Impact of Tuition Increases on Canadian Law Students

American law students will likely find this recent Ontario study of interest too, though it is obviously of most interest to Canadians (note, however, that the University of Toronto, which charges the highest tuition, did not participate--though even tuition at Toronto is still well below American private school levels).  An excerpt:

Fifty per cent of students entering law school have zero debt, and at graduation 20 per cent of law graduates have zero debt. Sixty per cent of law graduates complete law school with a cumulative debt from university studies of under $40,000. However, 27 per cent expect to have accumulated debt of $40,000 to $70,000 over the course of their entire university career, and 13 per cent expect to graduate with more than $70,000 of student debt incurred while in university;

In part because universities are required by law to direct 30% of deregulated tuition towards needs-based financial assistance, there has been a dramatic increase in the total amount of bursary money awarded to students in financial need since tuition deregulation. Forty per cent of current students report that university/law school bursaries are a moderate source of funding for them, and one-half of those students report that these bursaries are a major source of funding;

Students are more likely to rely on banks for financial support than were students enrolled in law prior to tuition deregulation.

Although many students report that their articling decisions have been affected by their debt, their patterns of choice have not changed significantly over the period since tuition has increased, with the vast majority of students expecting to article in their “preferred” settings.