Law School Cuts Tuition, But We Still Have A Long Way To Go

Oh look, it's a law school competing on price instead of BS.

Good news, another law school has cut its tuition. For all of the… creative ways some schools are trying to cope with decreasing law school applications, tuition cuts still seem like the only thing that is likely to help.

But even as some schools start to cut, you wonder if tuition can ever be rolled back to the point where law school is cost-effective for the current generation of prospective law students. Law schools have been raising tuition, every year, for decades. Is cutting tuition now just like putting on perfume instead of taking a shower?

The University of Toledo College of Law is the latest school to cut tuition. It’s been a long time coming. The Toledo Blade reports that three years ago, Toledo Law had 1,400 applicants. Last year, that number fell to 475. The tuition cut is significant. From the Blade:

The current law school tuition is $20,579 but the price will roll back to $17,900 in the fall of 2015 for in-state and Michigan students, which [Law School Dean Daniel J. Steinbock] said is comparable to 2010 tuition. The price for out-of-state students also will decrease from $33,752 to $31,074 in 2015, which is a nearly 8 percent drop.

“This is a response to a national trend that has seen applications drop at schools across the country. At some point the market responds to the price,” said Nagi Naganathan, UT’s interim president.

But is this cut enough? Steinbock says that tuition is being rolled back to 2010 prices… but let’s remember that Toledo (and most other law schools) was charging way too much in 2010. Just ask a member of the class of 2013 if they feel like they got “good value” from their legal education.

Consider this stat:

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The cost of law school education at the University of Toledo has increased nearly 80 percent over the last 10 years. It rose from $11,511 in the 2004-2005 academic year to $20,579 in 2014, Mr. Steinbock said.

I shouldn’t have to tell you that the market for new law graduates in 2005 was completely different and much better than the market we’re looking forward to in 2015. Toledo, fundamentally, is still charging people more for something that doesn’t have as much value as it used to.

But, let’s see what the market does. Toledo claims it’s the only law school in Ohio to significantly cut tuition. It’s now brought tuition under $20,000, which seems like a good start.

Even if the tuition cut doesn’t reverse the trend of declining law school applications, at least the people who do show up will have more of a chance to make their degree pay off.

University of Toledo lowers tuition for law school students [Toledo Blade]

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