Presentation Transcript

1. Helping Students Understand the Financial Aspects of Law School

   MAPLA Conference – October 25, 2013 Assistant Dean Cari Haaland and Professor Jerry Organ University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minn.)
2. Overview of Presentation Description of law school costs Sources and types of financial aid Loans and loan repayment Conditional scholarships Differential affordability Importance of financial literacy and frugality
3. Direct Costs, Indirect Costs and Cost of Attendance Direct costs generally consist of tuition and fees Indirect costs include books, insurance, transportation, room and board, other discretionary spending Cost of Attendance encompasses direct costs and indirect costs and represents the “maximum” amount a student can borrow over the course of the year.
4. Tuition and Cost of Living Vary Across the Country Resident public school tuition ranges from $12,000 to more than $50,000 depending upon the state Non-resident public school tuition ranges from $23,000 to more than $50,000. Most private school tuition tends to be from $30,000 to $55,000 The cost of living that gets added to the Cost of Attendance can vary from $10,000 to $25,000 depending upon locale.
5. Total Cost of Attendance When one combines tuition and cost of living and multiplies by three years, the total package can vary significantly: from roughly $80,000 for residents at lower cost public schools in lower cost regions to more than $200,000 for students at expensive public or private schools in more expensive urban areas. For a large number of students at private schools or non-residents at public schools the three-year cost of attendance will be $130,000 to $160,000
6. SourcES of Funding Federal loans Federal work study Private loans Institutional merit-based aid Institutional need-based aid (very limited) Local, state, regional scholarships Working during school
7. WorkING and WORK Study Full-time law students are allowed to work 20 hours per week during the semester. Assume that is at $10 or $15 an hour – that could be $800-$1200 per month to help defray costs. Summer employment – even if not legal employment – can help reduce borrowing. Work study is part of financial aid package If student gets $3000 in work study, that means $3000 less in terms of loans. Work study can still be advantageous for some public interest jobs.
8. LoAN Programs Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan $20,500 maximum every two semesters $138,500 cumulative borrowing limit Fixed interest rate of 5.41%; 1.051% orig. fee Federal Direct Graduate Plus Loan Simple credit check (not credit-score based) Fixed interest rate of 7.9%; 4% orig. fee Federal Perkins Loan Fixed interest rate of 5%; 0% orig. fee Very limited availability for law school Private Loan
9. Loan Repayment Federal loans have standard repayment of 10 years Depending upon circumstances, options for graduated or extended repayment IBR and PAYE – Income based repayment and Pay as You Earn are options for extending payment with loan forgiveness after 25 years (IBR) or 20 years (PAYE) (although loan forgiveness is a taxable event) Public Service Forgiveness Program – If in qualified position, reduced payments and forgiveness after 10 years of payments.
10. Merit-Based Scholarships With the approval last year of the revised ABA Standard 509, all ABA-accredited law schools have to publish data regarding retention of conditional scholarships. “Conditional scholarships” are scholarships that have some renewal condition other than maintaining good academic standing
11. Number of Law Schools wiTh Conditional Scholarships For the 2011-12 academic year, there were 145 law schools with conditional scholarships or non-renewable one-year scholarships and 49 law schools that did not have conditional scholarships. Since 2010, a number of schools have switched or will be switching to non-conditional scholarship programs. For the 2013-14 academic year, of the 194 law schools on which I was gathering information, there will be 130 law schools with conditional scholarship programs and 4 law schools with non-renewable one-year scholarships (69%), 3 that only offer need-based scholarships (1.5%), 57 law schools with good standing/guaranteed scholarships (29%).
12. Number AND PERCENTAGE of Students with Conditional Scholarships For the 140 law schools with conditional scholarship programs in 2011-12, the average retention rate was 69%. In total, 12,681 students who began as first-years in fall 2011 and continued into their second year at the same law school entered with conditional scholarships and 4,332 students lost those scholarships, a retention rate across all individual students of 66%. For the 194 law schools on which I compiled data, the fall 2011 entering first-year class totaled 46,388 Roughly 27.%3 of the students in the Fall 2011 entering first-year class were on conditional scholarships Roughly 9.4% failed to retain their conditional scholarship.
