"One way for a struggling law school to save face is to merge with another school to alleviate their need for funding, student head counts, and the like. The Appalachian School of Law is in a rough spot - low enrollment and funding issues are pushing them to merge with another school. There is a small issue: the school they're considering merging with is about three hours away."
"If the school decides to stick to its roots and stay there, they'd have to figure out what their income stream would be. Not only is the school short about the 120 students they'd need to be fully sustainable, the Trump administration's recent attack on grad school loans makes it harder for the average American to even afford investing in a law degree."
Appalachian School of Law currently enrolls 184 students, well below the 300 threshold cited as necessary for full sustainability, and employs about 47 people. The school is exploring a potential merger with Roanoke College, which has engaged in confidential conversations but has made no formal agreement. A merger could alleviate funding and enrollment pressures, but would not fully address the school's mission to support the local economy if operations move. Remaining in place would require identifying new income streams. Declining affordability of graduate loans reduces the applicant pool, worsening sustainability prospects amid persistent legal-service shortages in rural Virginia.
Read at Above the Law
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]