1st all-remote full-time law degree with ABA blessing

“Sept 29 (Reuters) - Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles is launching the nation’s first fully online, full-time J.D. program accredited by the American Bar Association.

The ABA approved the program in August and Southwestern said this week that it will begin accepting applications in October for the program’s start in the fall of 2024. The classes will be entirely online and asynchronous, meaning students can complete them whenever is convenient for them, though professors will offer optional real-time sessions on Zoom, said Amy McLellan, Southwestern’s associate dean of online education.“

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/first-all-remote-full-time-law-degree-with-aba-blessing-set-start-next-fall-2023-09-29/

 

Without looking I'm going to guess the tuition will be...$120K.

"The online program will cost the same as Southwestern’s residential program — $58,392 a year for full-time students and $38,944 for part-time students."

Edit:
58K x 3 years = $174K

Clearly I am out of touch with what a law school education costs. Especially when the median salary in California is perhaps $120K a year.

 

It doesn't have to be only about the ROI.

 

CalBar accredited online law school is less than one quarter of that price. Essentially the student is paying the difference for a meaningless ABA accreditation of an online platform. Can you spell C-A-R-T-E-L.

 

Total for Tuition and Fees at Duke Law is $105,330/year. So for 3 years, $315,990. Granted, 99% of graduates went into private practice (big law) and earn an average of $215,000/year.

 

For T14 and a BigLaw job in sight it makes sense. Outside of that, definitely gets harder

 

Thanks, Dustin. Now I know what T14 means. I had to look it up. I thought maybe it was some kind of visa, sort of like H-1B, but for foreign-trained lawyers.

 

Which ones?

 

T14 new to me no longer.

“One of the more prominent categories that pertains to law schools is a group consisting of the top 14 law schools in the U.S., or the “T14 law schools.””

https://www.biglawinvestor.com/t14-law-schools/

 

I also had to look it up. If I hear T14 I always think of this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-14_Armata

 

You have one of those, You don't need a law degree. Wherever that thing goes, it IS the law.
"Kid, get your bike OUT of my front yard!!"

 

Well, the ABA finally caved. Good. It will be interesting to see whether this program will maintain the required minimum pass rate.

 

I...can't believe...that ANY J.D. could be worth over a quarter million in tuition and fees. The mind reels.

 

My J.D. was almost FREE.

Of course, money hadn't been invented yet.

 

Had law?

 

Moses was just coming down the mountainside. I have a tintype somewhere...

 

It's not obviously. We all have met the Harvard Law grad doing social security disability claims, workers comp, or public defender work. Also quality of life at law firms that quadruple bill several clients for the same lawyer's hour is terrible. If the partners cheat the clients, they also cheat the associates.

 

The CalBar accredited schools run about 5-12K a year. You can look them up at calbar.org

 

Thanks

 

A couple of CalBar accredited schools are former ABA approved schools who failed to maintain a high enough Bar Exam pass rate and so lost ABA approval.

LaVerne is a good example. Total tuition for attending a genuine, full time, three year California Bar approved and regionally accredited J.D. is around $85,000. That's a lot of money but it's much less than any California private ABA school. Laverne is no " tinkertoy" operation. It has a solid facility, qualified faculty, and extensive alumni network.