Initiative aims to make legal education more affordable and expands Pace Law’s national recruitment.
[1]Pace Law School recently unveiled a first-in-the-nation tuition matching program designed to make legal education more accessible to students across the country.The School also announced a tuition freeze for 2015/16 academic year.
The program, which aims to save students tens of thousands of dollars, enables qualified students from throughout the U.S. to enroll at Pace Law at the in-state tuition rate of their home state; allowing those students for whom a legal education in New York might be out of reach.The new tuition matching program will begin with the 2015/16 academic year.
“The affordability of education has become a critical issue, and this program is a unique approach to making a first-rate legal education more accessible to students across the country,” said Pace Law School Dean David Yassky. “Law school enrollment has declined in recent years even as complex legal issues are becoming an increasingly common part of today’s business environment. This initiative will provide a broader population of students with a roadmap for successfully entering the legal field without the crushing weight of unmanageable debt.”
(Next page: How the tuition-match will work)
In addition to the many school-specific advantages to a Pace Law School education, attending a New York City-area law school gives students a unique set of opportunities, says the School. New York is the largest legal community in the country, and attending law school in the state gives students a chance to broaden their education by working at a New York firm during their three years. Separately, it provides a head start to securing employment in New York after graduation. Pace’s new tuition match program aims to make a New York City legal education accessible to students who might not otherwise have that opportunity.
The school also announced today that it will institute a tuition freeze for the 2015/16 academic year, meaning that tuition will remain the same next year. Pace Law’s full-time tuition this year is $45,376.
The in-state tuition rate at public law schools across the country is lower (due largely to the unavoidable costs associated with operating an institution in the New York City area). For example, this year’s tuition at the University of Arkansas’ Law School is $14,508. Using those numbers, a qualified student from Arkansas entering Pace Law School would be saving just over $30,000 per year. In-state resident tuition for public law schools in states such as Florida, Texas, and Massachusetts are $22,230, $33,162, and $18,402 respectively, cites Pace.
The School has also taken several steps recently to help students with the rising cost of higher education. For example, Pace Law has increased its scholarships and grants, begun offering accelerated degree programs that decrease the traditional three-year commitment and increased resources in career and professional development. The School also allows loan forgiveness for qualifying graduates who work in public service.
Students interested in learning more about Pace Law School and the tuition-match program should visit www.law.pace.edu [2] or contact by email admissions@law.pace.edu [3].