UT-Law: Tuition Could be on the Rise, But Don’t Blame UT
It appears that the out-of-state tuition at the University of Texas School of Law could be on the rise. The school’s website lists that the proposed non-resident tuition for the 2009 - 2010 academic year is $43,858. That is over a 10% increase from last year.
Is UT riding the wave of this year’s strong showing in the U.S. News law school rankings? Perhaps. But don’t blame the UT administration for the hike. UT is a public institution. As such, if you remember your middle school civics class, the school has very little control over its own tuition. A UT-Law spokesperson explains the situation:
Last year (March, 2008), the Regents set tuition at the University of Texas for the 2008-2009 academic year (this year) and the 2009-2010 academic year (next year). This year’s tuition for new, non-resident students was $39,642. The amount the Regents approved last year for tuition next year for new, non-resident students, $43,858, is a 10.6% increase over this year. The amount listed on our website for 2009-2010 is correct.The Texas legislature is currently considering a number of tuition bills, some of which could affect the tuition charged next year, but we don’t have any idea how these deliberations will come out as of now.
After the jump, let’s take a deeper look at how Texas plans to make money off of law students.
The UT spokesperson also explained some of the details about the budgeting process in Texas. Tuition decisions at the school are made by the University of Texas System Board of Regents. It is a nine member panel that is appointed by the State’s governor, Rick Perry, and confirmed by the Texas State Senate.
We weren’t able to reach a member of the regents panel to discuss the proposed hike. But it is a little surprising to see Texas officials charging out of state residents a tuition comparable to HLS.
On the other hand, state budgets are tight all over. With all the deserved respect that UT-Law is getting, why shouldn’t the legislature use the law school to cover less lucrative departments and operations. You could call it a redistributive policy from a red state.
And since they don’t talk about layoffs in Texas, everybody should be able to pay off their debts in short order, right?
Earlier: Open Thread: 2010 U.S. News Law School Rankings (6 - 15)
What is Texas Afraid Of?
(75) 
Comments
THANKS, LEITTTER!
ouch.
Civics class? most people do not EVER take a class in civics, let alone in middle school
nice try fattie
Why is there a picture of the Alamo in this article? UT Law is in Austin; the Alamo is 80 miles away in San Antonio. That's like showing the Statue of Liberty in an article about Harvard.
UC-Hastings has increased tuition for in-state students by 30% since 2007-2008. The school administration claims that the state government's budgetary problems are the cause. The outgoing dean was fairly flippant about the issue with students at a 'town hall' meeting to discuss the fee increase.
@3, ummm i dont know what part of the country you grew up in, but i definitely had a middle school civics class and a one in high school.
@4 except Harvard and the Statue of Liberty aren't in the same fucking state you moron.
You people are all losers.
With all the deserved respect that UT-Law is getting, why shouldn't the legislature use the law school to cover less lucrative departments and operations. You could call it a redistributive policy from a red state.
MysTTTal -- Are you this dumb on purpose?
Per U.S. News, HLS's tuition of $41,500 is lower than that of every other school in the Top 18 (out-of-state tuition for state schools). UT had been the lone exception -- until now. (This is despite the fact that Harvard routinely gives "need based" full-tuition grants, and waives 3L tuition for anyone willing to work in public interest.)
This story doesn't seem accurate.
From what I understand, the law school has substantial control over tuition and makes recommendations to the board of regents.
A year or two ago, the dean made a proposal to the regents to raise tuition, claiming that he had held meetings with students, and students were okay with the increase. The only problem with that was that a law student was at the meeting of the board of regents where tuition was discussed and correctly informed the regents that no such meetings had taken place. Only afterwards did the dean raise the issue with students.
This is the kind of thing that inspires people to write lengthy emails about the dean's decision to retire to an emu farm.
You are all idiots. The Alamo is in Dallas.
Lobster Bisque
Anyone who would spend $45k per year just on tuition to go to law school is either rich and bored or just stupid.
