With reports speaking to the struggling job market recent law school graduates face, one New York institution is taking a bold stand to ensure its graduates don’t carry the combined burden of unemployment and mile high student loan debt.
Brooklyn Law School announced earlier this month that it will refund graduates 15 percent of the total tuition paid if they’re unable to find employment nine months after graduation. The program, which is called “Bridge to Success,” will begin with the incoming 2015 class. The school said in a statement that the refund is meant to act as a safety net and give students more time to find “meaningful, full-time employment.”
[Related: Report Shows Law School Graduates Struggle with Finding Employment]
Brooklyn Law School, which has a total enrollment of about 1,100 students, has had an approximate 90 percent job placement record for the last two years, but the school’s latest initiative is a sign that the administration is very aware of the employment struggle their graduates may face.
“We have our ear to the ground,” Brooklyn Law School President and Dean Nicholas Allard told CNNMoney. “Rather than continue to march over the cliff when a new direction is appropriate, we pay attention to what students want and need.”
But this isn’t the school’s first effort to make getting a law degree more affordable. Last year, the law school announced a 15 percent tuition cut and the year before it created a 2-year J.D. program, which was the first of its kind in the New York metro area.
Currently, the total cost of tuition for students in the 4-year J.D. program at Brooklyn Law School is $35,098 per year.