Minnesota Law School Considers Taking Itself Private
With public funding increasingly unreliable, the University of Minnesota’s law school is mulling the option of taking itself private.
By giving up public funding, the school would have more control over its operations, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune, which reports that the university’s business school is also considering going private.
Critics complain, however, that going private would lessen the law school’s commitment to the state.
Not so, says law school dean David Wippman. “We will be, in every respect, a public law school,” he is quoted saying. “Our tuition plan has to be approved by the regents. We are not opting out of our financial obligations to the university. Nothing really changes—except where your revenue comes from.”
Still others worried that a revenue-driven model would mean even more tuition increases.
Raising tuition costs “fades the purpose of being a state school,” 3L Kelly McNabb told the paper.
But Wippman countered that private funding may help more students because it’ll be easier for the school to raise money for scholarships, internships and stipends.
