It was a GOOD week for …
Ending rising debt, after the Illinois State Bar Association issued a 55-page report on how to improve legal education — which included recommendations that the federal government cap loans available to law students, and impose outcome-based requirements for schools to maintain loan eligibility. Those actions could force law schools to be more careful about raising tuition and admitting students who can’t pass the bar exam.
It was a BAD week for …
High-quality classes, after Brian Tamanaha reported that acceptance rates are inching upward and should jump up even more for the class that starts this fall. In 2003, he reports, only four law schools accepted more than 50 percent of applicants to their school. In 2012, 82 law schools accepted 50 percent or more of their applicants. He projects more than 100 law schools will hit that mark this coming year. “Declining admissions standards will be manifested in lower bar pass rates in coming years at these law schools, as has already occurred with Thomas Jefferson,” he wrote.
