Law Student Profile
Request for Refund from Boston College Law School By Rebecca Neely Last week, in an anonymous letter to Boston College Law School’s Interim Dean George Brown, which was posted on EagleiOnline, an online student-run newspaper at BC’s law school, a third year law student, concerned about what he or she sees as a dismal job market, offered to forego a law degree in exchange for the return of his or her tuition.
The student wrote that, ‘’We are discouraged, scared, and in many cases, feeling rather hopeless about our chances of ever getting to practice law.’’ Tuition and housing costs over $60,000 a year at BC Law School. The school’s website reports that almost 98% of the Class of 2009 got jobs in law firms, government, business or academia, with a median ‘’private sector’’ salary of $160,000; $35,000 in the ‘’public sector’’ and $57,000 in ‘’government.’’ The student, by offering to leave law school without a degree at the end of the semester in exchange for a full tuition refund, felt that it would help BC’s US News ranking because it wouldn’t have to report another unemployed graduate.
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However gracious the law student’s offer, the student clearly has failed to realize the intangible benefit he or she has already obtained; namely the transfer of knowledge cannot be simply forgotten, or erased. This knowledge, it would seem, is why tuition is paid. In a statement from Boston College, the law school said it is ‘’deeply concerned’’ about its students’ job prospects but no institution of higher education can guarantee a job after graduation. ‘’What we can do is provide the best education possible, and work together to provide as many career opportunities as possible,’’ the statement said.
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