UMass Dartmouth chancellor Jean MacCormack said the public law school would operate without taxpayer funds and eventually funnel millions into UMass Dartmouth and the state through expanded enrollment. It is estimated that the school would grow from 235 students to 559 by 2017. The school will charge $23,500 a year for ins-state tuition and $31,000 for out of state tuition. UMass Dartmouth wants to create a program to give students enrolled in any UMass campus the opportunity to earn an accelerated law degree. In this program a student would complete their undergraduate studies in three years and begin their first year of law school during their senior year.
Three private law schools in the state were strenuously opposed to the plan.