A New Issue: Law School Placement Rates

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Kyle McEntee and and a fellow law school student, upset with what they felt was misleading information about job placements from their own school (Vanderbilt) and others, started an organization to pressure law schools into releasing accurate data on job prospects for lawyers.

Now, their nonprofit company, Law School Transparency, is receiving national attention.

Law School Transparency is prompting lawsuits against schools that are accused of getting students based on misleading data about jobs.  The main complaint is that law schools are posting employment rates of only those who report back to them.

According to the National Association for Law Placement, only 64 percent of 2010 law school grads had jobs requiring a law license.

As the controversy continues, law schools are concerned about losing students and are being creative.  John Marshall Law School in Chicago, for instance, has posted an application on smart phones and tablets and waives the $50 application fee for iPhone applicants.

Read more about these issues in The Chronicle of High Education.