It is no secret that many people hold negative sentiments toward the law schools they attended. Law school is a difficult time for a number of students, and many people hold ill-will toward their alma mater because of the stress and anxiety they experienced while earning their law degrees. Many people are justifiably angry with law schools, since they had to spend insane sums of money in order to earn a law degree, and now they are dealing with the burdens of student debt.
Numerous law school graduates might be unwilling to donate money to their alma mater because of this negative sentiment. In addition, many student debt borrowers might not even have the financial resources to make a contribution to their law schools. Most law schools also do a really bad job at reaching out to alumni.
However, law schools generally deserve charitable contributions just as much as any other nonprofit that you might care about. Of course, law schools have their flaws, and most law schools should offer more practical training and lower the cost of attendance. However, many law schools use donations from graduates and their endowments to offer additional programs that they might not be able to provide if they relied on tuition money alone. Since everyone attending law school probably received some benefits due to the charitable contributions law schools receive, it only seems fair that graduates donate to their law schools.
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Numerous law schools provide programs and assistance to law students that go above and beyond the offerings of a typical law school. As mentioned in a few prior articles, I received generous need-based financial aid from my alma mater as a transfer student. Most law schools don’t offer financial aid of any kind, and it is particularly generous for a law school to offer financial aid to transfer students. This financial assistance helped me manage my student debt burden, and I am definitely thankful to my law school for providing me with this aid.
I also know many law students and recent graduates who received other unique benefits from their alma mater. For instance, I know many law students and graduates who received stipends from their law schools when completing summer jobs and after graduating from law school. These stipends helped students pursue unpaid jobs they could not otherwise afford to take or get a head start in their careers. Other attorneys have leveraged law school alumni connections to secure jobs, acquire clients, and gain other advantages. If you were the beneficiary of these programs, it only seems fair that you would want to contribute to your alma mater to pay back your law school for helping you out.
Sure, there are many ways you can be a good alumnus of a school. Of course, you can give priority to alumni when making employment decisions, conduct interviews of applicants (as I did for years), or donate your time in other ways. However, contributing money is probably the most direct way to pay your school back for the benefits your alma mater provided.
There can even be a selfish motive for donating money to the law school you attended. After you graduate from law school, your alma mater’s ranking and standing among law schools could have an impact on your career. Indeed, the reputation of your law school could influence your ability to change jobs or enter certain legal fields. I know attorneys who attended law schools that have both risen and plummeted in the rankings, and like it or not, the value of your law degree will largely depend on the current reputation of the law school you attended.
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Donating to your alma mater is one way that you can impact the residual value of your law degree. Your law school will likely use your money to improve programs (we hope!), which will have an impact on the standing of your alma mater. Naturally, you might think that the small contributions that regular alumni give will not make a large impact on a law school’s bottom line. However, every bit counts, and if everyone had that mindset, law schools would receive little money.
Of course, many people have no desire to help their law schools out. It is understandable that the high cost of many law schools and their pursuit of rankings above student satisfaction can dissuade many from donating to their law schools. Numerous attorneys had bad law school experiences, and some law students were actively exploited by their law schools.
However, many students owe a lot to their law schools (and I’m not talking about student loans!). You don’t even need to contribute too much to make a difference, and I assure you, my law school will not be naming a building after me because of my donations. Nevertheless, you should definitely consider donating to your law school, so that you can pay back your alma mater and help secure your law school’s reputation.
Jordan 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 [email protected].