Law Schools

Law Schools Care More About Rankings Than The Financial Burdens of Students

Perhaps adding need-based financial aid statistics to law school rankings would incentivize law schools to offer these programs.

By  
on

Law schools have been getting a lot of flack over the past decade or so.  This criticism is mostly justified since many law schools have inflated employment data, cooked statistics that are used in law school rankings, and increased tuition costs at an insane rate. One less-discussed strategy of law schools, which I think deserves criticism, is that financial assistance is usually only awarded to students who can help a law school climb in the law school rankings. Indeed, many law schools only offer financial help to students who can boost their median LSAT and GPA scores, and little assistance is given to students based on financial need.

I have already discussed in my column here and on my own website how I received need-based financial aid from Georgetown Law as a transfer student. Many people have related to me how unbelievable it is that I received financial aid as a transfer student since my law school was providing me with financial assistance even though I was not helping Georgetown Law climb in the rankings. However, it should be even more shocking that so many law schools do not provide financial assistance to needy students. Indeed, law schools are (mostly) non-profit, supposedly philanthropic institutions. The fact that law schools do not usually provide financial help based on need just shows how law schools are more motivated by rankings than actually helping their students.

I can understand why law schools would not want to offer need-based financial aid. Of course, law schools have a finite amount of resources and need to dedicate money to fulfilling a set number of objectives. Moving up in the rankings is a solid, tangible improvement that can easily reflect well on the actions of administrators. Leaders of law schools might have a much more difficult time bragging about their need-based financial aid statistics since this information is usually not important when evaluating law schools.

While I was attending my first law school, I saw just how important rankings can be to a law school community. During my first year of law school, the institution I attended fell seven places in the law school rankings, and this was a huge deal. People talked about our drop in the rankings almost every day, and many of my professors brought up our decline in class. In fact, the dean of the law school had to hold an information session about the drop in the rankings, replete with a snazzy PowerPoint to calm everyone down! When law school rankings are so important to the success of administrators and how a law school is perceived by prospective law students and employers, it makes sense that law schools would use any available money to improve their rankings.

However, one of the primary concerns of law schools should be to help their students. And student debt is one of the biggest burdens that will impede graduates in their careers. Many undergraduate programs are dedicated to helping their students and advancing a philanthropic mission. This is why a ton of colleges have need-based financial aid programs that offer assistance to students who might not have parents helping them with the cost of obtaining a degree.

However, law schools haven’t gotten the memo about how they should be assisting their students succeed, and many law schools would rather just have merit scholarships to improve their rankings rather than fund need-based financial aid programs. This is despite the fact that law schools are typically insanely profitable, and there must be money to spare for need-based financial aid.

I am not sure what would make law schools more invested in need-based financial aid programs. Perhaps adding need-based financial aid statistics to law school rankings would incentivize law schools to offer these programs. This factor would be a lot more relevant than other inputs currently used in calculating the law school rankings. It is undeniable that need-based financial aid programs could have a more tangible impact on graduates than whether their classmates have high LSAT scores or solid undergraduate GPAs. The American Bar Association could also mandate that law schools leave a set amount of money aside for need-based financial programs, so no law school is disadvantaged in the rankings by maintaining a need-based financial aid program.

Sponsored

Of course, need-based financial aid is not perfect, and people routinely fall through the cracks. Indeed, many students who do not necessarily qualify for need-based financial aid might also not be receiving help from family members. As a result, it could be unfair to provide need-based financial aid to low-income students without helping middle-class students who must debt-finance their law school educations.

Nevertheless, increasing the amount of need-based financial aid offered by law schools would make a huge difference to students, and would seemingly promote the philanthropic mission law schools should be advancing. The fact that so many law schools lack need-based financial aid programs shows that law schools are much more concerned with rankings than the financial burdens of students.

Jordan RothmanJordan Rothman is the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a personal finance website discussing how he paid off all $197,890.20 of his college and law school student loans over 46 months of his late 20s. You can reach him at Jordan@studentdebtdiaries.com.

Sponsored

Topics

, , , ,