these standards would get two years to move pass rates into compliance or show progress in raising them through “effective and sustained actions.”
The recommendation, which will be discussed during the ABA’s February meeting, could face one operational obstacle: Some jurisdictions don’t provide name-specific bar results. As a result, the committee is pushing a resolution that would require all jurisdictions to provide such information to law schools.
Source: ABA Journal