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Tuition Dreams & Nightmares
Now that people are filling out FAFSAs and thinking about financing another year of law school, Mackenzie, a law student at the University of Wyoming, offers some thoughts on UW's proposed tuition hike:Damn! I should have gone to the University of Wyoming for law school! Imagine getting a J.D. for under $20k for the whole shooting match! Of course, if you add in cost of living, maybe you double that, but the in-state Wyoming tuition-payer would still be getting three years of law school for what I pay for one year. Excuse me, I must now return to selling my soul to satan.It appears that the Law School may get a tuition increase of somewhere in the range of 40% over the next few years. Strangely enough, I'm ok with this. It's a big change, but these funds will be given directly to the law school, which is the big benefit (otherwise, I'd be up in arms). The school really needs the money, considering our entire budget is about $4 million. And it's not that our tuition will be that expensive relative to other schools. We're already probably the least expensive school in the country. To give non-UWLaw people an idea, my (resident) tuition and fees this year is south of $6k.
Posted February 24, 2005 08:19 AM | law school
There are some other benefits as well, namely the atmosphere. It's the only place I know where students feel totally comfortable leaving laptops and other possessions out on library tables while they go to pick up something to eat, or in our classrooms between classes.
Posted by: Mackenzie at February 24, 2005 08:32 AM
wow. and living expenses are probably about half as much as here in boston.
Posted by: monica at February 24, 2005 08:40 AM
Hold on a minute, I have to start work on my transfer application and go pick out some spurs.
Wow.
Posted by: -Dave! at February 24, 2005 10:21 AM
SIU costs aren't too bad either. Tuition plus fees for the year are $9,004.50. How much are the tuition and fees per year at your school?
Posted by: JR at February 24, 2005 05:14 PM
This is just sick. And wrong. Plus, that number has gone up several thousand $$ since I first looked at it when I applied to Gw. This degree is just not worth $51k/year. No way. Not by any measure. Of course, now is a particularly bad time for me to be realizing that fact, since I've borrowed for two years already -- it would be stupid to leave now. Or would it?
How did law school costs get so insane?
Mackenzie: Funny you should mention the security issue about UW. GW has had a rash of laptop thefts recently; apparently someone is even breaking open lockers to steal things. Yeah, it's a safe and secure place. To be fair, this is the first I've heard of this in two years, but no one ever leaves laptops and books laying around unattended. That would definitely be a mistake.
I got my B.A. at UW, so I have a soft spot for the school. I never really considered it for law school b/c I thought it would be best to get my J.D. elswhere, I was infatuated w/the idea of going to school in DC, I bought the whole "go to the highest ranked school to which you are admitted" lie. But yeah, UW is looking *really* good right now.
Posted by: ambimb at February 24, 2005 09:28 PM
Ambimb: Now that I know how much you are paying, I know why you want law school shortened. I like and prefer the three year program, partly because I have not been able to take all the classes I want to in two years. But if I was paying as much as you are, my tune would probably be different. I am in the further position in that I had scholarships that completely covered my tuition and fees last year. So, when I think of the cost of law school, I see a radically different picture than you do.
Posted by: JR at February 25, 2005 01:57 PM
Also, have you considered visiting another law school for your last year? You would still get your GW degree, but you would save money.
Posted by: JR at February 25, 2005 02:00 PM
JR: I haven't thought seriously about going somewhere else for my third year b/c I don't know how that would work. I can't imagine GW would give me a degree if I wasn't paying GW tuition for all three years, and any other school would have residency requirements that would almost certainly lengthen my time in law school. I could be wrong, though. Do you know more about this?
And I agree that it would be nice to be able to take all the classes you'd like in law school. There are enough great classes I'm interested in that I could easily fill four or more years of law school; however, at some point it's time to get out of school and start practice. I think a lot of people would be ready for that after two years, regardless of the cost of law school.
Posted by: ambimb at February 26, 2005 02:59 PM
I don't know about your school, but I know of several schools that let their students visit other schools. In a way, I visited another school for my first year since I am a transfer student. I will graduate in three years just like everyone else.
Posted by: JR at February 26, 2005 07:38 PM
