Northwestern University School of Law's decision to offer a quicker route to graduation - a two-year alternative to its traditional three-year program - is spurring debate about legal education.
The accelerated program - the third of its kind in the country and the first at a top-tier school - compresses the same number of credits into five semesters for 25 to 60 students who will enroll alongside about 240 traditional students. The option caters to driven students who "understand the opportunity cost" of earning professional experience and salary sooner, Northwestern University School of Law Dean David van Zandt said.
But critics say the accelerated program may shortchange time for academic development and career exploration.
"The benefits and the drawbacks are the same thing: less time studying, researching and writing before going to work full-time," Penn Law Dean Michael Fitts wrote in an e-mail.
Fitts said Penn has considered accelerated programs, but will more likely expand its three-year interdisciplinary offerings. Penn also allows a few undergraduates annually to submatriculate into Penn Law, so they are in school for less time but still study three years of law.
Much of the debate centers on the value of the third year, in which students choose electives after two years of regimented, mostly required courses.
Van Zandt said students learn to "think like lawyers" by year two, and many people feel the third year is "aimless and misused."
While a two-year program may work for students whose plans are set, Fitts said, students who want to explore different areas of law are able to do so in year three.
Second-year Penn Law student Jennifer Bealer said she expects her third year to be "much more relaxing" because most classmates will have job offers and therefore will focus less on grades. Still, she looks forward to exploring the interests she discovers during summer internships.
Some in the legal community also are concerned that the two-year track's compressed schedule cuts into summer opportunities, which Bealer said are "as important, if not more important than coursework."
Gavin Lentz, a lawyer with Philadelphia firm Bochetto & Lentz, said "shortening the learning curve would be detrimental" because students have less practical experience and mentorship.
But van Zandt said he does not expect lower caliber lawyers. Applicants are screened for motivation and time management skills and must have at least two years of work experience. In other compressed programs, students performed just as well in less time, he added.
Since the option was announced in June, no other schools have followed Northwestern's lead - and van Zandt can't yet predict whether shorter programs will become more popular.
"Law schools are highly conservative when it comes to change," he said.
The two-year program is part of Northwestern's curriculum overhaul that aims to produce more business-savvy lawyers by emphasizing areas like accounting, teamwork and strategic analysis.
"The world is getting much faster paced and much more competitive," van Zandt said. "You have to be innovative all the time."
