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Recession Crimps Plans for New Law Schools
Dwindling financial support is forcing universities to delay or scale back their ambitions, but a few soldier on
The National Law Journal
June 01, 2009
Chalk up the latest victims of the recession: new law schools.
A slowdown in contributions, coupled with state budget cuts, has clipped the wings of fledgling institutions nationwide. Nearly a dozen new law schools have been in the works during the past year. Given the economic climate, some institutions that had planned to open law schools in 2010 are considering pushing back those start dates. Others are scaling back building plans and fundraising. At the University of New Haven in Connecticut and St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., proposals to start law schools could be tabled indefinitely.
"The only challenge we've had is the economy," said Tim Johnson, vice president of institutional advancement at Louisiana College in Pineville, La., which is re-evaluating whether to delay the opening date of its new law school by one year. "When things level off and begin to go back up, it'll make things easier. But it's been the biggest hurdle."
At Louisiana College, a private Southern Baptist institution, officials will re-evaluate their law school's 2010 opening date unless they raise at least $7 million during the next six to eight weeks, Johnson said. If that initial goal is met, the college could begin recruiting a founding dean, administrators and faculty members. Much depends on whether donors meet their commitments. "A lot of them are waiting and seeing what the economy is doing," he said.
The college's trustees voted in 2007 to open the law school, which has yet to win accreditation. The inaugural class would have 40 students; eventually the program would enroll 300.
CHALLENGED, BUT OPTIMISTIC
Concordia University in Portland, Ore., had hoped to open the Concordia University School of Law in Boise, Idaho, as soon as 2010. Now those plans have been put off for one year, said Andrea Bruno, Concordia's vice president for advancement. She cited delays in developing a curriculum and acquiring property, but conceded that slow fundraising was a factor. "We're not immune to what's happening out there," Bruno said. "Like everyone else, fundraising is more challenging. But we're optimistic."
The new Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law will stick to its planned August opening date, said university spokeswoman Kate Reagan, but will delay its first major fundraising drive. That drive was to have begun on May 27, when administrators announced that the law school would be named after U.S. Representative John J. Duncan Jr., R-Tenn. The main campus is located in Harrogate, Tenn., and the law school is being developed in Knoxville, Tenn. Most of the money involved thus far came from institutional funds and tuition, Reagan said. The fundraiser would help pay for renovations to Knoxville's Old City Hall, which will house the law school, and for programs.
"We had some other scheduling issues, but the economy did play a role in that decision, and we've held it off," she said. "At this point, we're looking at possibly waiting until after students are enrolled and the semester gets under way."
The program has received accreditation and hired a founding dean, Sydney A. Beckman, an associate dean for library sciences and faculty members for an inaugural class of 75 students, who will attend at night and on weekends. A full-time program will begin in fall 2010.
For some institutions, the dire economic situation has left ambitious plans in doubt. The University of New Haven estimated one year ago that its new law school would require at least $22 million in initial investments. The university is still looking for a single large benefactor.
"To the extent that current economic conditions restrict fundraising, any progress toward developing a law school will be restricted to an equal degree," university spokeswoman Julie Winkel said in an e-mailed statement.
