Bar Pass Rates Dip Again

The University of Colorado-Boulder School of Law

This Law School’s Debt Has Dropped

 
Administrators at the University of Colorado-Boulder Law School seem to be doing something right. They were actually able to increase enrollment this year and have been recognized for innovative programs. And just recently they announced a drop in average student debt amounts for their graduates.
According to reports from the Boulder Daily-Camera, the average debt among graduates declined from $116,000 for 2014 graduates to $107,080 for this year’s graduating class. It’s only an 8% decrease and it’s still six figures of debt, but in an age of constantly rising debt amounts for law school graduates, it’s welcome news.
School officials are attributing the drop to the school’s tuition being frozen for four straight years and increasing the scholarship budget from $2.5 million in 2010 to $5 million now. Still, Colorado Law School Dean Phil Weiser said the amount of debt is “scary,” though “reasonable” compared to other schools.
Indeed, other state universities such as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville all averaged less than $67,000 in debt for the 2014 class, according to the U.S. News. Meanwhile, some private schools are pumping out students with more than $150,000 in debt.
According to the reports from the Daily-Camera, about 71% of the 2015 Colorado Law School graduates took out loans. In recent years, that number has been as high as 86%, the report claims. The school is making it a goal to increase job placement rates from 93.5% to 95%. The school has also increased its loan repayment assistance program for graduates going into public sector jobs to $6.5 million. Officials at the school are estimating it will award about 40 students around $6,500 each this spring.
Of course, student debt is a growing concern and should be seriously weighed when deciding on if or where to go to law school. Colorado Law School’s tuition is reasonable at just over $31,000 for Colorado residents and more than $38,000 for non-residents.
Source: Boulder Daily-Camera
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