Vermont Law School is rolling out new master's degrees: But does Vermont even need a law school?

 Vermont Law School, located in the bucolic village of South Royalton, has struggled recently with declining enrollment, demographic shifts, and "wobbly finances." Consequently, VLS is rolling out new law-focused master's degrees and changing its name to the Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Karen Gross, a former president of Southern Vermont College, applauded the move. "VLGS should be commended for trying to innovate, and I think what they did and silo-busting, moving programs online, and staying close to their mission, is smart," Gross was quoted as saying in an Inside Higher Ed article. 

So, what's new at VLGS? In addition to the law school's traditional J.D. program and its master's degree program for J.D. graduates, VLGS now offers several master's degrees that will not qualify graduates to practice law. Specifically:

• Master's Degree in Environmental Law and Policy

• Master's Degree in Energy Regulation and Law

• Master's Degree in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy

• Master of Arts in Restorative Justice

In collaboration with other universities, VLGS will also offer eleven dual degrees. For example, working with the University of Cergy-Pontoise (France), VLGS students can get a JD/LLM in French and European Law. Partnering with the University of Cambridge (England), students can obtain a JD/Master of Philosophy degree in real estate finance. 

What will it cost students for these new degrees? About 50 grand a year in tuition and fees.

In short, as several commentators explained in the Inside Higher Ed article, VLGS is "diversifying its product line," it's "silo-busting,"  "moving the needle," and "going big."

I suppose VLGS should be commended for launching these new degrees, but all this activity begs the question:

Does Vermont even need a law school? After all, there are nine law schools in neighboring Massachusetts and fifteen law schools in nearby New York. 

All across the country, law school applications are down. Many people who are smart enough to be good lawyers are choosing other career paths.

To combat this trend, law schools have spun out new graduate programs to attract more students. These programs are targeted toward people who are not seeking to become lawyers. Often, these master's programs put students in debt without improving their graduates' job prospects.

Moreover, the United States has too many law schools and too many lawyers. The public would be well served if the American Bar Association forced some of these schools to close and pressured the remaining schools to concentrate on their core mission--preparing people to be lawyers.

Unfortunately, that is not what the ABA is doing. And the ABA's inaction leaves schools like VLGS free to spin out new and expensive graduate degrees, which may or may not be worth what students are paying.

President Biden ponders $50,000 student-loan cancelation: That doesn't go nearly far enough

 President Biden has asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to prepare a memo on the president's legal authority to cancel up to $50,000 in student debt.  

If he did that, the experts tell us, President Biden would forgive all college-loan debt for 36 million people--about 80 percent of all borrowers. 

Is that a good idea? 

Sort of. Anything the federal government does to provide relief to distressed student-loan debtors is good, so I support a massive cancelation of student debt.

Nevertheless, one-time debt forgiveness is the wrong approach. 

Wiping out student debt without reforming the student-loan program is like fixing a flat tire on a broken-down car and then putting it back on the highway with no brakes. Someone down the road is going to get hurt.

The whole damned, rotten student-loan system has to be torn down. Otherwise, the corrupt, venal, and incompetent American higher education system will continue ripping off the American people.

Obviously, massive reform can't be accomplished overnight.  But here is what we need to do for starters:

1) Congress must remove the "undue hardship" clause from the Bankruptcy Code and allow insolvent student-loan debtors to discharge their loans in bankruptcy. 

2) We've got to shut down the Parent Plus program.

3) The federal government has got to stop subsidizing the for-profit colleges, which have hurt so many young people--especially people of color and low-income people.

4) We've got to stop shoving student borrowers into 25-year, income-based repayment plans that are structured such that no one in these plans can ever pay off their loans.  There almost 9 million people in IBRPs now. 

5) The universities have got to start offering programs that help their graduates get a real job. Degrees in ethnic studies, diversity studies, LGBT studies, and gender studies only prepare people for jobs teaching ethnic studies, diversity studies, gender studies, and LGBT studies.

6) Finally, we must restore the integrity of the nation's law schools.  We've got too many mediocre law schools. California alone has more than 50 law schools, with only 18 accredited by the American Bar Association.   And the law schools need to go back to admitting students based on objective criteria--the LSAT score, in particular.

If we had fewer but better-trained lawyers, we'd have less litigation and fewer attorneys who see their job as being hired political hacks.

Will the Biden administration do any of the things I've outlined? I doubt it.

Higher education is in desperate need of reform. A college education is far too expensive, and much of what is taught at the universities is not useful.  Wiping out student debt will bring some relief to millions of college borrowers. But if the colleges don't change how they do business, the student-debt crisis will not be solved.