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Wow -- the cost of law school, 1936

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MadRiver

MadRiver

Jedi Knight
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I've been going through some of my grandparents' personal effects -- things that have been in boxes since my grandmother passed away seven years ago. Over the weekend, I discovered a leather wallet that belonged to my grandfather, and it contained, in perfect condition, the receipts for his law school tuition from 1936. In 1936, a year at Harvard Law School cost $500.
 
The way things are going, it might get close to that again! :devilgrin:
 
According to one inflation calculator I went to, $500 in 1936 is equivalent to about $7800 today. No chance at paying that little to go to Harvard law school today. I guess we'd have to say that higher education costs have totally run amok!
 
College is a subject near and dear to my heart (and career).

My first semester at Trenton State College (in 1968), cost me $175 (tuition) plus about $40 per month in off-campus housing rent.
I remember the numbers because I had to borrow that money from my aunt (and it took me about a year to pay her back).

One of my younger brothers graduated from Harvard. He went for free. And not on a scholarship either. At the time, he figured out that if you were an employee of the college, you could take night classes (and certain day classes) for free.
So he did. And ended up with a Bachelor of Science degree.
When you come from a large, poor family (7 kids) you have to be creative.
grin.gif

Both of my parents left school before the age of 13. But all of their children ended up with advanced college degrees.

These days, my response to the cost of higher ed is to look at your local community college. ~My school~ is one of the most expensive community colleges in the US. If you're careful, you can get your first two years done at CCM for about $6500.

Of course, lots of folks might question the quality of a community college compared to a "real" school.....this is often backwards. I've sat in classes at Princeton, Rutgers and others. Most use the same English Comp book and Calculus book that we do. And many freshman classes at four-year schools are huge (100+ being common). Our classes are rarely more than 25 and our teachers are usually full-timers with lots of experience. Many freshman-level "teachers" at four-year schools are foreign graduate students, who may be smart, but unable or unskilled at conveying subject matter.

In the old days, there was questions about transfer of credits from community colleges to four years schools. But most states have inter-school agreements these days (for example, NJIT is contractually liable to take any of my engineering students with a 2.5 GPA or better).
Of course, none of this applies to <span style="text-decoration: underline">for-profit</span>, two-year schools (often called "trade schools"). They are a different deal all together (in other words, <span style="font-style: italic">buyer beware</span>).

Finally, there's is only one place in the US where you can take College Physics with Dr. Einstein. Not Harvard, Princeton or Yale. My community college. :yesnod:
I've worked with Dr. Fred Einstein for 25+ years. Not surprisingly, he's a great teacher. I "talk shop" with him all the time (and yes, he's related....he's a second cousin).
 
Both my kids went to State schools here in NY. The costs were 1/3 to 1/4 of what private schools were getting. The SUNY (State University of New York) system is highly regarded, and I'm glad that my kids chose going there. After all, some of the taxes I've been paying in NY finally came back to benefit me. My daughter graduated Magna cum-laude. Both of them went on to get Master's degrees and are doing very well today. I feel that if someone puts their mind to it, they can do well and prosper even if they attend "lesser" schools. It's always up to the individual what they get out of the time and money spent.
 
We were lucky that our oldest attended the US Naval Academy,
no so lucky with the other two.

- Doug
 
And as someone who is about 85% though Doctoral studies, (Albeit in a limited field) noone has ever turned me down because of the schools I went to and I have never been asked my marks.
 
My middle son is has one year left in Loyola University Law School (Evening program) and is in hock up to his, well, arse. My youngest finished medical school (state) with a measly $90K debt. Not sure how they will pay it back. I finished dental school in 1970 with $35K in debt. I guess it is all relative. Something has got to give.
 
"I take it that the odds are against us and the situation is grim ... sounds like fun!" - James T. Kirk <---- Didn't Denny Crane say exactly the same thing??

And yes, this is relevant to this thread! :laugh:
 
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