Why UMass Law is growing enrollment through partnerships with Mass. colleges - Boston Business Journal - Boston Business Journal
The University of Massachusetts School of Law doesn’t have a partnership with every institution of higher learning in the state. But to those in academic circles, it may be starting to seem that way.
Last week, the law school announced the 13th partnership in its 3+3 program, which enables students to enroll in UMass Law after only three years of undergraduate study. This time around, the agreement is with Springfield College, but UMass Law has the same arrangement with many of the state’s public colleges as well as a handful of private ones, including Assumption University and Regis College.
Most of the partnerships have been struck since Eric Mitnick took on the role of dean at UMass Law five years ago, he said. For that reason, most have few or no enrollees, considering students have to make it through three years of undergrad before arriving on UMass Law’s Dartmouth campus. There are eight 3+3 students currently enrolled at the school.
But eventually, even if each partnership produces only a couple of students a year, it would prove a significant source of students for the law school, which has 140 students in its first-year class this year.
Part of the rationale for the bevy of partnerships, Mitnick said, is to help keep up the pace of UMass Law’s growth. The school is one of the fastest-growing in the country. UMass Law launched in 2010 using assets from what had been the Southern New England School of Law.
Another is to keep the costs of obtaining a law degree as low as possible, since 3+3 participants need only six years of schooling versus seven. Courses that the participants take at UMass Law count toward the requirements for their bachelor’s degree.
“The most important part of this, the real reason for doing this, is it helps to fulfill the mission of providing access to justice,” Mitnick said. “That’s why we exist, is to have a more affordable law school so people aren’t buried in debt.”
The program does not guarantee admission to UMass Law: Students are typically expected to have at least a 3.2 GPA in undergrad, for instance. Still, “3+3 students are really some of our best students,” Mitnick said. “They’re so focused, and so well-organized in order to satisfy all of the requirements.” Last year, he said, participants in the program had an average GPA of 3.5, higher than the class average.
UMass Law now has 3+3 arrangements with all of the state’s four-year public higher education institutions save a few. Officials have had conversations with the holdouts, Mitnick said, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Bridgewater State University and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
That last one may prove particularly tricky to bring into the fold.
“They send their students out on a boat during their fourth year of college, so that makes it harder,” Mitnick said.
Largest Colleges & Universities in Massachusetts
Ranked by Total FTE student enrollment for Fall 2020
| Rank | School | Total FTE student enrollment for Fall 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Massachusetts Amherst | 29,693.00 |
| 2 | Boston University | 27,037.00 |
| 3 | Northeastern University | 26,389.00 |
| View This List | ||
source: https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2021/11/08/why-umass-law-is-growing-enrollment-through-partne.html
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