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Boston College, Loyola - Chicago: Try to Soften the Deferral Blow

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 4:30 PM - By Elie Mystal

BC Law logo.JPGMore schools are jumping in to try to help their own deferred graduates. Boston College Law School has come up with a “hodgepodge” of initiatives, according to EagleOnline:

* Law School Fellows Program: “as many as twelve positions” will be available, paid at “a modest hourly rate” in places like the Legal Assistance Bureau and the Law Library.

* Career Services Partnership Program: working with some firms and companies, the Law School will coordinate jobs for graduates from September 1 of this year to March 1 of the next, to help out those who are waiting out deferrals or bar exam results. While stipends vary, past participants have “averaged $800 to $1000 per week.”

* Audit Courses: Class of 2009 graduates will be able to enroll in “a number of courses” in the fall semester, without tuition but without the opportunity to receive a grade, with the “understanding” that “graduates will participate in the class as observers.”

* Eagle Scholars Program: while auditing courses, graduates can participate in a weekly seminar intended to help students produce “a law review article of publishable quality.”

* Research Assistantships: in a measure bound to raise the ire of some continuing students, graduates are being welcomed to apply for assistantships with professors. Some faculty members have been given the green light to hire an extra assistant for the summer and fall.

* Public Service Jobs: for graduates waiting out deferrals, the Law School is extending access to PS Lawnet in an effort to connect graduates with public service opportunities.

Unlike some schools, BC Law doesn’t appear to be offering an extension in health care benefits. But at least the school isn’t asking students to go deeper into debt. As long as graduates stay away from the local pig farm, they should be okay. At least the ones who have only been deferred until March 2010 or earlier.

The article also has an interesting quote from a BC Law spokesperson:

“[w]e’re all very concerned about our graduates and the economic situation,” but stressed that while “we all want to help…unless students come to us we won’t know how to help them.”

BC students might want to bring up “loan forbearance” just in case the administration is really unaware of how that might help out deferred or unemployed recent graduates.

After the jump, let’s look at what is going on at Loyola - Chicago.

loyola chicago school law.gifThe new plan for Loyola - Chicago is a more like UCLA’s plan, and less like the initiatives from Northwestern. Here is the school wide email from Loyola Law Dean David Yellen:

Dear Graduating Students:

The School of Law congratulates you as you near the successful completion of your law school studies. We take great pride in your accomplishments and look forward to celebrating with you at graduation.

We also realize that you are entering your professional life at a time of extraordinary economic challenge. We would like to help you to navigate the transition from law school to your career as much as possible. Of course, all of the School of Law services, including our Career Services office, will be available to you for counseling and support after your graduation. In addition, in an effort to try to provide additional assistance to you in your professional development, the School of Law is offering the following post-graduate programs:

First, the School of Law will offer its 2009 graduates a deeply discounted tuition of $9,500.00 for its traditional LL.M. degrees in Child and Family Law, Health Law, Business and Corporate Governance Law and Tax Law. If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please complete the usual LL.M. application, which is available on our website. We have extended the application deadline to August 1, 2009.

Second, the School of Law also is planning to establish a new Graduate Fellowship for 2009 graduates. Graduate Fellows would be entitled to enroll in law school classes particularly suited to their professional objectives at a significantly reduced flat tuition rate of $4,000 per semester. A Graduate Fellow may enroll in law school classes during the fall semester of 2009, the spring semester of 2010, or both. Although a Graduate Fellow may enroll in any open and available law school class, the School of Law believes that the following courses will be particularly beneficial: (1) externships geared toward graduates; (2) directed research projects under the supervision of law faculty with a view toward publication; (3) independent study with a member of the law faculty toward the development of new teaching methods, particularly those that utilize technology as part of instructional practices; (4) professional skills classes, including those that enable graduates to meet their Mandatory Continuing Legal Education requirement of basic skills training; and (5) experiential learning opportunities, including available live-client clinics and practicums. If you would like to pursue this opportunity, please contact [Redacted], who will assist you with the enrollment process.

We hope that you will find one of these special “bridge” programs helpful. We also would greatly appreciate your suggestions for any improvements to these programs, and would welcome your ideas about any additional initiatives that we might offer.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

David N. Yellen

When we posted about UCLA’s similar program, critical readers split into three camps: A) this is nothing more than a money grab, B) shouldn’t law schools be teaching these skills in the first THREE YEARS of the educational experience, C) the school is just trying to massage it’s “employed upon graduation numbers” for U.S. News.

For point C, this is something that the U.S. News people will have to seriously look at next year.

On point B, there are a lot of people that want to change the nature of legal education. I’d be happy march (who am I kidding? Segway) on Washington with them. But changing the structure of legal education isn’t going to really help the class of 2009. An opportunity to get skills that firms aren’t really willing to pay them to learn right now seems like a fair option.

In terms of the tuition grab aspect, well what do you expect? Apparently, people didn’t know that law firms were a business until September 15th, why would you think law schools would be any different? Besides, the majority of law school resources need to be spent on current students. Just wait until the classes of 2010 and 2011 start feeling like alumni are taking up resources and opportunities that they need should the economy continue to flatline.

The major steps that law schools need to take are loan forbearance and low income debt forgiveness programs for graduates who find themselves structurally unemployable at a salary level that can even hope to carry the debt load. But that is not going to even come close to happening until schools realize that students can’t pay their loans and go into default. We are still months of economic hell from that happening.

So, in the meantime, these programs would seem to give recent graduates a few more options than they had a month ago. I’m not sure that there is anything wrong with that.

BCLS Rolls Out Plans to Help Graduating Students; Loan Repayment Unaddressed [EagleOnline]

Earlier: UCLA: The Latest Law School To Help Deferred Students
Northwestern Law Gets ‘Proactive’

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Posted in: Boston College Law School, Law Schools

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