Thoughts On the Global Economic Meltdown From Columbia University
We’ve done a few stories on how the financial crisis is hurting public and private law schools. Over the past couple of weeks, administration officials at Columbia have shared some candid thoughts with the student body.
Law School Dean David Schizer let students know how he personally dealt with the last economic recession:
In conversations with many of you, I’ve heard that the economy is very much on your mind, so I wanted to share some thoughts with you based on my own experience. I was in law school during an economic downturn. I remember that some employers cut back on their hiring, and it turned out to be a serious mistake because, when the economy later rebounded — as it always does — they didn’t have the staffing in place.
According to Dean Schizer, this “mistake” will not be repeated:
In conversations with graduates who are involved in hiring decisions, in both the public interest area and in private practice, I’ve learned that memories are clear on this point, and that many employers who are of particular interest to you are eager to avoid this mistake. This is all the more true for Columbia graduates, who are always in great demand at the top of the legal profession. We know that our country will be going through some difficult times and know that you, as Columbia-educated lawyers, will have much to contribute to shaping our future.
Nothing is f***** here dude, nothing is f*****.
After the jump, Lee Bollinger weighs in on the general university finances.
Columbia University President Lee Bollinger decided to address the entire student body about the challenges the university is facing during the economic crisis:
The nation, New York State and the City are all confronting serious financial challenges, and the consensus is that matters will not improve in the short term. We must, therefore, plan with the assumption that the rapid pace of gifts to the University may slow and that the financial health of our students and their families may necessitate an increase in financial support from Columbia. Columbia’s greatness is built on our tradition of attracting remarkable students regardless of their financial situation, a commitment that is unqualified.
Bollinger then shared specifics on the state of Columbia’s endowment. He announced across the board cuts for all of Columbia’s schools:
To facilitate a smooth transition to these new financial realities, we are asking all budget units to model an 8% decline in endowment funds available for operations next year. Hopefully, by accepting and planning for this new reality, we will be in a position to move forward in strength.
It’s nice to see top administration officials communicating with students. Maybe they really are all in it together.
(61) Comments
Comments
I don't know what's worse checking my stock portfolio or visiting this site to see which one of my friends has been laid off today....
First. Boo yah!
Nothing is fucked?! The GODDAMN PLANE HAS CRASHED INTO THE MOUNTAIN!!
"It's nice to see top administration officials communicating with students. Maybe they really are all in it together. "
Elie, I can live with your lame jokes, but can you please stop with these pathetic attempts at closing your posts with a poignant or thoughtful conclusion. They ALWAYS fall flat.
Too offensive. Not professional enough. Please moderate.
Where is the bail out for my student loans?
Where is the bail out for my student loans?
why would the economic crisis hurt law schools? now's the perfect time for people to go hide out in academia for a few years until the market rebounds...
Comment removed by moderator.
Dean Sheize?
no bailouts for students. You had to get those big ass grants.
Remove #9 - thanks!
Waht a lying sack of CRAP - law schools OUTRIGHT LIE to incoming students and leave them in massive debt. DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF THE CRAP THAT YOUR LAW SCHOOL OR CAREER SERVICES GROUP IS TELLING YOU. YOU WILL BE IN MASSIVE DEBT - THERE ARE NO JOBS!
3 failed to get the Bog Lebowski reference
3 failed to get the Big Lebowski reference
Meanwhile, when are firms going to send the "packet of summer program info" that acceptance letters said was due in January?
Remove 12, thanks.
12: So no one should go to law school?
Wait, did 3 fail to get something?
columbia's endowment is down 15%, MUCH better than Harvard, Yale, and the rest of the ivy league. very impressive, particularly the open communication.
through the end of October, Harvard's endowment was down 22% and Yale's was down 25%. Columbia's was only down 11.8%. Supposedly, UPenn is getting KILLED in this economy.
Please remove comment #2, that is offensive to Stuart Scott.
