Valparaiso, which unaccountably prefers the ugly name Valpo, will have only 28 students in this year's entering class. As recently as four years ago, it had 208.
The good news, from the Valponian scamsters' perspective, is that the quality of the class has gone up significantly: "Students just starting their legal studies this semester have a median LSAT of 151 and a median GPA of 3.23." Last year's median score was 147, so Valpo has risen from the 33d percentile to the 48th. It's still drawing the bulk of its class from the bottom half of people taking the LSAT.
Scam-dean Andrea Lyon "feel[s] optimistic about the school", which appears to have changed its approach to admissions in response to last year's censure from the ABA. She could hardly be expected to say anything else. But the university's administration cannot feel optimistic about a micro-sized toilet school that, after the closure of Indiana Tech, has earned a reputation as the biggest laughing-stock in the region.
With only 28 new students, the law school must be draining money from the university, even while it tarnishes the university's image. If the new students all paid full fare (primarily with federally guaranteed student loans), they would bring in scarcely a million dollars. But Valpo must have had to slash its fancy tuition in order to attract students of substantially higher (albeit still dreadful) quality. Who with a score above 150 would pay full price at risible sixth-tier Valpo, slapped last year with a censure and exposed in The New York Times for its graduates' failure to find proper jobs, when any number of fifth-tier institutions and even some fourth-tier institutions would offer a discount?
Valpo, therefore, is beginning to look like Indiana Tech redux. It cannot have taken in much money from the entering class, nor is it likely to see meaningful growth in the coming years. The parent university will not want to go on subsidizing the failed law school forever. I estimate that Valpo will announce its closure within a year or two.
But Valpo is only one toilet among many. To see just how far legal "education" in the US has fallen, consider a hypothetical requirement that at least three-quarters of the class at each ABA-accredited law school score in the top half on the LSAT. Many people might deem that a modest requirement for access to an influential profession that claims to uphold a standard of excellence. It would entail a minimum LSAT score of 152 at the 25th percentile for each school's entering class. How many schools today fall short of that level? Wait for it: 107. That's the majority of ABA-accredited law schools.
In less than a year we have seen three law schools close. Valpo may well be next, although Appalachian, Florida Coastal, Arizona Summit, and various others seem to be competing for that honor. It will be interesting to see how far the wave of closures progresses. I don't think that it will swallow up 107 law schools, although that would be a good start.
My guess is they are giving it a couple years, hoping to boost their ranking with higher student GPA and LSATs, get out of the ABA crosshairs, and away from the bad publicity and then see if they can put more butts in seats without compromising their incoming student quality. If they can't, they probably close.
ReplyDeleteJuat a few notes about Valpo Law website:
ReplyDelete1. In their Facts and Figures section under Bar passage, they state that "[i]n 2013, Valparaiso Law students achieved a 72% first-time bar pass rate." They do not provide any other bar passage information except in their ABA required disclosures. I'm not sure why they would believe that the 2013 bar passage rate would be of interest to anyone other than ancient history scholars.
2. For the 2015 entering class, it appears that they had a close to 20% attrition rate. I suspect that a significant number of these 28 1ls won't be sticking around either.
3. Their employment stats can be found in their section on Careers rather than included with the required ABA disclosures. I've noticed that it's a common hide-the-weeny trick with law schools to make it difficult for students to find information.
4. According to their ABA required disclosures, about 61% of their students receive grants and about 20% receive half to full tuition. If this class is comparbale, probably 6 or 7 students are receiving close to full rides while another 7 or 8 are receiving something.
5. The total tuition and fees for 2017/18 is $41,522. Good Lord.
Fortunately, Law School Transparency organizes the data on employment more conveniently:
Deletehttps://www.lstreports.com/schools/valparaiso/jobs/
Ten months after graduation, 30% of the class of 2016 was "Non-Employed" and about 20% more was part time, for the short term, or in a "Non-Professional" capacity. Only half of the class was in law or a "JD Advantage" position, and one can reasonably expect that very few of them got the sorts of jobs that could support the payments on student loans that, if used to finance the full cost of attendance, would exceed $200k upon graduation.
