New Indiana Tech Law School Criticized
By: Robert Bumsted
Updated: October 12, 2012
Fort Wayne's Indiana Tech is facing tough criticism over its new law school which is now under construction. An article published in a Wall Street Journal blog on legal matters quotes a critic from the University of Colorado.
Paul Campos slams the school, calling it a "diploma mill." Campos says he started researching the school after reading comments on this online forum from prospective students. Campos then wrote a scathing article on his blog -- it was later picked up by the Wall Street Journal's law blog andBusinessInsider.com.
The problem, campos says, is that Indiana already has four law schools and too many lawyers.
According to a report by the American Bar Association, only 50 percent of law school graduates got jobs in the legal field in 2011. Campos says a new law school with little reputation will produce a much lower job placement rate.
"The notion of another law school in Indiana right now does not make any economic sense for anyone other than the people who will be collecting the proceeds of the tuition money," said Campos. "Most of [the students] will not have careers as lawyers. Most of them will end up with large amounts of non-dischargeable educational debt -- debt that's not dischargeable in bankruptcy."
On Tuesday, WFFT contacted Peter Alexander, dean of Indiana Tech's law school -- he refuted Campos' claims.
Alexander says Indiana Tech's school will stand out from other law schools because the curriculum will focus on legal ethics in the first year -- something he says other law schools do not do.
Alexander also addressed some of the other criticisms in a written response to Campos. You can view that here.
WFFT attempted to schedule a more formal interview with Alexander to address the claims, but he said he would be unavailable.
Paul Campos slams the school, calling it a "diploma mill." Campos says he started researching the school after reading comments on this online forum from prospective students. Campos then wrote a scathing article on his blog -- it was later picked up by the Wall Street Journal's law blog andBusinessInsider.com.
The problem, campos says, is that Indiana already has four law schools and too many lawyers.
According to a report by the American Bar Association, only 50 percent of law school graduates got jobs in the legal field in 2011. Campos says a new law school with little reputation will produce a much lower job placement rate.
"The notion of another law school in Indiana right now does not make any economic sense for anyone other than the people who will be collecting the proceeds of the tuition money," said Campos. "Most of [the students] will not have careers as lawyers. Most of them will end up with large amounts of non-dischargeable educational debt -- debt that's not dischargeable in bankruptcy."
On Tuesday, WFFT contacted Peter Alexander, dean of Indiana Tech's law school -- he refuted Campos' claims.
Alexander says Indiana Tech's school will stand out from other law schools because the curriculum will focus on legal ethics in the first year -- something he says other law schools do not do.
Alexander also addressed some of the other criticisms in a written response to Campos. You can view that here.
WFFT attempted to schedule a more formal interview with Alexander to address the claims, but he said he would be unavailable.
