I just finished reading The Rooster Bar, by John Grisham. He can really tell a story.
After reading it, my interest was peaked on for profit law schools. Grisham himself got the idea for the novel from an article he had read in a 2014edition of The Atlantic, that chronicled the inferiority of for profit law schools. What I found out was similar to what he describes in his novel.
For profit law schools generally attract students with low LSAT scores. Most of tuition is paid by the federal government, which leaves students in debt. It is not unusual for students to owe up to $200,000 at the end of school. They may not even be able to pass the bar, as their passing rate is significantly lower than that of other schools. Finding a good job is often difficult too, as new attorneys from higher ranked law schools are sought out first. The student is finished with law school, $200,000 in debt, unable to pass the bar and find a good job. The aggressive loan officers who are trying to set up repayment of the money owed are relentless. It's a bad situation.
Many for profit schools have been investigated in the past decade, a number of them have even closed. Trump University, although not a law school, is gone. Under Obama, the justice department set about investigating for profit schools (undergraduate, graduate and law schools), with the intention of closing down schools that did not deliver what they advertised. Now, under the Trump administration, and Betsy DeVoss in particular, those investigations have ceased. In fact, some of the principals in schools under investigation have now been hired by the Department of Education. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house! This is NOT an example of Trump's proclamation to hire the best people for the job. It's the opposite, and unfortunately many for profit schools will continue. Their owners will continue to make millions, while their students, for the most part, will wallow in debt for the next 20 years, never having gotten what they were promised.
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
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