This is really because Republicans in the Texas legislature hate lawyers and people who are not from Texas. Sad but true.
SMU owns Texas.
I suspect that I should know the answer to this question, but is the University of Texas School of Law accredited by the American Bar Association?
@14
lols. Not in a million years sonny.
This is absolute bullshit. Yes, the Regents officially set the tuition, but when the Regents were determining what to charge, they accepted proposals from the professional schools (including the law school). The proposal SUBMITTED BY THE LAW SCHOOL was used by the Regents. The Administration got exactly what it requested.
In August 2007, the Law School submitted its proposed tuition increases. The students found out about the proposed increases in Nov. 2007, right before finals. At a public hearing on November 29, 2007, the Tuition Advisory Committee, which was officially responsible for submitting proposals to the Regents, indicated that the raises in tuition for professional schools was decided wholly within each school.
Once students (busy studying for finals) freaked out over the possibility that the law school was going to increase their tuition while they were in school, the Dean sent out a series of e-mails and had a forum meeting over it in Feb. 2008. At that meeting, law students were assured that they would be "grandfathered" into the old tuition prices.
The law school administration is entirely responsible for the tuition increase. Their assertions that their hands were tied is completely ridiculous and total bullshit.
Kilpatrick Stockton just sent out the following press release:
"In light of recent events, we now only have to layoff 23 lawyers, instead of the 24 previously announced."
The worst part of this is that Rick Perry--our dumbass gov who thinks Texas has the right to secede (you think I'm kidding)--is in charge of appointing the leaders of our university system. Awesome.
P.S. We don't have the right to secede. We tried it once when Abe Lincoln tried to take our "property" (i.e. black people). Sometimes I wish we could give people like Perry back to Mexico.
Out-of-staters: Join the military as a reservist, get a duty station in Texas, and then qualify for an out-of-state tuition waiver. You'll be cheating the school out of money and serving your country all at the same time. Not to mention, they'll teach you how to shoot a gun and then you'll fit right in with all of the other gun-toting Texans.
Out-of-staters: Join the military as a reservist, get a duty station in Texas, and then qualify for an out-of-state tuition waiver. You'll be cheating the school out of money and serving your country all at the same time. Not to mention, they'll teach you how to shoot a gun and then you'll fit right in with all of the other gun-toting Texans.
I thought the University of Texas Lutheran College of Law was in Waco?
SMU only owns Mockingbird Lane.
@4 - I only clicked on this posting b/c I wanted comment on the choice of photo too... I realize that people associate The Alamo (which is in San Antonio) with Texas..but really? You could have used Bevo or the Tower...
WHO KNEW THE ALAMO WAS IN AUSTIN?!!?!?!
THIS WEBSITE IS TTT.
TCU owns SMU
TCU + massive amounts of cocaine = SMU
Full-price out of staters are helping to pay for the full-rides they offer to top-10 bound applicants.
St. Mary's owns Wesleyan, which owns SMU, which owns UT, which owns Dallas.
TCU doesn't have a law school.
Texas and Texas A&M both own TCU and SMU
Two words for this TTTexas clowns:
RESTATEMENT NINETY
1) Do they even HAVE out of state students? I mean, who WANTS to go to Texas, anyway.
2) If anyone is stupid enough to go to Texas, then they are stupid enough to pay a grossly inflated fee.
Texas A&M owns a bunch of pigs, 12 acres of farm land, and not much else!
Texas belongs in the t-14 with the other ELITE schools.
- Texas 2L
Texas Waco University San Antonio Branch owns the Alamo in Houston.
SMU=40 acres and a mule.
Suck it, Locke Lord.
@6, how about likening using the Alamo to indicate UT to a Cape Cod lighthouse used to indicate HLS? Does that satisfy your apparently fervently held belief that an image and its school must be in the "same fucking state" or is an inept comparison? Get a life!
