"Admission Through Performance"

"Law School Offers Second Chance," by Karen Sloan (National Law Journal)

An article about the Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law, an unaccredited law school whose mission is to produce attorneys to service the underserved populations in Southern Appalachia. Duncan is hosting three free LSAT prep courses. If that whole "standardized test score" thing doesn't work out, don't sweat it. Duncan started a new "Admission Through Performance" program. Duncan at absolutely no charge will enroll you in a free, four-week course on the Federal Rules of Evidence taught by the Duncan faculty. If you do well, meaning a 70 on a 100 point final exam, consider yourself a 1L.

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"Luckless Law Grad Gets Loan Relief....10 Years Later," by Joe Pallazzola (WSJ Blogs)

Michael Hedlund, after 10 years of bankruptcy litigation, received a hardship discharge on $53,000 of $85,000 in student loans. Mr. Hedlund failed the bar exam twice, then locked his keys inside his car while stopping to get coffee on the third attempt thereby quashing his dreams forever. Congratulations to Mr. Hedlund for gutting out 10 years of bankruptcy litigation -- which likely cost more than the amount discharged if he had been properly charged.

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"US, Chinese law schools to deepen collaboration," by Caroline Berg (China Daily USA)

Columbia University Law School and Peking University Law School signed a memo of understanding to "expand opportunities." Seems like every educational institution in the US from local school districts on up is trying to capture Chinese money through one way or another.

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"Commendable Conduct Award," by Steven J. Harper (AmLaw Daily)

Harper gives kudos to University of Kansas School of Law Dean Stephen Mazza for voluntarily reducing the size of the incoming class from 175 down to 120 just because it was "the right thing to do."

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"Rutgers Students Join Holt in Opposition of Rising Student Loan Rates," by Katrina Rossos (East Brunswick Patch)

Harvard Law grad complains that high student loans are preventing him from moving on in his life. Article concerns H.R. 1911 which seeks to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish interest rates for new loans made on, or after, July 1, 2013. This bill passed the House of Representatives on Thursday morning in a 224 to 193 vote. Interest rates on Stafford loans would no longer be fixed but would rise or fall from year to year with the government's cost of borrowing. The initial rate for the loans would be about 4.4 percent but in coming years it could increase to a cap of 8.5 percent.

Elizabeth Warren is pushing for student loan interest rates to be tied to cut to near zero. Warren is proposing the Student Loan Fairness Act where student loan interest would be cut to the low .75 percent interest rate that banks pay to the Federal Reserve for short-term loans. This would be a one-year fix until a long-term solution could be agreed upon.

Stafford loans are set to double from the current rate of 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1, 2013.