Law School News, 0617 WYBJ, Vol. 40 No. 3. 48
| Author | Klint W. Alexander, Ph.D. J.D. University of Wyoming College of Law Laramie, Wyoming |
Closing Out the School Year is Bitter-Sweet!
Klint W. Alexander, Ph.D. J.D. University of Wyoming College of Law Laramie, Wyoming
As the 2016-17 school year comes to an end, I wanted to update you on some of this year's notable achievements and developments at the University of Wyoming College of Law. On a positive note, the College of Law increased its national ranking in U.S. News & World Report from 123 to 112, maintained its ranking as the 18th best Legal Writing program in the country, received an "A" grade for clinical and experiential learning, and for the fourth year in a row was recognized as a "Best Value" law school in America. These achievements are particularly noteworthy given recent budget cuts to the University and the downward spiral of law school applications nationwide. During this year's application cycle, the total number of applications was down 1.9 percent as of March 31, 2017. Like many law school administrators, I have been hoping that the applicant pool has bottomed out and that we would start seeing an uptick in applications as the economy improves and firms start hiring again.
On another positive note, we graduated an outstanding class of 77 students in May, 88 percent of whom have jobs lined up as they head into the bar exam. These graduates carry a far lower debt load with them into the world as compared to their peers at UC-Boulder, Nebraska and Utah, which in turn gives them more freedom to buy a home or start a family in the next phase of their lives. Last year, the College of Law ranked 8th in the nation in terms of lowest debt load imposed upon its graduates, but this year we dropped out of the Top 10 due to tuition hikes by the University for the second year in a row. The College of Law opted to freeze its tuition rates at current levels for residents ($15,757) and non-residents ($32,589) this coming year in order to keep costs low for our students. Affordable tuition coupled with an experiential learning guarantee and one of the best student-teacher ratios (9/1) in the country are the main reasons why UW is regarded as one of the best law school deals in America.
At the same time, the 2016-17 school year was bitter-sweet as the College of Law experienced the loss of two extraordinary clinical faculty members (Diane Courselle and Dona Playton) and, further, will be losing two...
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