"Does somebody have to die? Does somebody have to commit suicide? Does somebody have to leave a suicide note that reads, 'I just couldn't go on paying off the debts I incurred from going to this law school?' " Mystal wrote in May. "You're not supposed to lead prospective students to financial ruin just because they're stupid enough to follow you."
Mystal went overboard by calling potential professional students stupid,in catching Francisco irk. Professional students are smart enough to take on the gigantic amount of debt,from attending low tier law school which could possible be enough to drive such a student to commit suicide when coupled with the prospect of a slim to none chance of finding gainful employment at the end of the three years thinks Francisco.
If not real live suicide, perhaps economic suicide could be the future for such students. Indiana Law Blog, has an article, written by David Segal of the New York Times called,Is Law School a Losing Game? The article starts off with, "[i]f there is ever a class in how to remain calm while trapped beneath $250,000 in loans, Michael Wallerstein ought to teach it."
"Mr. Wallerstein, who can’t afford to pay down interest and thus watches the outstanding loan balance grow, is in roughly the same financial hell as people who bought more home than they could afford during the real estate boom. But creditors can’t foreclose on him because he didn’t spend the money on a house.
He spent it on a law degree. And from every angle, this now looks like a catastrophic investment."
Financial ruins can be the outcome from the dire and bleak job prospects of some law school graduates according to the New York Times article.
Mystal is just pointing off the fact that such law school are joining the Brown Mackies in reaching for student funding. [Side note here and low income African-Americans students, which was not mentioned by either Francisco or Mystal.) And he is outraged that regulations are not in place to protect students from this potential expensive scam!!!
Where law schools fall on this spectrum is both historically and institutionally contingent, which is to say that the extent to which law schools are scam-like varies a lot by time and place. Law schools are scam-like precisely to the extent that they represent to potential students that they provide things which in the end they fail to provide. Historically, law schools have promised three things in return for a student's tuition: professional training, intellectual edification, and a reasonable return on investment, in the form of an enhancement of earning power that justified the direct costs and opportunity costs of spending three years in this form of post-graduate education.
How much student aid is available for those potential law students for the $28,000 tuition? According to a the 2009 United State Government Accounting Office report:
• To be eligible to participate in federal student aid programs, a
postsecondary school must be accredited by an agency recognized
by the Department of Education.
• The ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and
Admissions to the Bar is recognized for accrediting law schools.
• Some law schools that are not accredited by the ABA have obtained accreditation from other agencies that are recognized
by the Department of Education.
• Graduate and professional students at these schools may be
eligible to borrow up to $20,500 per year in federal Stafford loans, as well as additional Graduate/Professional PLUS loans, italics added.
It does not matter the educational level of a student when the outcome is the same, overwhelming debt.
Third Tier Reality
All Education Matters
Subprime JD
Sh*t Law Jobs
Esquire Painting
The Jobless Juris Doctor (No to Law School)
Temporary Attorney: The Sweatshop Edition
Esq. Never
Restoring Dignity to the Law
Tales of a 4th Tier Nothing
Rose Colored Glasses
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