Legal Daily News Feature
Disillusioned or Brilliant? The Tuition Refund Request By Donna McGill It was bound to happen sooner or later. A student studying law at Boston College has decided it’s time to cut his losses and abandon his pursuit of a law degree. Only problem is, he’s requesting a full refund of his tuition. His efforts to sweeten the deal with a reminder to the school that there will be one less unemployed graduate to affect the rankings missed the mark with college officials.
10/23/10 The fact is that the job market is tough right now for college graduates, regardless of their chosen majors. And, yes, a law degree requires a lot of hard work and a lot of hard earned money, usually supplied by parents, scholarships and student loans. The school’s dean says there are no guarantees upon graduation and that anyone in any college runs the risk of not landing a position immediately. The student says he speaks not only for himself, but many of his classmates as well. His claims of feeling discouraged, scared and hopeless are understandable, but his request is more than a little unrealistic. The college has reiterated its commitment of providing a world class education and a career development team that works hard to help students land those positions in their chosen careers. Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated case. Many soon to be graduates and those who have already graduated are crying
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‘’foul’’ and saying law schools misrepresented the ‘’wealth producing, exciting and glamorous careers they were promised and don’t have’’. But at what point do these students take responsibilities for their own futures? When is the line drawn with what some say is a sense of entitlement? There are websites and blogs popping up around the web that tell many tales regarding disillusioned JD graduates with no careers. What makes this dynamic so interesting is that this fall’s new class of college students is 2.2% higher than this time last year. It could be that some of these students are seeing what others are doing instead of working in those specialty areas. One economist said in a USAToday interview, ‘’We are entering the age of the overeducated American’’. Perhaps. But that’s not the fault of your law school nor is anyone else’s responsibility to chase your dream. For now, the school remains committed to declining the offer from the unhappy third year law student.
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