At Drexel University, law students will be able to enter the job market after just two years of study instead of three, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The new program, called “Fast Forward,” was announced by Drexel on Monday.
The program was created to address concerns regarding student debt, according to officials from the school. The program will cost the same as the three-year program at the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel. The only difference is that three years of courses will be condensed into two.
“You get into the workforce a year quicker, and it adds greater value,” Drexel Law School Dean Roger Dennis said. “You save a year’s living expenses without any income.”
Officials from the school are hoping that the new program will bring in students who do not want to go to law school for three years. For instance, the school could attract students who already have experience working. Students who enroll in the accelerated program would be taking classes for two straight years, with no time off in the summer.
“We suspect it will be probably students who are a little bit older, who are willing to take on that extra intensity,” Dennis said.
Applications can be sent in beginning in May of 2014 and the law school will maintain its current enrollment of roughly 130 students, but one quarter of them will be in the new program. Tuition at Drexel’s law school is $37,000 annually.
The dean of the Rutgers School of Law at Camden, Rayman Solomon, said, “This is a good-faith effort at addressing the debt problem for a portion of their class. It wouldn’t work for everyone. I think there are going to be lots of ways schools will be looking at handling debt.”
Solomon also said that it is a good idea, but it might not be the best option for students who are right out of college.