The Law Schools That Have Gotten Rid Of The Most Full-Time Faculty Since 2010
Which law schools have shed the most full-time faculty of all?
The world of legal education has been in a state of flux since the recession, with law school application pools and student enrollments getting smaller and smaller as the years have passed. Faced with a stark decline in tuition dollars, many law school administrations tried to cut costs where and when they could, and eventually decided to slash their greatest expenses of all: their full-time faculty. Whether through buyouts, forced retirements, or outright layoffs, law schools have shed 1,206 full-time faculty members since 2010.
Matt Leichter of The Last Gen X American (a site formerly known as The Law School Tuition Bubble) crunched data derived from law schools’ annual ABA Standard 509 Information Reports, and according to his calculations, 142 law schools have shed full-time faculty since 2010. Since that time, Leichter says that 21 law schools have parted ways with more than 20 full-time faculty members. Here they are:
(Photo via Matt Leichter / The Last Gen X American)
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Click here to see the list in its entirety (which includes added full-time faculty as well).
Cooley Law doesn’t have to settle for being second-best anymore, because the law school is finally in first place for something. We’d like to say that we’re shocked, but that would be a lie. Our actual shock comes from the appearance of two very highly ranked law schools on this list: Texas and UC Berkeley. What happened at these law schools? If you have any insights, please email us or text us (646-820-8477) and let us know.
It’s also worth noting that since last year, law schools have shed 249 full-time faculty members. That’s why schools like SUNY Buffalo, Syracuse, and John Marshall (Chicago) stick out like sore thumbs with their double-digit annual decreases in faculty. (Penn State’s double-digit drop can be explained by its separating and becoming two law schools — those professors were “shed” in that they went to another Penn State school.)
While it’s easy to point fingers and mock schools that seem to be struggling, it’s far more productive to ask one simple question: why is law school tuition still so high? When a school has conducted a mass shedding of law professors, you’d think (or hope) that proportional tuition cuts would follow, but that simply hasn’t been the case.
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Since Cooley Law shed the most full-time faculty since 2010, let’s examine how the school’s tuition has changed over the same time period. If you thought it would be significantly less, then you were dead wrong. In 2010, total tuition and fees for full-time students came to $30,644 for the academic year. Five years later, total tuition and fees for full-time students has risen to $47,890. According to Law School Transparency, tuition at Cooley Law has increased dramatically since 2008 (click to enlarge):
Although no other law school on this list has increased tuition quite like much as Cooley Law has, the next greatest offender seems to by SUNY Buffalo (click to enlarge):
Of course, these nominal tuition rates are often offset by scholarships, making net tuition lower, but tuition shouldn’t be this high in the first place. Many law professors have lost their livelihoods and joined the burgeoning ranks of unemployed graduates of their law schools to support the unsustainable practice of continued tuition increases.
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Perhaps next time a law school begins emailing professors hoping to find people who will accept a buyout, those interested in taking the money and running should demand that tuition be adjusted following their departure. Law students would certainly appreciate it.
Which Law Schools Are Shedding Full-Time Faculty? (2015 Edition) [The Last Gen X American]
Law Schools Have Shed 1,206 Full-Time Faculty (13.3%) Since 2010 [TaxProf Blog]
