According to a Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions survey, 40 percent of pre-law students said the current economic crisis, which includes the highest unemployment rate in 25 years, is motivating their decision to apply to law school.
Though Robert Shurtz, a political science professor at Cal State Long Beach, has not personally seen an increase in interest from students, he said, “I am not surprised [of the results] since it is hard to find jobs.”
“In the past two recessions — ‘90 to ‘92 and ‘01 to ‘03 — law school applications increased sometimes by 10 percent, thus history shows that this should be the case in this recession,” said Dino Bozonelos, a political science professor at CSULB. “[However], this recession has hit not only blue-collar jobs, but white-collar and professional as well. Add to that the credit crunch, and even if a student is accepted into law school, they may not be able to afford it.”
While the recession is an important factor behind some students’ decision to apply to law school, the Kaplan survey also found that 67 percent said that high-earning power affected their decision to get a degree in law.
Jennifer Lloyd, a junior political science and psychology major, has been thinking about attending law school for four years now.
“The economic crisis has made me think twice about whether I want to attend or not because I am not sure if I will be able to pay for it,” Lloyd said.
Jeff Thomas, director of pre-law programs at Kaplan, has noted that recessions generally encourage students to look into law school to ride out the storm, change over into a new career field or expand their education to make themselves better-suited candidates for future jobs.
“I have been planning on attending law school since I was in high school,” said Stefania Mongiano, a junior political science major. “The crisis is only making it that much harder to get in and motivates me that much more to be able to achieve my goal.”
Some students plan to use this time to further their education and wait out this financial backlash.
“This is definitely another reason for me to attend law school,” said Andrea Bobadilla, a senior political science major. “I know most people feel that there are no other alternatives but to attend any type of graduate school at this particular moment in time.”
After being in one career field for 10 years, James Herrera decided to make a career change after seeing his wife complete law school. Herrera is taking a pay cut to complete his undergraduate degree at CSULB then apply to law school during this time.
Celeste Ahl, a junior international business, business economics and political science major, has had the goal of attending law school for about a year now, after taking a business law class and loving it.
Ahl said, “I don’t think the economic crisis is motivating it, but it is helping me not to be in such a rush to get out of school.”
nothing on the girl who may have swine flu on our campus yet?