Monday, September 19, 2016

Smells of Desperation: Second Tier Cesspit University of Tulsa College of Law Reduces Tuition by 35 Percent


http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/law_school_cuts_tuition_by_35_percent/

The News: On September 14, 2016, the ABA Journal featured an article from Stephanie Francis Ward, under the headline “Law school cuts tuition by 35%.” Here is the full text below:

“The University of Tulsa College of Law, a private institution, is reducing tuition and ending its regional scholarship plan for the next school year. 

This year, tuition at the law school is $37,960, the National Jurist reports. In 2017, it will be $24,600. TU Law announced the new tuition level earlier this month.

“This tuition reduction is designed to be really transparent about the cost of legal education,” said Lyn Entzeroth, the law school’s dean, to the National Jurist. 

Tuition for the law school had risen 10 percent over the past three years, and so the school had offered more scholarships. A full 100 percent of the students received scholarships last year, according to the National Jurist. TU Law will continue to offer other need and merit scholarships. An analysis by the National Jurist’s publication preLaw found that on average, students during the 2014-2015 year individually paid $15,835 in tuition. 

According to the law school’s website, its bar passage rate for first-time test takers was 75 percent for the July 2015 exam. ABA data (PDF) reports that out of 94 graduates that year, 59 had full-time, long-term employment that required JDs, and 19 had long-term positions where a law degree was preferred.” [Emphasis mine]

This second tier bag of ass is resorting to tuition discounts for all students, in order to try and persuade applicants with decent LSAT scores to apply there. This is the equivalent of putting out on the first date. It signals desperation. 

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/09/wow-law-school-slashes-tuition-by-a-whopping-35-percent/

Other Coverage: On September 13, 2016, Staci Zaretsky posted an ATL entry labeled “Wow! Law School Slashes Tuition By A Whopping 35 Percent.” Check out this opening:

“Law schools have finally accepted the fact that during these trying times, three years of legal education is more likely to put students into a lifetime of debt than a lifelong career. In the past, other law schools have instituted tuition freezes and smaller tuition cuts, but today, we’ve got some exciting news about a law school that’s going forward with the largest tuition cut we’ve heard of, to date. 

At the beginning of the month, the University of Tulsa College of Law announced it would be rolling out its “Access to Legal Education Tuition” program, starting in fall 2017. Per the school’s press release, tuition under this plan will be $24,600 per year, placing it among the most affordable private law schools in the nation. Here’s more: 

“The Access to Legal Education Tuition responds to the need to offer law students an outstanding and affordable legal education at a selective, Top 100 private law school. By reducing student debt, TU Law graduates will be better positioned to launch fulfilling legal careers in large or small firms, government, solo or rural practices, and public interest work with underserved communities,” said Lyn Entzeroth, Dean and Dean John Rogers Endowed Chair at TU College of Law. “TU Law’s placement of students in JD and JD-preferred jobs was most recently ranked 26th in the nation by US News and World Report. The new tuition will further strengthen students’ professional options.”

Considering that tuition at Tulsa Law has risen by 10 percent over the past three years, this reduction is a much-needed change of pace. Tuition for students who entered the school this fall will pay $37,960, but next year, they’ll pay $13,360 less.

On top of Tulsa’s generous tuition cuts, the school will continue to offer need-based and merit-based scholarships. In fact, as the law school’s tuition rose, it offered more and more scholarships to its students. Last year, 100 percent of students received scholarships, and the year prior, 91 percent of students received scholarships.” [Emphasis mine]

Does anyone think that this is going to be sustainable for the trash pit, on a long-term basis?!?! Now that every enrolled lemming will receive a 35 percent tuition discount, i.e. “scholarship,” the school will continue to bleed money.

http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2014/730/579/2014-730579298-0b2bc5d5-9.pdf

University Endowment: Based on this 2014 Form 990 for EIN 73-0579298, the University of Tulsa had an endowment of $1,266,267,922 - as of June 30, 2014. This means that the parent university has money to piss away. However, the top brass will not be happy – for long – about sending money to the law school pigs.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+4

Ranking: Why would such an “elite institution of higher education” need to reduce tuition?!?! According to US “News” & World Report, the Univer$iTTy of TTul$a Commode of Law is rated as the co-86th greatest, most phenomenal, and illustrious law school in the entire damn country! Hell, it “only” shares this “distinct honor” with the following five trash heaps: Chicago-Kent, Pennsylania State University-Dickinson, Pennslyvania State University-University Park, Syracuse, and the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.

Conclusion: Avoid the dung heap known as the Univer$iTTy of TTul$a, at all costs. While reducing the cost of tuition by more than a third may be enticing to a dolt, remember that it is still ranked 86th “best” in the nation – and it is located in Oklahoma. Have you seen any evidence of any thriving legal markets in the state?! Graduating with an additional $110K in NON-DISCHARGEABLE DEBT – for a TT law degree - will not improve your financial situation. Do the math, simpleton.

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