https://www.law.berkeley.edu/admissions/jd/financial-aid/fees-cost-of-attendance/
Tuition: Full-time, in-state law students will be slammed with a tuition bill of $49,363.50– for the 2017-2018 academic year. And I’m sure they didn’t make a great attempt to keep it under $50K per year. Apparently, that includes fees as well, so I suppose that makes it a great deal for the pupils. Non-residents attending this in$titution on a full-time basis will be throat punched, to the tune of $53,314.50, for the 2017-2018 school year. Who doesn’t have that cash laying around in their couch cushions?
Total Cost of Attendance: According to this same page, the school estimates that living expenses will amount to another $26,636. The “scholars” make a separate line item for health insurance fees, which they list as $4,462. Books and supplies will add $1,496 to the already gigantic bill. This brings the total Non-Resident Student Budget to $85,908.50 – whereas in-state law students will have an estimated COA of $81,957.50.
It might surprise the academic hacks at ABA-accredited mills to learn that actual law students have to pay bills for the full calendar year. So we will educate these Ivory Tower pigs by prorating the following items: rent and utilities, food, personal, and transportation costs. Of course, books and insurance costs will remain unchanged. Making these adjustments, we reach the following, more accurate total student budgets: $90,836.50 for California residents, and $94,787.50 for out-of-state students.
Again, this is for a single damn year of law school! If you are smart enough to get into this law school, then you are also capable of going to a different educational program for free. Maybe you can get into an area that is not over-saturated. After all, California has a legendarily GLUT of attorneys – and that has been the case for decades.
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings
Ranking: You will see that the Univer$ity of California, Berkeley, $chool of Law is rated as the 12th greatest, most elite law school in the entire nation, by US “News” & World Report. In fact, it does not share this distinct honor with any other ABA institution. Furthermore, it is only 10 spots behind the best law school in northern California, i.e. Stanford! And since these campuses are nearly 50 miles apart from each other, that gap can’t be that significant when it comes to landing the best jobs, right?
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/EmploymentQuestionnaireSummary-04-12-2017.pdf
Employment Placement Statistics: Head to the school’s ABA Employment Summary for 2016 Graduates. You will notice that there were 330 members of this cohort. Of that amount, a total of 314 reported working in full-time, long-term positions – within 10 months of receiving their JD. That is an effective placement rate of 95.2%, which is pretty impressive.
However, take a closer look. Fully 23 of these grads were in posts that were funded by the university or law school. Without those jobs included, the effective employment placement rate would be 88.2 percent! Do you understand the implications of that, prospective law student? The 12th greatest, most phenomenal, and amazing law school in the United States had to artificially increase its placement rate by seven full percentage points. If you are looking at attending a TTT, then your job prospects will be much bleaker.
Scroll down to Employment Type. You will see that 189 members of the 2016 graduating class were employed in private law offices. Here is a further breakdown: nine landed work in law firms of 101-250 attorneys, 17 were in offices of 251-500 lawyers, and 138 reported being hired by law firms with more than 500 attorneys. One would think that the 12th best law school in the country – and one located in the San Francisco area – could do a better job of placing its graduates into such jobs.
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/grad-debt-rankings/page+2
Average Law Student Indebtedness:USN&WR lists the average law student indebtedness - for those members of the Univer$ity of California, Berkeley, $chool of Law Class of 2016 who incurred debt for law school - as $145,260. Somehow, only 72% of this school’s 2016 graduating cohort took on such toxic debt. Keep in mind that this amount doesn’t include debt from undergrad, and it also does not take accrued interest into account, while you are enrolled in school. See how fast $145K becomes $160K, when you are not making any payments.
By the way, while UC Berkeley is ranked 12th best in terms of overall quality, it only has the 31st highest amount of average law student debt. That must make this a great bargain for the student, huh? And that is especially for the case for the 28 percent of the class that did not incur an additional penny in non-dischargeable debt for a law degree from a real school! Have fun competing for article III clerkships and Biglaw positions against these young men and women. They can sleep during class – or show up drunk – and their rich parents can still make a few phone calls, on their behalf.
Conclusion: In the final analysis, this is another law school for rich kids. Look at the numbers again. Nearly 30% of the 2016 class did not take on any student debt for their law degree. If you do not come from a wealthy and connected family, then you do not belong in such a setting. Ostensibly, your goal is to obtain a position in Biglaw. Perhaps, you figure that representing corporate criminals will only involve transactional work, research, and memos. Maybe you feel that this is a good way to avoid a courtroom.
However, if you do not have great sales skills, then you can expect to be out on your ass within 3-5 years. If you cannot bring in significant new business to your firm, then you will not advance from associate to partner. It’s a business, and they are not going to spend tons of money to train you – so that you can finally become competent in six years. Remember, Biglaw firms do not make it their practice to hire those who failed at other corporate law offices.