2014-2015 Financial Aid Appeal Form: Fill & Download for Free

Q. Will Caltech provide financial aid to all accepted international students? I am a Canadian student and was accepted today, but the financial aid decisions aren’t out. Caltech is too expensive, especially due to the USD-CND conversion rate. I applied for financial aid, but I’m worried they won’t provide enough money for me to attend. Would they accept me and not give me FA?Frequently Asked QuestionsGeneral QuestionsIDOCGeneral QuestionsDo you have any merit scholarships?No. Caltech does not have a merit scholarship program at this time. Our financial aid is strictly need-based.How do I apply for financial aid?The process of applying for financial aid will differ depending on your specific circumstances. Instructions for applying and links to the appropriate forms are all available under the Applying tab of this website. Please contact us if you need any assistance in completing your financial aid application.I missed one of the deadlines; can I still apply for financial aid?Yes. Our application deadlines are considered "priority deadlines." Meeting these deadlines ensures that your financial aid application is reviewed as early as possible. If you miss one of our deadlines, you may still submit your remaining materials, and your financial aid eligibility will not be affected negatively. We understand that receiving a timely financial aid offer is important to you, but we cannot rush to process your application if you turned in some of your materials late.Please note that the above advice only applies to our general application deadlines. Other financial aid deadlines, such as the deadline to apply for Summer Work-Study, are more strict, so we cannot accept late application materials in these cases.I can't get my noncustodial parent to submit an NCP PROFILE.We will need to evaluate your situation personally before we can decide how to proceed. If you are having trouble acquiring your noncustodial parent's information, please contact us for assistance.How do I correct my PROFILE?Domestic StudentsIf you are simply trying to update your PROFILE with the information from your most recent tax return, there's no reason to make a correction to your PROFILE. You should update your FAFSA instead, as you can make corrections online. We'll be able to transfer the data from your FAFSA to your PROFILE on our end.If you need to make changes to anything other than your tax information, you can print a copy of your PROFILE and write the changes in manually. Send us a copy of your corrections by e-mail.International StudentsYou can correct your PROFILE by printing out a copy and writing the changes in on paper. When you have made all the necessary changes, send it to us by e-mail.Are international students eligible for financial aid?You can receive financial aid as a new international undergraduate applicant if you complete the financial aid application and you have some financial need. If you do not apply or are not accepted for financial aid during your first year, you will not be eligible for financial aid during any other academic year, unless you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada or Mexico.When will I be notified about my financial aid package?Prospective StudentsIf you were admitted Early Action and submitted your financial aid application by the Early Action priority deadlines, you’ll most likely receive a financial aid offer in February. If you submit your documents late and we do not have enough time to process your financial aid application by the end of February, your financial aid application will be reviewed later, along with the Regular Decision applicants.If you were admitted Regular Decision, you should expect to receive you financial aid offers in April, provided you have completed your financial aid application by then.Continuing StudentsYou will most likely receive your financial aid offer in late May, as long as you have completed your financial aid application by then. Our office will continue to release offers throughout the summer in case you need extra time to complete your application.Can you match my offer from another school?No. Caltech's financial aid is need-based, which means the amount of aid you receive is linked to your family's financial circumstances. To qualify for more aid, you would need to provide new information about your family's financial situation that we did not originally take into account when reviewing your application. (See how to appeal your financial aid decision.)How do I appeal my financial aid decision?If you have new information about your family's financial or household circumstances, we may be able to revise your financial aid package. To be considered for an appeal, please send us a signed statement detailing your situation. You should include all relevant documentation, if applicable. You may send your signed statement to us as an attachment to an e-mail.Can I have a CSS PROFILE fee waiver?We cannot waive the CSS PROFILE fee. The PROFILE automatically screens first-time domestic applicants for a need-based fee waiver. If it is asking you to pay to file your PROFILE, then you did not qualify for the fee waiver.I'm having trouble accessing the My Financial Aid module on access.caltech.The My Financial Aid site only fully supports Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. If you are attempting to use Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, or any other browser, you will need to switch browsers in order to access My Financial Aid.If you are using a supported browser and are still encountering technical errors, please let us know.I can't get a tax transcript/use the Data Retrieval Tool.There are several different factors that may prevent you from obtaining a tax transcript or using the Data Retrieval Tool. First, you will not be eligible to use either of these tools if you:Are a victim of identity theftAre a resident of certain US territories or freely associated statesIn addition, you will not be able to use the Data Retrieval Tool, but can still request a tax transcript if you:Filed an amended tax return (only your original return will be available)Filed "Married Filing Separately" on your latest tax returnOnce you know that you are eligible to use one of these tools, you must ensure that enough time has passed since your tax return was processed by the IRS. The amount of time it will take for these tools to become available depends on some of the circumstances of your tax return. Use the table below to help determine when your tax information will become available.If you feel that your tax information should be available but you are still unable to request this information, the automated systems may be having trouble verifying your identity. When you are filling in your personal information into one of the IRS systems, be sure that your