Economy and Law School

[sethg485]

Will anyone have trouble getting student loans due to the economy? Also, will the # of students applying to law school increase or decrease due to the economy. I have heard both  things from various people.

[Remarq]

I think there might be some issues with students getting law school loans, I dont know how severe it will be though. As to more people applying, my guess is that next cycle will be worse than this one because most of the people who have lost the jobs in the last two months are probably making the decision to go to law school now. So they'll be preping now and testing and applying next year. I have nothing to back that up, but thats my guess. 

[stateofbeasley]

I think more people will apply to law school if the general belief is that jobs will be scarce.  On the flip side, fewer people will probably be able to attend law school even if they get in because of the scarcity of credit.

Hopefully the credit mess will prevent people from going to law school at overpriced private universities that provide little if any value.  The easy money that was available in my era (2002 through 2004) resulted in far too many people accumulating 100k+ worth of debt for a TTT degree. 

I also want to add this:  People in my day went to law school when the economy was down.  We hoped that when we graduated, the economy would be booming and there would be lucrative jobs for all.  Sadly, this turned out not to be the case.  The anointed top 15% + law review got biglaw jobs, and the rest of us were left to struggle on 35-50k/year at bottom barrel firms or government offices. Many of us turned to document review out of financial desperation.  The crushing hours and low salary of the small firm and insurance defense sweatshop pushed many to the brink of disaster.

[Ninja1]

Apps will go up, loans may well be harder to get, and life will continue to suck when a good number of us are grinding on $100k+ debt regardless of the economy.