For the first time, prospective law school students are able to figure out the odds they have of maintaining a scholarship because of a new requirement. That requirement is that law schools must post the retention rate of merit scholarships on their websites, according to the TaxProf Blog and The National Jurist.
Prior to this requirement, students had trouble figuring out if they would be able to meet the academic requirements to hold onto the scholarships. These students either lost them altogether or noticed a reduction in the amount and had to pay more for their tuition.
The decision was made by the ABA in August to require law schools to post this information on their websites. The schools were also told to begin doing this by October 15. The schools must also provide students with this information when they are offered scholarships.
Jerry Organ is a law professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. Organ has been collecting data of schools that have or have not complied yet. Per his estimate, 90 schools have yet to comply. He said 79 schools have complied, with the retention rate averaging 69 percent. There are 15 schools with a rate higher than 90 percent. There are four schools with a rate under 40 percent.