On the Record

By: Caryn Tamber

Let me state off the bat that I love law professors. Some of my best sources are law professors. But a new study raises the question of whether there are just too many of them.

According to a study to be released later this month by The National Jurist (HT: ABA Journal), the astronomical rise in law school tuition in the last 10 years–102 percent at public schools and 74 percent at private schools–coincides with a 40 percent increase in faculty rosters over the same time period. The new faculty hires account for 48 percent of the tuition hikes, The National Jurist found.

Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor William Henderson, who often writes and comments on the law school business model, attributes the flood of new hires to schools’ desire to do well in the U.S. News rankings, which take into account faculty-student ratio. Meanwhile, the professors are spending less time in the classroom and more time on scholarship.

I’m curious to see what you think about this, readers.

Professors: Are there too many of you, or is (what we’ve seen so far of) this study reductionist? Were faculty levels too low pre-1998, with today’s levels closer to appropriate? How crucial is the scholarship that professors do?

Students and recent grads: Are you angry that much of the crazy tuition you’re paying is a result of a hiring binge, or are you benefiting from the larger faculty?