Alumni Organizations
Message from the Alumni Board President
Dear Alumni and Friends,
It is that time of the year again—the King Hall class of 2014 has now been welcomed and is beginning the study of law. There are 193 students in the new class and we have one female student who is only 16 years of age! Our reputation obviously travels far and wide and we continue to attract a diverse and bright student body.
In case you missed it, last spring the most recent ratings from US News and World Report placed King Hall at number 23 in the national rankings. That means we are a top 25 school and deservedly so. The achievements of our students and faculty are growing constantly. If you read carefully the King Hall notes that are sent out periodically, you will see that more and more media outlets look to our faculty for guidance on significant and sometimes controversial legal issues.
On the less than happy news front, costs of a legal education continue to rise. A chart was provided to us at our most recent alumni board meeting. The cost of tuition alone is now $46,485 for California residents and $54,622 for non-residents. This amounts to a very heavy debt load for these students as they go into a job market that is quite daunting at the present time. In case you have forgotten how good most of us had it when we attended King Hall, from 1966 to 1981, the annual tuition was under $1,000. In 1996, the tuition reached five figures when the annual cost had risen to $ 10,881. The last fifteen years have seen an increase of 317%, which means each year the increase has been about 20%!
Can this continue? Do we really feel this treats the less fortunate in our society equally and offers the chance for social mobility to many in our society who have the ability to be outstanding lawyers?
An announcement I read recently indicated that the ABA recently passed resolution 111A which asks the federal government to assist individuals who are experiencing financial hardships due to excessive levels of debt, and noting that this debt far exceeds credit card debt for students. Given the current financial stalemate in Washington, this is not too likely.
What can you do? If you have a position, offer it to a King Hall grad. Working lawyers will be able to work on their debt and will further the reputation of our school Work on your own legislative representatives to do something. The quality of a King Hall education has never been higher. The cost needs to be reined in so that we can continue to produce the socially conscious and successful lawyers we have for the past 40 years.
John Schick
Class of 1972
President, Alumni Association Board
