When I graduated from law school 10 years ago, I had a small student loan and a handful of job offers.
Times are different now. The cost of a law school education has doubled and high-paying legal jobs are scarce. The Hartford Business Journal (hat tip to Above the Law) outlines the sobering reality of law school debt:
"The large debt is what sets this recession apart from all others, said James Leipold, executive director for the National Association for Law Placement. All modern economic recessions in this country have seen an initial surge in law school applications as people decide to make themselves more employable with advanced degrees, followed by a slump in applications as the legal job market became tougher.
The wrinkle this time is the cost of law school has far outpaced the rate of inflation. From 2001 to 2010, the average amount borrowed annually by law students for their three-year degrees increased 50 percent, according to the American Bar Association. This past academic year, law students borrowed an average of $68,827 for public educations and $106,249 for private educations. After three years, that leaves a new lawyer with the equivalent of a new home to pay off through the course of their career, with interest."
Law school is expensive and prospective students must consider the financial consequences of pursuing one of the nation's most expensive graduate degrees. There are ways to minimize the debt such as scholarships or working full time while attending a part-time program. However, the soaring cost of a law school education might be finally taking its toll - after several years of rising law school applications, the number of applications dropped 11.1 percent this year. Given today's massive law school costs and the shrinking number of jobs, many would-be lawyers are exploring other careers in the legal field. Something to think about.