As for attrition, perhaps fewer students will fail out this year, but one can expect more to trade upwards by transferring into the fifth or even the fourth tier. The top quarter or so of the class could probably get into Chicago Kent, and maybe even Illinois or Bloomington, especially with good grades. None of those would be a good choice, mind you, but at least they'd all be better than Valpo.
Law School Transparency reports that nearly 40% of the students in 2015 had to pay full price. The median discount for the others was about 50%. To attract people with substantially higher LSAT scores, Valpo probably had to offer greater discounts, since after all those same students would have received large discounts at many a fifth-tier institution that didn't bear the stigma of sixth-tier Valpo. I estimate that only half a dozen students are paying full price and that the bulk of the rest are paying little or nothing.
It's not like attending school is even a pleasant experience. Not only is it expensive, but it's stressful and unpleasant. Then you add that it's a debt that will plague you, as well as not lead to anything resembling a secure and fulfilling career, and you wonder what the point is.
DeleteI respect drug addicts more than law students. At least a drug addict is getting some pleasure from their self destructive habit. And drug dealers are a more honest bunch than academics.
How many 1L sections do they have?
ReplyDeletehahaha!
DeleteBest answer: One too many.
DeleteVariant: One more than they will have a couple of years from now.
Practical answer: Dedicate one classroom to the first-year students. Leave them all in there and just let the professors come and go. Indeed, if two classes are scheduled consecutively, one professor can teach both. "OK, students, put away your books for Constitutional Law and get out your books for Torts…"
Their web page shows roughly 19 full professors and deans, 17 administrators, and roughly 20 adjunct. In roughly 2 years Valpo can boast a 1 to 1 student to employee ratio
ReplyDeleteEven better, after that they'll be able to boast a 56:0 ratio.
DeleteEach 1l can have his own professor and will only have to share an administrator with one other! What a great example of tailored customer service!
ReplyDeleteOrganizations exist to perpetuate themselves. Law schools exist to perpetuate themselves. Law schools will close when they begin to threaten the existence of larger organizations that have control of the law schools. While eventually the government and accreditors have control, the organizations that have the most direct control are private universities which house a law school. The most recent, clearest examples are when the laws schools of Hamline, Indiana Tech, and Whittier began to threaten the existence of the parent universities. Stand-alone law schools and public law schools face the more distance threat of the government and accreditors. Law schools that are part of private universities and that may threaten the existence or reputation of the university would seem to be the most likely to be the next to close, although the closing of Charlotte may embolden the government and regulatory agencies to close schools similar to Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteI believe GA only shut down the school because it couldn't promise to have operating funds, not that it was a scam from any prudent non-biased observer standards. Our governments are weak when it comes to protecting us vis-a-vis the private sector.
ReplyDeleteYou know what everybody is missing ... its not just law school.. the entire society is blowing up. Law students aren't the only ones with student loans...plenty of college students have them and are in the same jobless position...student loans are larger for Law...but if they are not going to be paid back anyway... what the heck is the difference...default is default... and with no decent jobs out there... with a crumbling society and huge amounts of loans...default is going to happen anyway... heck IBR is nothing but default in slow motion. Very few are paying back their loans. As for Law itself...if you are a liberal arts major, at least it gives you an opportunity for your own business.. .what the heck do you do with a communications degree these days? That's what my daughters are getting... I expect they will be back in community college with their degrees, earning something they can actually sell to an employer..like medical technology, billing or some such thing. Good luck to all of us. We need it no matter what our degrees. In the meanwhile, plenty of jobs for dry-wall, roofers, etc. in Houston for the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between a self-employed communications consultant who has no clients and a self-employed lawyer who has no clients is the lawyer is burden by an additional $243,000 in non-dischargeable debt, debt that will prevent the lawyer from ever marrying, starting a family, buying a house, retiring, etc.
DeleteIt the world that you described, go full Dave Ramsey, and stay of debt, and live within your means. And if that means living with the Parents, not going out on dates, walking to work, so be it. Keep your powder dry and take advantage of opportunities (good marriage, better job, etc. etc.) as they become available.