The University of Tulsa’s Law School has announced a new tuition program to take effect in 2017. The Access to Legal Education Tuition will be $24,600 per year for full-time juris doctor students, significantly cheaper than the $37,960 tuition of our current academic term. Lyn Entzeroth, the dean of TU’s College of Law, said the tuition reduction reflects the College of Law’s mission to “provide students with an outstanding legal education at a private Top 100 law school at an affordable price.”
Besides making TU one of the most affordable prestigious law institutions in the country, the tuition also allows TU to compete with many of America’s top-tier public law schools.
When asked what might differentiate the program, in addition to the lower tuition, from previous years, Dean Entzeroth said that as part of TU law’s commitment to expanding students’ opportunities, the school operates “in direct response to evolving legal trends and the practical training interests of today’s law applicant.” These efforts include, among others, three clinics, two student journals, mock court programs and a number of externship opportunities.
The law school managed to open a third clinic this year. The clinics are meant to appeal to students interested in solo practice, allowing applicants to represent real clients — under the guidance of faculty members, of course. The clinics serve underserved communities, simultaneously helping students develop attorney-client relationships while familiarizing themselves with real world issues.
TU also recently launched the TU Law Co-op, a legal incubator program funded by the TIRN grant from the George Kaiser Family Foundation. TIRN, or Tulsa Immigrant Resource Network, is meant to ease access to legal justice resources for locals lacking citizenship. The incubator program is different from the clinics, primarily in its assistance to help develop new and startup companies.
Before these improvements even go into effect, TU law’s placement of students in JD and JD preferred jobs is currently ranked at 26th in the nation. These jobs, Dean Entzeroth elaborated, include prestigious judicial clerkships with federal appellate and trial courts; associate positions with noteworthy law firms across the country, placements with federal governmental agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice; jobs in Attorney General’s offices; positions with public interest organizations; and jobs in corporations such as Chevron or the Bank of Oklahoma.