Is Thomas Jefferson law school 'a canary in the coal mine of legal education'?
As Thomas Jefferson School of Law seeks to restructure its bond obligations, a former president of the Association of American Law Schools suggests it won’t be the only school in trouble.
Former AALS president Michael Olivas tells the Chronicle of Higher Education (sub. req.) that Thomas Jefferson may be “a canary in the coal mine of legal education.” A University of Houston law professor, Olivas says the nation has too many law schools and he expects some to close in the coming years.
“I believe there will be, in all likelihood, about a half-dozen schools that are on anybody’s watch list,” he told the Chronicle of Higher Education. TaxProf Blog has excerpts from the article.
The story cites preliminary numbers showing that applicants to ABA-accredited law schools dropped 46 percent from 2004 to 2014. From 2004 to the fall of 2013, first-year enrollment fell 18 percent.
Statistics are also “grim” for Thomas Jefferson, the Chronicle of Higher Education says. The size of its first-year class dropped 43 percent since 2010. And U.S. News & World Report says the law school’s graduates in 2013 had the highest average law school debt in the nation—$181,000. At the same time, the story says, fewer than 30 percent of the school’s 2013 graduates had full-time, long-term jobs requiring a law degree nine months after graduation.
The law school said earlier this month it had reached an interim agreement with bond holders to keep the school running through Oct. 16 as it discusses restructuring alternatives.
