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This is the sixth installment in a series of posts centered around data from the 2015 LSSSE Survey administration and the 2015 Annual Report, which provides a retrospective glimpse into law student debt trends over a 10-year period, 2006 to 2015, with 2011 as a midpoint. This post discusses student debt and the student satisfaction.

The LSSSE Survey is designed to measure the effects of legal education on law students.  Student satisfaction is related to those effects; therefore, respondents are asked:

If you could start over again, would you go to the same law school you are now attending?

The purpose of this question is to, again, prompt respondents to consider and assess their law school experiences, but this time in the context of the opportunity costs.  Respondents are given the following four answer choices:

• Definitely yes
• Probably yes
• Probably no
• Definitely no

In the analyses below, the favorable responses (Definitely yes and Probably yes) are combined, as are the unfavorable responses (Probably no and Definitely no).

In each survey year, respondents who expected to owe more than $120,000 were noticeably less likely to respond favorably to the satisfaction questions.  In 2006, 75% of these respondents had favorable views of their law school experiences, compared to the overall rate of 80%.  Similar differences were observed in 2011 and 2015.

The effects of debt seemed even more apparent in the responses to the “same law school” question.  With a few slight exceptions, in every survey year, respondents were less likely to state that they would attend the same law school as expected debt increased.  At the level of more than $120,000 in expected the debt, 70% of respondents in 2006 said they would attend the same law school, compared to 82% of those who expected no debt.  In 2011, the favorable response rate among these high-debt respondents was 74%, compared to 83% of those who expected no debt.  And lastly, in 2015, 74% of these high-debt respondents stated they would attend the same school, compared to 87% of those expecting no debt.  This 13-percentage point difference was the largest among the three survey years.

This is the fifth installment in a series of posts centered around data from the 2015 LSSSE Survey administration and the 2015 Annual Report, which provides a retrospective glimpse into law student debt trends over a 10-year period, 2006 to 2015, with 2011 as a midpoint. This post discusses student debt and the student experience.

The LSSSE Survey is designed to measure the effects of legal education on law students.  Student satisfaction is related to those effects; therefore, respondents are asked:

How would you evaluate your entire educational experience at your law school?

The purpose of this question is to prompt respondents to consider and assess their law school experiences.  This is, in essence, a question regarding satisfaction, a perceptional concept.  As such, respondents are given the following four answer choices:

• Excellent
• Good
• Fair
• Poor

In the analyses below, the favorable responses (Excellent and Good) are combined, as are the unfavorable responses (Fair and Poor).

As a general proposition, LSSSE respondents reported high levels of satisfaction with their law school experience in each of the survey years.  In 2015, 84% of respondents rated their law school experiences “excellent” or “good.” [i]  Eighty-one percent stated that they would definitely or probably attend their same law school again. [ii]  Interestingly, these proportions were higher than in both 2011 and 2006.  This is noteworthy, given the increased costs of legal education and the handwringing about whether the endeavor is worth those costs.

A possible theory for these higher expressions of satisfaction might be that those who have opted to attend law school in spite of the unflattering scrutiny of late are more likely to have an affinity for the endeavor that transcends some of the most common practical considerations.  Put simply, current law students may be more apt to be satisfied with the experience compared to past cohorts.  Another theory could be that law schools have adapted to changing student needs and demands in ways that have increased satisfaction.  In any case, the trend was somewhat surprising to us.

But in each survey year, respondents who expected to owe more than $120,000 were noticeably less likely to respond favorably to the satisfaction questions.  In 2006, 75% of these respondents had favorable views of their law school experiences, compared to the overall rate of 80%.  Similar differences were observed in 2011 and 2015. [iii]

[i]. Overall Satisfaction with “Entire Law School Experience” response proportions

[ii]. Overall “Same Law School” response proportions

[iii]. Satisfaction with “Entire Law School Experience,” more than $120K