College of Law enrollment on the rise

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Enrollment and admissions in MSU’s College of Law are on the rise, according to statistics from department officials.

Almost 1,000 more students applied to the college entering fall 2011 than in fall 2009, when about 2,736 students submitted applications. Of those figures, about 740 Michigan students applied for admission into the college in fall 2011.

Overall class sizes for this fall are not yet known, but last year, 299 students were admitted to the college, a slight increase from 2008.

The increase in admitted applicants at MSU reflects climbing figures across the country.

According to national Law School Admission Council statistics, about 3.5 percent more students were admitted to U.S. law schools in 2009-10, even as experts say the job market has become more difficult to break into.

Those struggles have caused MSU’s law school to rethink the ways in which it trains students.

“What we need to do in some ways has changed,” said Joan Howarth, the college’s dean. “When the market is as difficult as it is right now, we need to pay more attention … to helping our students get good opportunities.”

Higher admissions rates and fewer jobs could lead to higher student debt, which in turn concerns MSU law school officials, including Charles Roboski, the college’s assistant dean for admissions and financial aid.

“In the last two years, we began looking at this issue trying to understand how we should handle it,” Roboski said.

Law school officials have attempted to keep costs down, raising student tuition rates 2 percent this year, on top of a 3 percent increase last year.

Students entering the college in 2010 paid $34,045, according to department documents, a metric which places MSU 6th among the nation’s most selective law schools when examining overall cost.

The figure is a far cry from tuition at New York Law School, an institution that recently has come under fire for many of its policies. According to experts, the school ranks in the bottom-third of all law schools yet charges more than Harvard Law School — to the tune of about $47,800.

About 30 percent more students attended New York Law School in 2010 than the year prior. MSU’s class size will increase only about three percent this year, Roboski said.

Some say New York Law School is attempting to make up for revenues it must pay back to the university by charging steep tuition rates. MSU, on the other hand, operates completely independently of the university, and pays most of its own building and maintenance expenses.

The college also is due to receive further support from MSU in the coming months, primarily in the form of a $35,000 grant given to its Small Business and Nonprofit Law Clinic. The grant — focused towards providing legal education and outreach to international students at MSU — presents an unique opportunity for the college, said Nicole Dandridge, an associate professor with the clinic.

“It’s an intriguing project,” she said. “The goal is to focus on creating inclusive excellence.”

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