32= disgusting Texas Tech trolling
Texis killed America.
I applied to UT in the mid-80's. Tuition went from something like $1500 to $4000, and people were pissed. How times have changed.
So now that Leiter is not there anymore they can charge more?
Here's what really happened: A bunch of hippie students only interested in non-profit and government work bitched to the UT Law administration that it wasn't fair for them to have to pay back the full tuition--so they wanted a program that erases debt for those in the public sector. The school's response was to raise tuition for the rest of us...that's what is behind all of this -- raise tuition so others don't ave to pay. When the Dean said he consulted students, he was just referring to the 3 or 4 who didn't want to have to actually pay for their education so they came up with this scheme. Hooray socialized education!
Think of the extra 4K per year as a tax on the privilege of living in Texas. In exchange, you get cheap cost of living and access to Dallas and Houston, where the starting salary is just as much as in New York, California, and DC.
Hook 'Em Horns!
@24 They could have also used steer, fat people, a gun rack, a confederate flag, a lone star, george bush.
People in Texas are fat?
ATL didn't mention that in-state tuition also increased (from 23 to 28k). Considering that in-state was a little over 17 in 2007, this is a pretty big deal.
I know, I know, residents already have it wonderful and even with the increase we're still in a good position....
But money is money and for people that are in the position of taking a small scholarship at UT vs. a large scholarship at somewhere like Emory, it would have been nice to know about the bump more than a few days before the deposit deadline....
Ok, I'm finished bitching. Sager's still the man!
Hook 'em
ATL didn't mention that in-state tuition also increased (from 23 to 28k). Considering that in-state was a little over 17 in 2007, this is a pretty big deal.
I know, I know, residents already have it wonderful and even with the increase we're still in a good position....
But money is money and for people that are in the position of taking a small scholarship at UT vs. a large scholarship at somewhere like Emory, it would have been nice to know about the bump more than a few days before the deposit deadline....
Ok, I'm finished bitching. Sager's still the man!
Hook 'em
ATL didn't mention that in-state tuition also increased (from 23 to 28k). Considering that in-state was a little over 17 in 2007, this is a pretty big deal.
I know, I know, residents already have it wonderful and even with the increase we're still in a good position....
But money is money and for people that are in the position of taking a small scholarship at UT vs. a large scholarship at somewhere like Emory, it would have been nice to know about the bump more than a few days before the deposit deadline....
Ok, I'm finished bitching. Sager's still the man!
Hook 'em
ATL didn't mention that in-state tuition also increased (from 23 to 28k). Considering that in-state was a little over 17 in 2007, this is a pretty big deal.
I know, I know, residents already have it wonderful and even with the increase we're still in a good position....
But money is money and for people that are in the position of taking a small scholarship at UT vs. a large scholarship at somewhere like Emory, it would have been nice to know about the bump more than a few days before the deposit deadline....
Ok, I'm finished bitching. Sager's still the man!
Hook 'em
4 is dead-on...stupid pic for this.
No 43, they couldn't have used George Bush. He was rejected from UT Law, so he went to Harvard Business School.
Only if Elie is talking about Yale or Harvard can he use George Bush.
No 43, Elie couldn't have used a picture of George Bush because he was rejected by UT law, so he went to Harvard Business School.
So Elie can only use a picture of George Bush if he wants to talk about Yale or Harvard.
SMU is the Yale of Oklahoma.
50 does speak the truth
Does anyone have thoughts on the comensurate rise in in-state tuition?
It is the price you have to pay for the privilege of viewing the UT cheerleaders in chaps during the UT football home games:
http://www.burntorangenation.com/storyonly/2006/1/30/145456/801
Hook 'Em
BAYLOR > SMU > UT
UT>SMU>UH>Baylor
HTH
It is the price you have to pay for the privilege of viewing the UT cheerleaders in chaps during the UT football home games:
http://www.burntorangenation.com/storyonly/2006/1/30/145456/801
Hook 'Em
What kind of idiot shows a picture of San Antonio when referring to Austin
Austin, Massachusetts?
