http://lawschool.unm.edu/admissions/financial-aid/tuition.html
Tuition: New Mexico residents attending this public toilet, on a full time basis, will be charged $16,597.92 in annual tuition – for the 2017-2018 academic year. Out-of-state, full-time law students will be slammed with tuition costs of $36,247.92, for the 2017-2018 school year. What a bargain for non-residents, right? Don’t forget that UNM law students will also pay $275 in required fees each semester. That increases the totals by $550 for each group of suckers/law students.
Total Cost of Attendance: According to the same page, other costs will add another $16,150 to the price tag. Of this amount, room and board is estimated at $9,662; transportation will be $1,854; and miscellaneous expenses will total $3,402. As such, the total annual figures are $32,747.92 for in-state students and $52,397.92 for full-time, non-resident law students, at the Univer$iTTy of New Mexico SOL. With required fees tossed for good measure, the amounts are $33,297.92 and $52,947.92, respectively.
Keep in mind that these are based on academic semesters. Seeing that actual law students will require living expenses for 12 months – and not a mere nine months out of the year – I will prorate the three factors noted above. Doing so, we come up with the following numbers: $12,882 for room and board, $2,472 for transportation, and $4,356 in miscellaneous costs. Books will remain unchanged at $1,232. That is a sub-total of $21,122, which is an increase of $4,972 over the school’s posted estimate.
Counting the required academic fees, this brings the grand total – for 2017-2018 alones – as $38,269.92 for full-time, in-state law students. The amount for non-residents attending this second tier law school full-time is $57,919.92. This is a more accurate figure. Still want to sign on the dotted line? By the way, do you imagine that there are a ton of law firm and other legal positions in the state?
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+4
Ranking: Based on these high costs, one would expect this school to have a solid reputation among the academic and legal communities. According to US “News” & World Report, the Univer$iTTy of New Mexico $chool of Law is rated as the 77th greatest, most magnificent, and amazing law school in the entire United States!
What a tremendous “accomplishment,” huh?! In fact, it “only” shares this distinct honor with the following ABA diploma mills: University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, University of Miami, University of San Diego, and Villanova. Their mothers must be exceptionally proud. The “professors” and deans there couldn’t care less.
http://lawschool.unm.edu/careers/common/docs/employment-summary-2016-grads.pdf
Employment Placement Statistics: Let’s take a look at the commode’s 2016 ABA Employment Summary. There were 113 members of this graduating class. Of that amount, 86 reported working in full-time, long-term positions – within 10 months of receiving their law degrees. One was in a law school or university funded position. That is an effective employment rate of 76.1 percent!
Counting the two grads in full-time, short-term positions as well as the 10 desperate souls in various part-time posts, a total of 98 were considered employed for the purposes of this survey. I suppose the school considers that to be an 86.7% employment rate, i.e. 98/113. Are you still impressed by this in$TTiTTuTTion of “higher learning”? If so, then I’m sure you would also be interested in purchasing some swampland near the Everglades.
Here is the breakdown of the 49 graduates who reported working in law firms on a full-time, long-term basis: one solo, 35 in firms of 2-10 lawyers, three in offices of 11-25 attorneys, four in firms of 26-50 lawyers, five in offices of 51-100 attorneys, and one managed to land a job in a firm of 101-250 lawyers. Do you think that YOU, prospective law student, will be the single person in your class at UNM $chool of Law to land that position?! Look at this report for any place that you are considering. It provides great insight into the job outlook facing JDs from each school. If you do not bother to do so, then how do you figure that you will be able to effectively and competently represent other people in legal matters?
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/grad-debt-rankings/page+7
Average Law Student Indebtedness:USN&WR lists the average law student indebtedness - for those members of the University of New Mexico School of Law Class of 2016 who incurred debt for law school - as $75,277. Plus, 88% of this school’s 2016 graduating cohort took on such toxic debt. Don’t forget that this amount does not even include undergraduate debt – and it also does not take accrued interest into account, while the student is enrolled.
While this is among the lower end of law student debt among ABA-accredited diploma mills, ask yourself how you will repay an additional $85K+ in non-dischargeable debt – when you are hopefully making $45K per year. By the way, Albuquerque and Santa Fe are not exactly on the cheap side, when it comes to cost of living. And where else are you planning to practice law in that desert?
Conclusion: Do not attend this middling law school diploma factory, unless you have great connections in the state – or are independently well off financially. Then again, if the latter is the case, you would be much better off avoiding a second tier “legal education” – and investing in real estate or some other venture. Remember, you can always hire an attorney if the need arises. You can’t regain three years of your life. The Univer$iTTy of New Mexico $chool of Law will not provide you with great job prospects as a lawyer. If you are in a decent-paying job, with some opportunities for advancement, you would be better served by remaining in that position, making real connections, and earning more income at something you do well. Going to law school at this point in time is nothing more than a risky gamble.