Yale Law profs Akhil Reed Amar and Ian Ayres have an essay in Slate, "Paying Students to Quit Law School," that offers law school reforms adapted from the online mega-shoe store, Zappos.
The most out-of-the-box ideas?
- Rebating half the tuition to law students who drop out at the end of the first year. ("A half-tuition rebate splits the loss of an aborted legal career between the school and the student. Each has skin in the game, so students will not go to law school lightly, and law schools will have better incentives not to admit students likely to fail.") Law schools would have to disclose their drop-out rates.
- Requiring applicants who statistically have less than a 50% chance of passing the bar in three years’ time to sign waivers acknowledging the risks of their investment.
- Holding law schools accountable for tuition loan defaults.
Less out-of-the-box idea:
- Requiring law students who receive federal loans to disclose whether they pass the bar and how much they earn for the first 10 years after graduation,and requiring law schools to disclose the information in the aggregate.
Amar and Ayres challenge their dean to pioneer their reforms. Better yet, perhaps they should be lobbying U.S. News and World Report.
