The rising cost of school and low job prospects upon graduation put law school students in a difficult situation, according to “Generation of Debt” by Reporting Texas.
The starting median salary for law school graduates was $61,245 in 2012 while the average debt of public law school students was $84,600, according to the report.
The nation’s law schools produced 46,000 graduates in 2013, the largest graduation class in history. Yet, the Bureau of Labor Statics reported there would be 73,600 new jobs for lawyers between 2010 and 2020.
The American Bar Association reported 11 percent of 2013 graduates are unemployed.
This leaves prospective law student and interdisciplinary studies junior Bonnie Rees worried.
“This news makes me have to think more seriously earlier on about whether I really want to go through with that, paying all that money to go to law school,” Rees said. “I have to be more sure about what I want to be doing with my future.”
Political science sophomore Catherine Smith said the facts and figures don’t affect her decision because she believes getting a job relies more on a person’s qualities.
“You have to be a go-getter,” Smith said. “I feel like so many people, especially today’s generation, we all want instant gratification. You’re not always going to get that.”
Stacia Haynie, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Science, is working to develop a University pre-law program to assist students who are interested in entering the legal profession.
“We imagine that this would provide students opportunities to connect with the law school, maybe visit a lecture, bring individuals who have careers in the legal profession to the campus to talk with the students and bring in people from the admissions office for the law school to talk to students that are interested,” Haynie said.
A 3+3 program is also in planning stages between the University and recently merged Paul M. Hebert Law Center. This would allow students to complete their undergraduate studies in three years and begin law school their fourth year, graduating with an undergraduate degree and law degree in six years.
Haynie said she encourages her students to look at law school as a graduate degree to provide them with tools to succeed after graduation.
“I think for the student who has a sense of what it is they hope to do once they graduate, it’s a great choice,” Haynie said.
Haynie discourages students from attending law school if they are not committed to their academics. She said students need to be conscientious consumers, and potential law students need to look at the cost and employment rate of each law school.
Graduates of the LSU Law class of 2013 make an average of $63,998 a year, while the average starting salary for a Tulane Law graduate of the class of 2013 is $74,265, according to University websites.
Within nine months of graduation, 92 percent of the class of 2013 from LSU Law were employed. Class of 2013 Tulane graduates were 56 percent employed.