https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/financing/applicants/
Tuition and Fees: Full-time law students at the Univer$ity of Penn$ylvania will be charged $59,382, for the 2017-2018 academic year. But that’s not all, folks. They will also face a General Fee of $2,984, in addition to a Technical Fee of $998. That brings the total to $63,364. Again, that is for a single year of “legal education.” By the way, who doesn’t have that amount of cash laying in their couch cushions?
Total Cost of Attendance: According to this same document, room will amount to $9,900, board to $5,515, and miscellaneous costs will run an additional $3,511. With books, health insurance, and clinical fees tossed in, the total estimated COA is listed as $87,984. What a grand bargain for the student, huh?
Seeing that actual students will require living expenses for the entire damn year – and not a mere nine months – we will prorate the following items: room, board, and miscellaneous costs. Books, health coverage, and clinical fees will remain the same. Doing so, we reach the more accurate, total estimated COA will be $94,292.
While getting into such a school does show aptitude and knowledge, these outrageous costs help keep out the riffraff from modest/working class backgrounds. After all, if you do not have stellar family and political connections, i.e. the right name, then you will be out of place at such a school. Have fun fitting in, with your new “friends” and associates. At best, you will be seeking to artificially “network” with these people.
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings
Ranking: As you can see, the Univer$ity of Penn$ylvania Law $chool is rated as the 7th best law school in the United States, by the defunct magazine known as US “News” & World Report. In fact, it has sole possession of 7th place. That places it above 198 other ABA-accredited diploma mills. Since this is one of the relative few schools that produces future, tenured “law professors,” perhaps it should be even higher on the list.
https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/6443-penn-law-class-of-2016-aba-employment-data
Employment Placement Statistics: Let’s go over the school’s ABA Employment Summary for 2016 Graduates. You will notice that there were 258 members of this cohort. Of that amount, a total of 251 were in full-time, long term positions – within 10 months of earning their law degrees. Of course, four were employed in jobs funded by the university or law school. Even with those included, the effective placement rate was 97.3 percent.
Of note, another two grads reported landing part-time employment. Who knows whether these are rich kids who can afford to take on such positions? If that is the case, then I’m sure their parents are happy to supplement their income. And to be fair, these are probably not permanent situations.
Scroll down to Employment Type. A total of 25 graduates from the Class of 2016 were employed in law firms of 251-500 attorneys. An additional 138 reported landing positions in firms that employed more than 500 lawyers. In fact, 16 others were also in private law firms withing 10 months of receiving their JDs.
You will see that 29 members of the Univer$ity of Penn$ylvania Law $chool landed federal court clerkships. In short, a significant portion of recent grads do exceptionally well with regard to getting the best jobs available to freshly-minted lawyers. It is still a financial risk, if you don’t come from established wealth. However, this is the type of school that most would be thrilled to attend, even if they have to incur serious student debt in the process. In sum, it is not a ridiculous gamble.
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/grad-debt-rankings
Average Law Student Indebtedness:USN&WR lists the average law student indebtedness - for those members of the University of Pennsylvania Law Class of 2016 who incurred debt for law school - as $156,725. By the way, only 71% of this school’s 2016 graduating cohort took on such toxic debt. Remember, this amount does not even include undergraduate debt – and it also does not take accrued interest into account, while the student is enrolled.
Then again, the law school is ranked 7th best in terms of overall reputation, the school’s 2016 graduating class was only the 13th most burdened by additional law school debt. I suppose that does make it a tremendous deal, for the student. It’s an even better bargain for the 29 percent of this class that did not take on any student loans for law school. That is nearly three out of 10 members of the 2016 graduating class. Good luck fun competing against those rich young men and women for the finest law jobs.
Conclusion: If you are smart enough to gain admission to this top law school, and you are not from a wealthy family, then you better hope that you can repay your student loans quickly. Keep in mind that Biglaw firms tend to burn through tons of associates. If you don’t manage to become a partner within 3-5 years, be prepared to get tossed out on your ass. And law is a “profession” that is so geared toward “prestige,” other Biglaw firms will not even consider a failed white shoe firm associate.
As always, if you are rich, feel free to attend. By the way, that is probably what it will cost you to enroll and graduate from this elite law school. In other words, you have nothing to lose. Enjoy taking a three year vacation, and then entering your family business upon graduation. I’m sure that a law degree from an Ivy League in$titution serves as a nice conversation piece when you are with your other rich friends in their furnished cabins – or comparing luxury cars.