13. Conditional Scholarships by Rankings Quartiles – 2011-2012
14. Number of Law Schools Retention Rate
15. Clumping – By Rankings 19 of the top 25 law schools in the U.S. News 2012 rankings do not have conditional scholarship programs -- nearly 40% of the 48 schools without conditional scholarship programs in 2011-12. Moreover, of the six law schools ranked in the top 25 with conditional scholarship programs four had retention rates of 90% or better. This suggests that competitive pressure among these top ranked schools has moved the scholarship market toward a model in which scholarships are not conditional or where the conditions are very likely to be satisfied
16. Clumping – By Geography The Midwestern states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota have a total of 21 law schools. As of fall 2013, 13 of these 21 law schools will NOT have conditional scholarship programs, and one that does, Minnesota, had a 100% retention rate for 2011. If you add the two schools in St. Louis to the “region,” you end up with 15 out of 23 law schools NOT having conditional scholarship programs. In the mid-Atlantic region -- Maryland, District of Columbia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia – 15 of the 32 law schools do not have conditional scholarships. In Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania 12 of the 30 law schools do not have conditional scholarships. These three areas represent roughly three quarters of law schools without conditional scholarships
17. Differential Affordability Across Law Schools The affordability of legal education differs for different populations of students across schools. There is some geographic difference in affordability based some states generally having higher tuition and some states generally having lower tuition levels. I have estimated net tuition for first-year students at all law schools for 2011 accounting for each law school’s base tuition along with its percentage of students with full scholarships, half to full scholarships and less than half scholarships, and its likely pattern of scholarship distribution in the context of each school’s LSAT profile.
18. Differential Affordability Because most scholarships go to students with higher LSAT/GPA profiles, legal education is much more affordable for applicants with an LSAT of 156 or higher than for applicants with an LSAT of 155 or lower. This is in inexact science. First, the scholarship percentages reported in the ABA-LSAC Guide are for the entire student body, not for first-year students. Second, the analysis is based on the assumption that law schools awarded scholarships strategically to support a law school’s US News rankings by awarding the largest scholarships to those with the highest LSAT and working down the LSAT scale.
19. Estimated Net Tuition for Fall 2011 First-Year STudents Number of First Years
20. Differential Affordability For students with LSATs at or above 156, the estimated average net tuition was roughly $23,000 to attend law schools with an average ranking in the 60s. For students with LSATs at or below 155, the estimated average net tuition was roughly $30,000 for law schools with an average ranking in the 130s.
21. Differential AfFordability within a Law School The LSAC’s correlation studies make it clear that those at or near the bottom of an entering class profile – those most likely paying full tuition – also are least likely to end up with grades placing them in the top of the class. The average LSAT “spread” – the difference between 75thand 25th - is growing. That means correlations likely will get stronger. It may not be advisable to pay full tuition at the highest ranked law school to which one is admitted. It may make more sense financially and competitively to go to a law school at which the student’s profile suggests the student can be successful, particularly if there is scholarship assistance.
22. Differential Affordability and Employment OUTCOMES If one were then to overlay employment outcomes data on top of this net tuition data, one would see that across law schools, many of those paying the most for law school, who are attending lower-ranked law schools, are doing so with little hope of landing one of the more remunerative jobs following graduation.
23. FinanciaL Literacy Many students have little knowledge of budgeting or financial planning Many students have not considered how educational debt may impact their future Financial strain can impact studies, place stress on relationships during repayment, limit other financial opportunities Students should not be thinking about borrowing all of Cost of Attendance just because they can. Students should be frugal in establishing budgets and borrowing
24. Is Law School A Good Investment? Students considering law school need to be thinking about minimizing costs Perhaps a lower-priced school (tuition plus cost of living) Perhaps school that offers scholarship (determine whether scholarship is conditional) Students need to be cognizant of realistic employment scenario and realistic salary range Employment opportunities will be improving as a result of fewer graduates