I have difficulty believing that any middle school civics class teaches about the complexities of how tuition rates are assessed at state-run institutes of higher education. One may need to attend a Masters level course in state government to receive such instruction, you jackrabbit.
I have difficulty believing that any middle school civics class teaches about the complexities of how tuition rates are assessed at state-run institutes of higher education. One may need to attend a Masters level course in state government to receive such instruction, you jackrabbit.
#55, 58, please stop posting links to cross dressing transsexual hooker cowboys.
Thank you.
UVA2L
Elie...as in Eli or Ellie?
I thought San Antonio was in Austin. Or is it the Alamo that is in Austin?
Note to current UT Law students:
The tuition increases apply to incoming 1Ls, not to current ("continuing") students. For 2009-10, "continuing" student tuition is 23 in-state, 38 out-of-state.
-UT 2L
No offense, but there are two important points being overlooked by those complaining about the hikes in tuition for out of state students:
1. The purpose of a public, state university is to educate the students of that state. The reason why tuition is much lower is because it is offset by taxes from the residents of that state. While Texas--and every state university for that matter--welcomes out of state students, the lower tuition is for the benefit of those who pay taxes in this state. If you don't agree, you have state university in your home state that you are free to attend at the reduced rate.
2. Much is being made of the comparison in the proposed tuition for UT out of state students and the tuition at HLS. Tuition is not the only factor to consider when choosing a law school. One of the biggest differences between Boston and Austin is cost of living, which directly contributes to the overall cost of law school. So comparing the price tag of HLS to UTLaw is not apples to apples solely based on tuition.
--UT Law 3L
I am so happy I went in-state to Wisconsin at 14K a year...
Texas February bar results are out.
UT apologists unite!
Baylor owns Houston.
You got a link?
http://www.ble.state.tx.us/Stats/stats_0209.htm
How much longer before it costs $75,000 to attend one year of school? I bet within the next twenty years. These tuition costs are more and more incredible every year.
Interesting. I'm a UT-Law grad (class of 2005). When I started in 2002, it cost $9000/year as a resident. A steal. 7 years later, it appears not to be so much of a steal.
My memory of costs in various years at UT-Law is:
2000-$7k
2002-$9k
2003-$12k
2004-$15k
Shocker.
Why is this startling news? Compare the three other highest-ranked public law schools' out-of-state tuitions: Berkeley - $43,189; Virginia - $43,800; Michigan - $44,500.
NEWSFLASH:
UT Law receives no funding from the state of Texas. They get a building & maintenance thereof.
Quick basic finance tip for law school applicants:
They're lowering the # of students in each class, but still have the same operating budget. This is how they're increasing their ranking in the USNews. No shocker there.
How in the world will they meet their expenses? Raise tuition. This is not a donation heavy year, fyi, and the state "ain't" helping. You are paying extra to increase your degree's preftige.
Also, if you want to practice in Texas, you go to Texas if you can get in. Period. If you want to practice elsewhere, and want a bargain, Texas is still one of the cheapest because of the low cost of living in Austin (e.g., $1 breakfast tacos, $1 beers and $1 wells), and is just on the cusp of being T-14. Kids get jobs all over the U.S. from UT. It's no big deal.
But let's not get into another "Texas rules/Texas drools" fight, k? There are plenty of other lovely places to attend law school.
I'm a UT grad. Newsflash, the Longhorn Athletics and proceeds from sales bearing the Longhorn logo make more money for the school than the law school does. The schoole makes more money on proceeds from their logo then any school in the nation (number 2 is Ohio State). Furthermore, the endowment is in the top 5, behind only the likes of Harvard and Yale. (think oil).
Why the tuition keeps going up (for residents and non-residents alike) is beyond me.