See Jane Get Rich

See Jane Get Rich

A Personal Finance Blog

Cost of My Law Degree
5

January 20th, 2010seejanegetrichLaw School, PF Lessons

I got my credit card bill today that had my final law school tuition payment. Ironically, after I wrote my nice big check I came across Who Should (And Shouldn’t) Go to Law School. It is no surprise that the supply of lawyers have exceeded the number of legal jobs available and it has only gotten worse with the recession. With the advent of the recession, law firms are fundamentally changing the way they do business. It is safe to say that some, if not all, of the changes will stick around for the long haul. There is a renewed conversation online about the perils of the legal profession since the main stream media (in the form of NY Times) has started writing about the troubles of the legal profession most recently in No Longer Their Golden Ticket. Sarah Waldeck of Concurring Opinions in her post Who Should (And Shouldn’t) Go to Law School, advocates for students to be careful about their decision to pursue a law degree. In fact, she advises current pre-law students to only pursue a degree if they meet three narrow circumstances.

Only go to law school next year if (1) you have always dreamed of being a lawyer; or (2) you are accepted by a very prestigious institution; or (3) you are offered a full scholarship.

Dream I don’t know about “always” dreaming about being a lawyer. I wanted to be a lawyer towards the end of middle school. I was never the argumentative kid everyone said should go to law school. So, I wouldn’t meet #1.

Prestige I go to a pretty good law school. It is not an ivy league school, so, I would fail to meet #2 since I don’t attend a “very prestigious” law school.

Full Scholarship No, full scholarship here. I attend a private law school and that costs a lot of money. They don’t just give out full scholarships to anyone. I was able to bring the cost of attendance down with a school fellowship plus multiple outside scholarships. The highest outside scholarship being $10,000 and the lowest scholarship amount being $500.

Did I make a terrible mistake by going to law school?

I think there are thousands of individuals who do not expressly fall into these categories and do just fine. First, I did have a wish to become a lawyer because I believed the degree would help me find work that I enjoyed doing. Second, I didn’t get a full ride, but I did well enough for my scholarship to increase and gained a few outside scholarships to ease the tuition burden. I was able to get well paying summer jobs for both my 1L and 2L summer that helped with living expenses. The process for paying for my law degree started in undergrad and due to careful planning I will graduate in a few months with a J.D. without debt. And finally, prestige in the legal environment means the title of ”very prestigious” is only relegated to a handful of schools along the line of Harvard, Yale, and whatever other school the U.S. News & World Report will have tied for the third spot.

I have been sitting here calculating my tuition payments and my scholarships to determine how much tuition I have paid for my law degree and it turns out I have paid $29,377.50. This is just tuition and does not include books and living expenses. Okay, let’s break the figure down:

1L Year $20,600

2L Year $0

3L Year $8,777.50

Total = $29,377.50

Not too bad for a law degree.
Tags: Cost of Attending Law School, Law School Scholarship, Law School Tuition

4 responses to “Cost of My Law Degree”

Caity January 20th, 2010 at 22:14

“The process for paying for my law degree started in undergrad and due to careful planning I will graduate in a few months with a J.D. without debt. ”

WOW — congratulations!! What a wonderful deal you’ve earned.

I really like this post, partially because it hit kind of close to home. I chose my undergrad based on money, going the less prestigious public school route with a scholarship versus facing the bills for four years at any of the other expensive (albeit better-ranked) schools to which I applied. The various “estimated costs” were low-balling the total price, too — for me, staying in-state really cut costs since there’s no flying or shipping belongings around the country.

There are some disadvantages now, like lacking the incredible alumni network of some schools to find those critical summer opportunities. In the end, though, what experiences I may miss out in college will hopefully be made up when I don’t have to worry about $200K in debt… !

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Don@MoneyReasons January 20th, 2010 at 22:59

Sounds like you did pretty good with the cost of your degree!

I think you’ll stand out from the rest. We’re rooting for you, and crossing our fingers!

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me in millions January 21st, 2010 at 13:54

Not too shabby for the cost of your degree. I’m sorry you’re graduating in such a tight economic market.

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admin January 21st, 2010 at 15:24

@MeinMillions
Yes, I am graduating at a very bad time for the legal profession. Thankfully, not having to worry about debts will be a huge relief.

@Don at Money Reasons
Thanks for rooting for me, Don!

@Caity
I had a very difficult decision to make for undergrad about whether I would attend a small private liberal arts college or the more affordable public university. It was a very tough decision to make but going with the public university helped the wallet although I missed out some of the unique attributes of a small college.

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