Law schools revenues soar as they take in millions from tuition and fees, as supply exceeds demand | OregonLive.com

Law schools revenues soar as they take in millions from tuition and fees, as supply exceeds demand | OregonLive.com:

Law schools revenues soar as they take in millions from tuition and fees, as supply exceeds demand

by Jeff Manning, The Oregonian

View full sizeTom Borton followed his father into the law. His dad came out with little if any debt. Borton owes $136,000. He feels lucky to be practicing law. The Metropolitan Public Defender's Office attorney intends to stay in public service, despite the modest salary, in order to get some of his debt forgiven.

America's higher ed system, the envy of the world, is creating a new debtor class. 

College grads now leave owing more than $26,000 on average. Grad students can owe much more. Law students commonly finish owing $100,000 to $150,000. 

The federal student loan portfolio exploded in the last decade from $295 billion in 2002 to $848 billion in 2011. It amounts to a vast transfer of wealth from the taxpayer to the nation's colleges, leaving students to repay the loans. 

That flood tide of federal money has attracted some unusual players. Consider the case of Phoenix School of Law, Florida Coastal School of Law and the Charlotte School of Law. The government loaned more than $150 million in 2011 to the students of the three stand-alone law schools, according to the U.S. Department of  

Law school graduates from Oregon and the nation lost in debt, looking for work

by Jeff Manning, The Oregonian

When the recession KO'ed the economy in 2008, it ushered in a frightening new era of financial and professional anxiety. The law business has proven just as vulnerable as countless others to the combined forces of the economic slowdown, pervasive technological change and globalization. A couple years into a frustratingly slow recovery, the new normal has slapped a shell-shocked legal world.

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