preLaw - Back to School 2007 - (Page 24)
Best Value North Carolina Central, University of Alabama and other lesser-known law schools top the charts when it comes to value — schools that deliver results at an affordable price. Law Schools Faulkner University is one of a handful of law schools successfully delivering results, without charging students an arm and a leg. PreLaw magazine identified it and 61 other schools as “Best Value Law Schools” by using the Law School Admissions Council’s “Official Guide to Law Schools.” The criteria were simple: The tuition bill at public law schools had to be below $25,000 and the tab had to come in under $30,000 at private law schools. The school had to have a bar passage rate higher than their state’s average. And it needed to have an employment rate of 85 percent or better. North Carolina Central University School of Law topped the list, followed by the University of Alabama School of Law and Georgia State University College of Law. Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School and Faulkner University’s Thomas J. Goode School of Law topped the list for private law schools. Although their sizes, specialties and histories vary widely, these five Best Value law schools share some common traits. They are building their reputations by managing internal expenses, stretching resources, investing in high-quality faculty and finding cost-effective ways to improve their campuses — all the while giving students a quality education. These law schools also have a com- By Karen Dybis aulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law is not a household name among most prospective law students. The small private school in Montgomery, Ala., only got ABA accreditation last year, and rarely makes a blip in most law school rankings. But the school boasts a high bar pass rate, high employment rate, and low tuition — a winning trifecta that is increasingly more difficult for law schools these days. “We don’t try to do everything,” said Charles Nelson, dean of Faulkner’s Jones School of Law. “We tend to focus on fundamentals. What we’re trying to do is create strong practicing attorneys [and] we don’t load debt on our students.” F 24 preLaw
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