Hear the one about the lawyer? 09 January, 2011

While reading the Sunday Times today I came across several articles that were disparaging Law Schools. I wouldn't have taken note, I'm not lawyer nor do I plan to become one, but I spent my weekend in the company of an actual lawyer, a first year law student, and a law school applicant during several events. While I won't be forwarding these links to them, I found them good reads and also indicative of the conversation we should be having about higher education in general.

Is Law School a Losing Game?

Too many Law School Graduates and not enough jobs. That's about it. Aspiring lawyers take out too much loan money, and then can't get a job in law (they get jobs, which is how schools can say 90% of graduates are employed within 9 months) inorder to pay it back. What these out of work Law Graduate should do is open their own Law Schools and charge people an arm and a leg to attend--sounds like the only real way to make money

I Want My Money Back (On Everything)

This one is crazy, and in fact uses the same anecdote as above. Apparently, a Boston College Law Student wrote the dean saying he will gladly not complete his final semester in exchange for getting a full refund. This sounds reasonable, until you actually think about it. You can't return a college education like you would at Walmart. You might not get the actual degree, but you (the student) can't return the knowledge you gained or the contacts you made.