Law School Tuition

I am a student in a state accredited law school and I pay my tuition out-of-pocket. Can I claim a deduction for my tuition expenses?

Look at the tuition and fees deduction.
Look at the Lifetime Learning credit.

2010-01-13 08:58:11 by Jeremy

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Richard A. Matasar, Dean of New York Law School, talks with Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia about David Segal's New York ...

I was already enrolled in school prior to becoming a feelance paralegal. I graduated last year but th tuition deduction, although showing as getting the deduction, doesn't reduce my taxes owed at all. I didn't make very much money and I don't want to pay a CPA to do my taxes.

are you going to school or are you in business?
if you are not conducting a business you don't have business expenses

2010-03-09 16:18:50 by Dave

Price: $5.95 $5.95

Such as..
Yale?
Harvard?
Stanford?
Washington and Lee?
I really dont want links to the University pages, and i dont need specifics,
but estimated tuition would be great!

Around $60,000 a year for a top 10 school.

Around $50,000 a year for a tier one school (top 50).

2009-02-04 21:17:32 by Beth

Price: $9.95 $9.95

I want to go to good law school so I can get a high paying salary, preferably over $90,000 starting salary, but I can't afford to go to one. Any help or suggestions or answers would be well appreciated.

Below is a link to US News Law School Rankings. It will give you information regarding a law school's rank and tuition. If you want to get a high-paying salary, you usually have to go to a school ranked in the T-14 (which are the law schools ranked 1-14 by US News). They are called the T-14 because they are considered national schools (they give you name recognition across the country) and the list of T-14 has not changed since, I believe, the early 1990s. The usual "big firm" salary coming out of these schools is $160,000 in market paying cities, i.e., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and etc. While many schools ranked in the T-50 will give you an opportunity to find a "big law" to "mid law" firm job, you will need to be ranked higher in your respective class (graduating class) to get an interview with these firms and/or job. The best piece of investment you can make before going to law school is a LSAT preparatory course. You should be aiming to get into the high-160s or 170s in order to have a shot at a T-14 law school or get a substantial scholarship from a place such as Brooklyn Law School or Boston College (both of which may be considered regional power-houses).

You should also take a look at what you want to do and where. There is probably not point in going to NYU if all you want to do is practice law in Colorado. Some would argue that a T-14 is worth going to while paying full price. Others may argue that only a T-10 school is worth going to at full price. One thing is for certain, law school is not cheap and you should think about it pretty good before making the leap. If you are in undergrad, you should focus on getting the highest GPA you can get. Once you are thinking about the LSAT, you should pay for a prep course and study for it as if it were your job. A nice GPA-LSAT combo may net you some scholarships from numerous law schools. Below is another website that offers information regarding admission and scholarships based on LSAT-GPA combos.

Best of luck

2008-12-12 12:43:11 by noco401

I'm going to be a junior in high school, and I know for certain that I want to be a lawyer. I know I'm going to Kent State University to get my masters degree of course, but I want to go to Law school also. Somewhere like Yale or Harvard. I'm already working a part time job and saving money in a savings account so I can pay part of the tuition, and I also plan on joining the Military after High School, but I'm just not sure if they will help Law school expenses.

The answer is yes and no (and mostly no).

There are three routes to becoming a JAG officer and only one of them usually pays for law school:

1. Direct Commission (nope)

2. Delayed Entry ROTC (maybe but it would be an exception)

3. Funded Legal Education Program ("FLEP") (yes)

I was a direct commission JAG officer. The Army did not (and does not) reimburse my education expenses. However, because I did not receive any previous funding from the Army (either the GI Bill or ROTC), I did receive the GI Bill, which I can now use for any future education like another masters or PhD. (but I cannot use to pay off my student loans for law school). The commitment for a direct commission officer I believe is now 4 years active duty for all branches (it used to be three for the Army) or six years in the reserves.

The ROTC program has two elements... the most well known is the scholarship side from which ROTC students get their tuition money. In return for taking the scholarship money, you will be required to take military science courses... what most people don't realize is these courses are open to students who are not actually in the ROTC scholarship program.... this is especially common in during the freshmen and sophomore years of college, where many of the students are not yet committed to joining the military upon graduation. If enrolled in the ROTC program, a student can apply to defer their obligation to the military in order to attend law school but there are no guarantees that you will get a deferment. Even if you get the deferment the military will NOT pay for law school and you will NOT be eligible for the GI Bill (the military usually only pays tuition once). It may also be possible to attend ROTC classes while in graduate school... although this is not the norm and I don't know about what sort of financial aid they would provide.... but it is possible to enroll in the military science classes if both your law school and the ROTC program agree (I can tell you that Yale law will let you drive to UCONN for the classes as Yale does not have its own ROTC program). The people in my basic training that went through ROTC delayed entry had a four year commitment to active duty and I believe a six year commitment for those that entered the reserves.

The FLEP program does pay for law school, but there are no guarantees that you will get in. The FLEP program works like this... you go through ROTC and become a commissioned officer in a non-JAG specialty. So in the Army, for example, you might be infantry or an engineer or a quartermaster. After you serve a few years as an officer you can apply for the FLEP program. This is a very selective program (in the Army only about 6% of applicants enter the program.) If selected to be a FLEP, you will be allowed to attend law school and the military will pay for it (more on that in a minute).... you will also continue to serve in the military, which means you will keep your date of rank and your pay while attending classes (you will also be subject to the UCMJ just like any active duty officer and will be required to spend your summers working with the military). The FLEP program normally only covers costs for a state school (any state school), however, one of the members of my officer basic course did go to Harvard as a FLEP... but that was because Harvard agreed to lower the tuition for her to the level of the most expensive state school in Massachusetts and the military agreed to cover that for her. FLEPs have a six year commitment to active duty upon graduation, and if they don't pass the bar they are required to serve that commitment in their former MOS (specialty). The nice thing about the FLEP program is that once you complete your commitment you are probably an O-4 (Major in the Army or Marines) and are half way to retirement. There are draw-backs to the FLEP program (like too much responsibility thrust onto these new attorneys because they may outrank senior attorneys that were in the reserves or were direct commissions).

If you are interested in going to Yale or Harvard, I suggest you start working on it now. I also recommend an article I wrote right after graduation about getting into Yale. Good luck, the JAG Corps can always use smart people looking to serve.

http://www0.epinions.com/review/educ-Law _Schools-All-Yale_University_Law/content _24827432580

2009-05-25 14:02:30 by Federal Princess