Comments on UVA Law Blog: The Law School's Endowment is Down

11:14, The school won't "administer itse...

2009-10-28T17:28:31.471-04:00

11:14,

The school won't "administer itself" but these people do a poor job (see every year Cary Bennett's rambling e-mails filled with excuses for why LawReg doesn't work this time) and receive way too much money for it. $90k? That's twice what the average household in the US makes. One law school "administrator" whose job doesn't entail that much work is not deserving.

6:10, you think the school is going to administer ...

2009-10-28T01:14:48.335-04:00

6:10, you think the school is going to administer itself? they don't make that much, and they're the ones you want to target for cuts?

The 150k future-crushing donation I've already...

2009-10-27T20:07:41.179-04:00

The 150k future-crushing donation I've already made to this place is sufficient for a lifetime.

Oh, and Dooley's salary is outright highway ro...

2009-10-27T18:11:19.802-04:00

Oh, and Dooley's salary is outright highway robbery. That guy hasn't been a decent teacher or researcher since this decade began.

I would echo the sentiments regarding professor/fa...

2009-10-27T18:10:43.965-04:00

I would echo the sentiments regarding professor/faculty pay.

In particular, I think faculty like Martha Ballenger and Cary Bennett are making far more than their worth, particularly given the low cost of living in this area.

Click here for an xo thread that uncovered the salaries paid to Law School profs/faculty: http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1119049&mc=70&forum_id=2&PHPSESSID=c6922bf9936f6fcde90e0c4e9df0842e#13074265

Well my job prospects are down at least 85% and ma...

2009-10-27T17:17:06.472-04:00

Well my job prospects are down at least 85% and may never recover ...

12:20, I agree the current and recent classes wil...

2009-10-27T13:38:22.731-04:00

12:20,

I agree the current and recent classes will quite likely be sub par for donation amounts, both in the next decade and long term. My response was more geared against the notion that alumni donations as a whole will drop off rapidly ("over the next 2-3 years" & "could get ugly real fast"). I just don't think the effects felt by recent classes will have too devastating an effect on the overall fundraising, causing some immediate noticeable increase in tuition because of it (hopefully other factors will smooth over the donations drop for the long term). But, like I said before, I do not have hard statistics on where the bulk of money comes from and could just as easily be mistaken.

they should cut professor salaries. they make mor...

2009-10-27T13:25:57.798-04:00

they should cut professor salaries. they make more money than they are worth.

11:05 I guess the argument is what happens when a...

2009-10-27T12:20:03.806-04:00

11:05

I guess the argument is what happens when a handful of connected classes get hit hard economically? Can they recover and eventually have enough effective earning power to donate substantially to UVA in let's say 15-20 years?

Not sure what is going to happen with firmless 2Ls, no-offered 3Ls, laid off 1st year associates, etc. With the economy stagnant for the next 1-2 years, will firm hiring be much better in the next few years? The 2012 & 2013 classes are banking on substantially better odds, but who knows...

Before this entire mess, people in this position were seen as pariahs. Will the mentality over these individuals change in terms of future firm opportunities for these individuals?

8:59 and 10:41, But how much of the bulk of alumn...

2009-10-27T11:05:32.338-04:00

8:59 and 10:41,

But how much of the bulk of alumni donations come from people fresh out of school? I realize that by percentages recent classes donate at high rates, but are they donating very much? I don't have stats on this, but intuitively I would think that people much further in their careers make up the vast majority of net donations.

8:59 Exactly, alumni donations could get ugly rea...

2009-10-27T10:41:31.680-04:00

8:59

Exactly, alumni donations could get ugly real fast. With probably 50% of the 2L class unemployed and numerous other discussed employment difficulties, tuition is bound to increase. Even if the 2L and future classes become "gainfully" employed, it will likely be PI or something lower paying, decreasing the amount they might be able to donate.

thanks 12f, that makes sense

2009-10-27T09:25:29.840-04:00

thanks 12f, that makes sense

Re: alumni giving, I think UVA (and all other law ...

2009-10-27T08:59:17.968-04:00

Re: alumni giving, I think UVA (and all other law schools) will really feel the effects of the economy over the next 2-3 years. As recent grads have trouble finding firm jobs and those who are 3-4 years out cope with layoffs and pay cuts, alumni contributions are bound to fall off steeply. That doesn't even consider the "emotional" side of it: if UVA Law didn't get me a good job, why would I donate money? (not my opinion, but I can understand it.)

As I understand the current plan, if you make 35k ...

2009-10-26T15:59:38.064-04:00

As I understand the current plan, if you make 35k or more, you are presumed to put one half of the amount greater than 35k to make whatever your lenders determine your annual loan payment to be. LRAP will pick up whatever is left.

So, if your loan payment is 12k, and you make 45k, the numbers would break down like this: your income exceeds 35k by 10k, and you will be required to use 1/2 that amount (5k) to pay your loans. The remaining amount of your loan payment (7k) will be covered by LRAP.

Note what happens when you reach a level of 59k: your income exceeds 35k by 24k, and you use half of this amount (12k) to pay your loans, which covers the entire amount of the loan payment for that year. There is nothing left for the LRAP program to cover, so you obviously don't get anything. So for someone with 12k of loan payments a year, the effective cap is 59k of annual income.

Your eligibility for the program and how much you get is reevaluated each year (to reflect possible changes in your salary and annual payment amount).

12(f) -- sorry, could you explain that again? Per...

2009-10-26T15:53:26.522-04:00

12(f) -- sorry, could you explain that again? Perhaps put it in the article as an EDIT w/ an example of what this means if say you have 100k debt and earn 45k in your job (or something)

Technically no, effectively yes: once one-half of ...

2009-10-26T13:34:27.279-04:00

Technically no, effectively yes: once one-half of the amount your income exceeds 35k becomes greater than your annual loan payment, you basically are out of the program, as I understand it. Perhaps this is what is changing.

It's my understanding that the current LRAP do...

2009-10-26T13:17:24.792-04:00

It's my understanding that the current LRAP doesn't HAVE a salary cap.