Last Friday the Dean sent out an email to let us all know that tuition was going up 6% next year. Of course, the email contained the obligatory disclaimer that such decisions were never reached lightly. The primary reason for the increase was to cover annual expenses such as financial aid expenses, library expenses, and utility costs. In addition to covering annual expenses, the school is investing in a joint recreation center to be used by Albany Law and Albany Pharmacy School. In an attempt to placate everyone, the administration also mentioned that they'd no longer charge for parking (hmm, thousands more a year in tuition in exchange for $100 in parking fees, sounds fair).
The notice included a general invite to a meeting with Dean to discuss any concerns about the proposed increase. Hers and I attended the meeting last Tuesday.
You can probably imagine many of the questions. Some questioned the need for the recreation center, others pointed out areas that needed addressed (such as poor wireless connectivity in the library and poorly insulated windows in the library study rooms). Then a concerned 3L a few seats down introduced himself and asked how the school could justify charging tuition on a par with NYU, Columbia, and other highly ranked law schools. I have to admit, I was wondering the same thing myself, but it took this 3L fifteen minutes to frame his question.
The Dean's answer was reasonable. Albany Law is a private law school and as such, incurs greater expense than a law school that's affiliated with a major university. Fair enough. But the 3L continued pressing. Several minutes later, the 3L went on for another fifteen minutes about how unfair it is to charge us the same tuition as top tier law school. The Dean once again pointed out that we were competitive when compared to other private law schools.
"It just seems like you guys can make this decision so easily because it doesn't affect you at all." The 3L responded.
"I can assure you that I know how this affects our students and I am sympathetic to the position students are in. Tuition and the financial burden to students is something that worries every law school. I understand that if you buy a cup of coffee for a $1.25 today, it'll cost you $4.50 by the time you pay off your loan. We do not make these decisions lightly."
"Well, with all due respect, I don't believe you're being completely honest . . ."
"Now hold on. There is one thing I require if we're going to continue this conversation. You can say whatever you want, but I have to insist that you do not call me liar."
"I didn't say you were a lair, I just said you weren't being completely honest . . ." Ah, an example of the semantics that make people hate lawyers so. The guy could not form a valid question and didn't really even seem to think before he spoke. After the Dean managed to convince everyone else in the room that the 3L did, indeed, call him a liar, the 3L packed up and left.
It wasn't until we left that I realized just how brilliant the administration was. The 3L wasn't there by accident. He had been planted by the administration to sway our sympathies. By the time that guy left, I would've been OK with any tuition increase that would result in a better legal education than that 3L got.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment