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As the pandemic has raged on across the United States, law students have found themselves stuck in situations they never thought they’d be forced to encounter — learning the law remotely on their laptops at home, yet still paying full tuition as if they were able to go to school and interact with their classmates and professors in person. The vast majority of law schools have moved to pass/fail grading structures, but what’s to be done about tuition during these hard times?
One law school is trying to do law students a favor for the upcoming academic year.
Dean Gregory Mandel of Temple University Beasley School of Law has asked the University’s Board of Trustees to approve a tuition freeze for all J.D. law students.
“I’m asking the Board to freeze tuition at this critical time for two reasons,” said Dean Mandel. “The first is about remaining available to talented students who may otherwise be unable to pursue or complete their legal education, which is central to our mission of accessibility. The second is that this is one way we can do our part to get our region and our country back on their feet. It’s just the right thing to do.”
The proposed tuition freeze would apply to both in-state and out-of-state students. The current tuition for full-time, in-state students is $26,980 and $41,354 for full-time, out-of-state students. The current tuition for in-state, part-time evening students is $21,584 and $33,092 for out-of-state students.
“Our law students, like many others at the University, have faced unprecedented challenges over the past few months, and have responded with tremendous resilience and resolve,” said Temple University Provost JoAnne Epps. “This is one thing we can do to make their lives a bit easier, and so we should.”
Given the fact that most law schools still don’t know if they’ll be open for on-campus classes this coming fall given the fluidity of the COVID-19 outbreak, what would really make things easier for students is if everyone were able to pay in-state tuition next year. If anything is certain in these uncertain times, it’s that accumulating less debt would improve law students’ lives.
The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the proposal sometime today.
If Temple Law succeeds in getting its tuition frozen, will more law schools follow? We certainly hope so. After all, “[i]t’s just the right thing to do.”
Temple Law Proposes Tuition Freeze for Coming Academic Year [Temple Law]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.