The Indiana University Center for Post-Secondary Research released its latest Law School Survey of Student Engagement, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This is the tenth year for the survey, which polled more than 26,000 students across 86 law schools in the United States. The poll wanted to know what the students’ satisfaction levels were with career counseling and financial aid. They also asked about interaction with faculty members outside of courses.
In 2013, 65 percent of students said that their law schools put ‘a substantial emphasis’ on giving students the support needed to succeed. From the same survey, 68 percent noted that they were satisfied with the advising they receive for financial aid.
“With all of the turmoil in legal education, students are in general pretty satisfied with what they are learning and how they are being treated at their schools,” said David Yellen, Dean of Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Yellen was the author of the intro for the survey this year.
Despite the results of the categories mentioned earlier, students appear to be less happy with career counseling and job search services offered by their law schools. In fact, 43 percent of students said that the job search services at their schools were unsatisfactory. For career counseling, 42 percent gave the category an unsatisfactory rating.
The project manager of the survey, Chad Christensen, said that a student’s unhappiness tended to increase as he or she got closer to graduation. To compare, 70 percent of first-year law school students said they were happy with job search services at their schools. Third-year students came in at 45 percent.
The survey also found that 25 percent of third-year students worked often with faculty members outside of the classroom. Third-year students, 43 percent of them, said that they did not take part in a pro bono project or a clinical.
The survey said that students who have parents with doctoral degrees are more inclined to speak with law grads or lawyers about their education and job search.