Q: Is a law school education a good buy in the current economic environment? Why is law school so expensive?
A: Higher education, including legal education, is an investment that benefits both the person being educated and the wider society. There are short term and long term benefits to any investment. Unlike junk bonds or credit default swaps, an education doesn’t depreciate in value and value is not measured solely in terms of individual economic return. Knowledge is not a commodity or a speculative investment. The last time the U.S. Census did a survey of the economic value of a professional degree was 2002 and the authors concluded that historically, higher education has been a good economic investment. Legal education remains a “good buy” despite the economic downturn because the training received in law school is useful in a variety of different fields from business to government and everything in between.
