UMass freezes law school tuition

By Rebecca Keister
PBN Staff Writer
Twitter: @keisterpbn

DARTMOUTH – The University of Massachusetts School of Law has announced that it is freezing tuition and mandatory law school-related fees at their current levels for the next three years in order to make law school a more accessible opportunity.

The university says the freeze will help students better predict the total cost of their education and keep that cost at about 50 percent of private alternatives.

“As the Commonwealth’s first public law school, we have a mission to provide individuals with the aspiration, talent and will to succeed as citizen lawyers the opportunity to achieve their dream,” said UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack in a statement.

UMass Law was created in 2010 and currently has 325 students. The American Bar Association recently granted UMass Law provisional national accreditation which allows to the bar exam in any state.

The school also recently announced the appointment of Mary Lu Bilek, CUNY School of Law, in New York city, Association Dean and Professor as UMass Law dean. She will take office the first week of July.

“A public law school has a special obligation to provide accessible legal education and to graduate lawyers who are civic minded,” Bilek said in a statement. “By controlling the cost of their education, we open up many more options for them.”

Current full-time tuition costs are $23,068 for in-state students and $30,760 for out of state students.