Stuart Scott
ps: I'm offended
If we call keep saying that it will get better, it will. By slowly chanting that you will get a job, surely you will. BTW, if you get good enough at chanting you'll definitely get a job handing out flowers at airports. Once you reach Nirvana, you won't care that you spent your life as a contract attorney and living in a cardboard box.
"...and that the financial health of our students and their families may necessitate an increase in financial support from Columbia."
Translation: Columbia must enhance efforts to make even more loans available to students to ensure they REALLY bury themselves in debt paying for the ver-increasing cost of higher education.
p.s., This is offensive to President Bollinger, so 16 wants it removed.
"...and that the financial health of our students and their families may necessitate an increase in financial support from Columbia."
Translation: Columbia must enhance efforts to make even more loans available to students to ensure they REALLY bury themselves in debt paying for the ever-increasing cost of higher education.
p.s., This is offensive to President Bollinger, so 16 wants it removed.
CLS to top 2! We fucking rock!
Comment removed by moderator.
Please increase the professionalism of your comments. This is a law blog.
A professional
Stuart Scott's left eyebrow to 190!
http://thesportshernia.typepad.com/blog/images/2007/07/25/stuart_scott_is_rick_vaughn.jpg
You know what Columbia and other law schools ought to do? Let some law professors go! Why does a school with 600 students need 50-60 full time professors? They each spend about 7 hours a week in the classroom and maybe another 10 on preparation, publishing, and administrative tasks. Get these people out of the trough!
12 = hofstra
I am offended by Stuart Scott's left eyebrow. Please moderate or pluck.
Where is the bail out for my student loans?
Yo 14 -- 3 did get the Lebowski reference. That's the next line.
What the Dean (Law) has said here ignores reality. Just check this site once a day. Qualified, experienced associates are flooding the job market. That does not bode well for any law student--even one with a Columbia degree.
I agree with 4- Elie sounds like Jerry Springer giving his final thoughts.
And Bollinger sounds like Officer Barbrady- nothing to see here people, move along
Elie - he wasn't in law school during the last recession.
1, I don't know what is more depressing, reading about layoffs, your stock portfolio, or reading the same GD comment you post for every story.
Same schtick as TTT deans, different tier of school.
Argument still sucks and does not reflect reality. Hiring market is trash right now. That hurts everyone. Good T14 students don't have as many options, bad T14 students get dinged, T1 students get cut back to Top 15% or bust, everyone else without institutional or genetic ties to a firm is just screwed.
I think it's telling that CLS students are panicking and harassing the dean to the point that he felt compelled to say this. They're actually out there; dean is not, and dean has vested interest in maintaining the idea that "CLS equals assured multi-million dollar career."
That's never been true for anyone - see bitching in Latham thread about how fracked a lot of associate finances are - but the economy is shining an ugly light on that.
13/14 did not get the Lebowski reference. Its the follow up line from Jeffrey Lebowski!
References to someone's "big lebowski" are offensive and repugnant. Please moderate.
Thank you 38.
13/14 - are you some kind of Nihilist(s)?
-3
What the dean is really saying is that I should still consider coughing up the requested $500 for CLS the next time he sends me a beg-letter and a special glossy eight-page reprint of one of his lame speeches---as if $120K was not enough. Keep jacking up that tuition, dean, so law firms will be forced to not fire us and to pay us more.
This is news???????
#12 here - am not saying "no one should go to law school" - I AM SAYING that there are too many lawyers. What did we all think was going to eventually happen? Do you honestly think first years are worth 160K and that clients would endlessly agree to pay upwards of 1k per hour for some ego driven partner with small penis? This was inevitable. It is time law schools tell students the truth - MOST do not make big money - do NOT get yourself in huge debt with thought that a job in BigLaw is OWED to you. IT IS NOT. And - job in BigLaw is kinda crappy - you are (as many before me have noted) a monkey.
