For Richer or Poorer: Does Your Law School Love You?

By Robyn Hagan Cain on February 14, 2013 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

In case you weren't aware of this, the amount of money you spend on your loved ones indicates how much you care.

That rule isn't just limited to Valentine's Day. When selecting a gift for a significant other — whether it's a cashmere sweater or an engagement ring — your purchasing power is publicly perceived as directly proportional to love. (Because that's fair, right?)

If this sounds totally cynical to you, just wait. The same logic, or lack thereof, seems to be applied to law school. If love means putting your money where your heart is, then George Washington University Law School really loves its unemployed alumni.

Earlier this week, the GW Hatchet reported the GW Law is spending nearly $3 million to place more than 20 percent of its 2012 graduates in school-funded, short-term internships. (Brief thanks, Business Insider.) The school's Pathways to Practice Program pays alumni $15 an hour to work 35 hours a week to gain experience.

(It also helps the school's job placement statistics, though the ABA requirements adopted in 2011 force a law school to disclose whether students are unemployed, in a job that requires a law degree, or in a job funded by the university, The California Bar Journal reports.)

But the Pathways program pay is but a pittance compared to full-time tuition at GW Law. According to the law school's website, tuition for the 2011-2012 academic year was $45,750. If a Pathways grad works the maximum number of hours for an entire year, her pre-tax pay would only be $27,300.

It may be a symbol of the school's undying love for its grads, but it doesn't compare to a real job.

Tell us: Does your law school love you as much as GW Law loves its unemployed grads? Does it offer a similar program to help alum get legal experience? Hit us up with all the dirty details on Facebook or Google+.

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