In an effort to boost enrollment and make tuition more affordable, Wayne State University’s Law School, located in Detroit, Michigan, will freeze their tuition and offer every incoming student a scholarship. In total, the tuition freeze and the additional scholarships will create about a 14 percent tuition cut for all incoming students. The tuition cut will keep the price tag at about $28,138 through at least the 2015-2016 school year.

Law school Dean Jocelyn Benson told the Free Press in an exclusive interview:

For us, it is really important to ensure that everyone has access to quality legal education. Not only do we want to make sure everyone has access to legal education, but also help with the rising student debt.

In addition to the tuition freeze, the school will offer about $1 million a year in new scholarships for current students, as well as a minimum scholarship of $4,000 a year to all incoming students. These scholarships will be awarded both by merit and by need. According to Benson, the scholarships are being funded by private donations from alumni and other supporters.

Along with increasing affordability, this tuition cut is also in response to Wayne State Law’s declining enrollment, a fate that many law schools are facing these days. This year, they saw their enrollment drop from 484 students down to 419. Hopefully this strategy will work in the way it has for law schools such as the University of Arizona Law and Penn State Law. These institutions were set to boost their first-year class sizes by 22% to 52% this fall compared with 2013 according to an analysis done by The Wall Street Journal.

Benson has also shared that the goals for lowering tuition go beyond simply increasing enrollment and affordability. She said:

Creating value for students goes beyond affordability. Our location in the heart of Detroit during such a transformative time offers students access to hands-on legal experience in areas ranging from corporate law and entrepreneurship to public interest and civil rights that you cannot get at any other law school.

The goal is that with prices lower, students will not need to work full time while completing law school. This will give them the opportunity to do more internships and gain valuable hands-on experience in the legal field without the worry of a huge debt they need to pay off. Benson has stated: “we want them to make these decisions (about where to work after graduation) without concerns about how much they have to pay back”.

Eric Lloyd, a current junior in Wayne State’s undergraduate business program, likes the idea of a tuition freeze. While studying on campus last week, he said, “It’s so expensive to go to law school and if you go, you almost have to get a corporate job to pay off all that debt anything to hold down cost is good.” He is considering going to Wayne State Law after he graduates.

If this drastic change in cost is successful, Wayne State Law will likely see major enrollment increases in the coming years.

Brittany Alzfan

Brittany Alzfan is a student at the George Washington University majoring in Criminal Justice. She was a member of Law Street’s founding Law School Rankings team during the summer of 2014. Contact Brittany at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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What do income tax, credit card fees, salaries, and cars have in common?

They’re all negotiable, of course.

As a quick Google search will show you, there are lists on top of lists of things that can and should be negotiated – because who doesn’t like to haggle? Whether it’s furniture, jewelry, bulk purchases,  phone, TV, or Internet service, it’s clear that a “nothing is set in stone” mindset is applicable to, well, pretty much anything.

And anything, believe it or not, includes law school scholarships. While it’s no secret that law school is expensive, the fact that scholarships are negotiable doesn’t seem to be on most people’s radar.

Tuition may have been set in stone in years past, but over the last five years, law schools have become more open to haggling over money. That’s not to say students have never tried to negotiate price tags with law schools. Rather, it seems law schools are simply listening to student pleas now more than ever. Why you might ask? After the recession of 2009-2010, law school application rates have fallen, as many would-be law students have decided to opt out of a legal education due to hiring cutbacks.

Many law schools have resorted to new methods in an attempt to attract students and fill seats. Negotiating scholarships, along with tuition adjustments and accepting applications long after the official deadline, is one such tactic.

So, you were accepted into law school and received scholarship money. Congrats. But what’s next?

Scholarship negotiation is relatively simple. While it may be annoying to draft and send out all the emails, the juice is worth the squeeze, as they say. It’s best to wait until you’ve heard back from all the schools you’ve applied to – or at least all the ones you’re seriously considering – before starting the process. Once you’ve secured at least one scholarship, make a list of other schools you’ve been admitted to that are comparable in ranking and region. It’s important to be realistic – leveraging a top-tier school with a scholarship offer from a bottom-tier school probably won’t work. If the schools are in the same league though, you have a much better chance of success.

Now that you have your list of schools you’d like to haggle with, start drafting emails. Don’t rule out schools that haven’t offered you any money. This process can be effective in increasing scholarship offers as well as generating them. Although it’s not essential, it helps to make a phone call to the admissions office before sending out any emails. That way, the office will be at least familiar with who you are and your situation. Typically, the admissions staffer you speak to will not only tell you who to email, but will also provide some guidance regarding what exactly to say.

Once your foot is in the door with the admissions office, send out your emails. There are some good  templates and sample letters available, but the general idea is to be confident and assertive, all while remaining professional and polite. While LawSchoolAdvice will provide you with some very detailed instructions, here are the fundamentals of a solid negotiation email:

Dear Admissions Office (emailing a specific person is preferable),

Tell them you are an admitted student and give some basic information about yourself (Name, year in school, college you currently attend…). Say how thrilled you are to have been accepted and that this school is your first choice, even if that’s not entirely true. Tell them why you are writing – either to be considered for a scholarship or to have an existing scholarship offer increased.

List other scholarship offers you’ve received, if any. Also list the names of comparable schools you’ve been admitted to, even if no money has come your way yet. Some schools will ask that you send them your other scholarship offers as email attachments.

Write a little blurb about why this school is the right fit for you – whether it’s location, prestige, or job opportunities. Be careful here, you don’t want too much fluff – make your point and move on. Finish this section by giving the admissions committee a candid look at your decision making process. With law school as expensive as it is, you cannot simply ignore other offers from peer schools – even if this particular school is your top choice. 

Conclude by making it clear that finances are the only factor preventing you from accepting their offer of admission. Ultimately, you need to choose a school that makes sense not only personally but financially as well. 

Thank the admissions committee for their time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Prospective Law Student

You should hear back in a week or so from someone at the admissions office. Most likely they won’t offer you money right away – they’ll probably tell you that your application is being considered and that the review process is underway. Sure, some schools will flat out shut you down, but most will, at the very least, make a note on your application – and that can be the difference between being passed over and being awarded money.

Once you’ve sent your initial email and started a dialogue with the admissions office, sit back and wait. If you receive any subsequent scholarship offers, it’s worth it to let schools know. If it’s getting close to the day your deposit is due, send one last email – regardless of whether or not you’ve heard back – inquiring if what you’ve been awarded is the school’s final offer.

In the end, there’s no guarantee that negotiating scholarships will work for you, even if it has worked for other students in the past. But given the relative ease of the negotiating process, there’s really no downside to trying. After all, who wouldn’t want free money?

—

Matt DiCenso  (@mdicenso24)

Featured image courtesy of [2bgr8 via Wikimedia]

Matt DiCenso

Matt DiCenso is a graduate of The George Washington University. Contact Matt at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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