Harvard Law School is easing the burden of taking public service jobs with a new tuition plan, a move experts and students applaud but say could go further.
Under the new plan, the law school will pay the third year of tuition for future students who commit to work in public service for five years following graduation, Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan announced last week.
The program, which was announced at the three-day Celebration of Public Interest that was held from March 13-15, will save students more than $40,000 in tuition and living expenses.
"Harvard Law School wanted to do more to create incentives for our students to commit themselves to public service," wrote a Harvard Law communications official in an e-mail.
Despite the hype around Harvard's new program, it is not the first law school to encourage public interest work through financial assistance - Penn Law has had programs in place for years to provide assistance.
Each year, the law school offers four to six Toll Public Interest Scholarships - which pays the cost of students' tuition for up to three years - to students who commit to working in public interest law for at least five years, said Penn Law School Dean Michael Fitts.
In addition, the Penn Law public interest loan repayment assistance program offers students working in public sector careers up to $12,000 a year for up to 10 years for assistance in repaying their law school loans. The cap was originally $10,000 per year, but was raised to $12,000 in 2005.
Harvard's decision has received positive feedback from students as well as from public interest law firms, but many still feel that a lot more should be done to increase the interest of students in public service.
"It is a wonderful step," said Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Jennifer Clarke. "It is important that law schools take these sort of steps because they need to demonstrate that they support public interest law".
First year Harvard Law student Brianne Bharkhda wrote in an e-mail that the tuition waiver demonstrates the school's commitment to encouraging students to pursue careers in public interest.
But according to some students, turning down an average starting salary of $130,000 in the private sector for an average starting salary of $45,000 in public interest law can be a difficult decision.
Although this program will greatly help decrease the financial burden, it is unlikely that it will entice students without a commitment to public interest to rethink their career plans. Even with one years' tuition waiver, students can still accumulate a six-figure debt by the time they graduate, said first year law student Marsha Chien.
"People who don't want to do [public interest law], wont do it even for an extra $40,000," said third year Penn Law student Evan Chyun,
"The program gives current students little real benefit; it sounds dramatic but its likely impact is nearly nonexistent," wrote first year Harvard Law student Amir Shachmurove in an e-mail.