20 = uninformed hater. UPenn doing better than most Ivies.
http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/11/17/News/Penn-May.Post.Fewer.Endowment.Losses.Than.Other.Ivies-3546787.shtml
The law schools are irresponsibly flooding the market with more attorneys than the marketplace can support. This is unethical. However, this is not to absolve students who run like lemmings to second and third tier law schools and expect to find a place in the tight job market. Save your tuition and lost opportunity of earning during those three years. At least the money I invested in CLS was returned with the opportunity to interview with many firms. Expensive but cost efffective.
The law schools are irresponsibly flooding the market with more attorneys than the marketplace can support. This is unethical. However, this is not to absolve students who run like lemmings to second and third tier law schools and expect to find a place in the tight job market. Save your tuition and lost opportunity of earning during those three years. At least the money I invested in CLS was returned with the opportunity to interview with many firms. Expensive but cost efffective.
The law schools are irresponsibly flooding the market with more attorneys than the marketplace can support. This is unethical. However, this is not to absolve students who run like lemmings to second and third tier law schools and expect to find a place in the tight job market. Save your tuition and lost opportunity of earning during those three years. At least the money I invested in CLS was returned with the opportunity to interview with many firms. Expensive but cost efffective.
The law schools are irresponsibly flooding the market with more attorneys than the marketplace can support. This is unethical. However, this is not to absolve students who run like lemmings to second and third tier law schools and expect to find a place in the tight job market. Save your tuition and lost opportunity of earning during those three years. At least the money I invested in CLS was returned with the opportunity to interview with many firms. Expensive but cost efffective.
The law schools are irresponsibly flooding the market with more attorneys than the marketplace can support. This is unethical. However, this is not to absolve students who run like lemmings to second and third tier law schools and expect to find a place in the tight job market. Save your tuition and lost opportunity of earning during those three years. At least the money I invested in CLS was returned with the opportunity to interview with many firms. Expensive but cost efffective.
Hey 45-49, how retarded are you that you can't hit the post comment button one fucking time and let the hamster do his job?
while CLS's endowment may not have decreased that much proportionally compared to HLS and YLS, CLS's endowment is DWARFED by HLS's endowment as well as YLS's endowment. last time i heard numbers (in 2006) i think CLS had 300K per student compared to 1.5M and 2M per student at HLS and YLS respectively.
45-49 - Columbia grad. Keep banging your forehead against the keyboard, you might eventually produce original thought.
And law schools should fess up:
(1) The BigLaw business model is currently not healthy.
(2) Your prospects of getting BigLaw are not great outside of a handfull of schools.
(3) No matter what school you went to, your prospects of staying in BigLaw long enough to comfortably pay down debt are rotten.
(4) Student loan debt is about the size of most non-NYC mortgages, which are not meant to be paid off in two or three years. Thinking you can do that helped cause the disaster that is causing (1).
(5) BigLaw life is generally miserable and does not provide the standard-of-living you are thinking of if it is NYC with student debt.
In the admissions office, we poppin' champagne, like we won the championship game!
-Pop Bottles
I know Lat doesn't think this will happen, but what if firms are forced to reduce salaries back to 135/145k? CLS has been jacking up tuition year after year on the assumption that, because they place so well in NYC Biglaw, the cost is "justified." It is now 45k for tuition alone - financial aid suggests we take out 70k per year in loans. Chances they would reduce tuition?
Hey 29-
Ever heard of tenure???
Do you think you can pay me in cash? The issue is, and I need to check with my accountant, but I think this might bump me up into another ...
44 = mindless PEnn troll. Did you miss the part where Penn was one of the few Ivy League schools to LOSE money in 2007-2008, before things went to hell to begin with? You may be doing better this year, but unlike the other schools, Penn was already bleeding.
But hey, at least you made it to the Rose Bowl this year!
Incoming summers are safe. You'll all get jobs out of CLS. Problem is that you'll be laid off the moment you become a second year.
Frankly, I don't think this story is newsworthy, but this Dean Schizer guy sounds like the real deal.
Excellent Big Lebowski reference....
TTT