information exactly matches the information from your most recent tax return. This includes your name, SSN, date of birth, address and tax filing status. The address is particularly finicky on both systems: the entire address, including all abbreviations, must match your tax return. For example, 100 Sharp Street Apt 14 is not the same as 100 Sharp Street #14 or 100 Sharp St Apt 14.If you are attempting to request a tax transcript, you will be asked a few questions about previous demographic information and your credit history. These questions can be difficult to answer, but are necessary in order to acquire a tax transcript. It is useful to have a copy of your credit report on hand when attempting to answer these questions.If you are still unable to use both of the IRS tools, please let us know, and we will be happy to assist you personally.How does underloading affect my financial aid?When you take less than a full-time courseload, your tuition charge will be reduced based on how many credits you are taking. Because your cost of attendance is reduced, your financial aid must be reduced as well. The financial aid reduction will generally come out of your Caltech Scholarship.Due to a recent policy change, if you first entered the Institute in fall 2012 or later, your tuition will not be reduced based on your courseload. Your financial aid, however, will be reduced. This means that you will be charged the same amount of tuition, but receive less financial aid to cover it.More specific information, including what you can expect based on your enrollment status, is available in the full underloading policy.IDOCDo I need to send my documents to IDOC?All undergraduates who are applying for financial aid, except for prospective international students, need to submit their required financial aid documents to IDOC. Once you have submitted your documents to IDOC, you can send copies of any documents you may have missed directly to us by e-mail.Caltech is not listed as one of my IDOC schools.Caltech works with IDOC differently than most other schools. Caltech will not request your information from IDOC until after you have been accepted for admission. This means that Caltech will not be present on your list of schools on the IDOC website, and you will not see any Caltech-specific forms in your required document list. Please review our list of required documents carefully and be prepared to submit them all to IDOC, even if IDOC does not appear to be requesting some of them. IDOC will process them and keep them on file; once you are admitted, your Caltech-specific documents will be delivered to us.When will I hear from IDOC?Caltech will request your information from IDOC only after you have been admitted and submitted either your CSS PROFILE or FAFSA. Early Action admits who have submitted their PROFILE and/or FAFSA will not have their information requested until mid-December due to Caltech's processing schedule.Can my noncustodial parent submit his/her documents through IDOC, too?Noncustodial parents will be able to upload their tax returns and any other necessary information through the IDOC website. Information submitted by the custodial parent will not be shared with the noncustodial parent and vice versa. Other personal information, such as contact information and Social Security numbers, will also not be shared with the other parent.When will IDOC finish processing my documents?IDOC will not process any of your uploaded documents until you have submitted a complete current year tax return (or appropriate Non-Tax Filer's Statement). We will not be able to calculate your financial aid eligibility without your tax return, either, so this shouldn't be a major issue.Once IDOC has received your documents, all of your data will be processed in 2-3 days and delivered to your IDOC schools shortly thereafter. We encourage all students to use the electronic upload option to avoid shipping delays, which will slow down your application. Remember, if you turn in parts of your financial aid application in late, we cannot rush to process your application.IDOC is asking me to send a W-2, but I didn't receive one for 2014.If you filed a 2015 tax return but did not receive a W-2, you will need to file a W-2 Waiver with IDOC. This form will be available directly on the IDOC website's document list. You can access it by clicking "Click here if you did not receive a W-2 for this year" next to the W-2 requirement.Can I submit my documents to IDOC as they become available?You should upload all your required documents to IDOC at the same time, or submit them all in one packet if you send them by mail. If you missed a requirement when you initially submitted your information to IDOC, you can send us the missing form(s) by e-mail.When should I submit my documents to IDOC?The IDOC website will keep track of each of your school's IDOC deadlines. Since you should submit all of your forms at once, be prepared to submit all of your required documents by your earliest deadline. Keep in mind that if you have not yet been admitted to Caltech, our deadline will not appear on the IDOC website. We have listed our deadlines below for your reference:Applicant TypeIDOC DeadlineProspective, Early Action January 6th, 2017Prospective, Regular Decision March 16th, 2017Continuing Student April 20th, 2017

Q. How much is the 3 year tuition at Stanford Law?Cost of Attendance | Stanford Law SchoolTuition Top Law SchoolsPriciest Public Law SchoolsStanford Law School Financial Aid7 Ways to Figure If Going to Law School Is Worth It (Bankrate)Is Going to Law School Worth It? Depends on Where (Investopedia) - Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2015 had the top 10% of lawyers earning more than $187,200. All told, it is not uncommon for a law school graduate to enter the working world with a net worth of negative $250,000. Ideally, recent graduates should earn yearly salaries equal to or greater than their total student debt. This level of pay usually allows for paying off student loans within 10 years without materially affecting a person's lifestyle.Cost of Attendance | Stanford Law SchoolTuitionTuition for 2016-17 totals $56,079. Tuition is due in October, January, and April.Cost of LivingFor single students, room and board in university residences costs approximately $23,205 for the 2016-17school year. Required books, if purchased new, cost about $1,530 a year. Local costs for transportation, clothing, recreation, and the like tend to vary. Most single students find they need to budget a total of at least $88,169 for the school year.Laptop ComputersStudents are required to have laptop computers and are advised to have a printer and modem, as well. In addition to using the laptop to write papers and create spreadsheets, students will have the opportunity to take examinations on laptops and will receive administrative notices only via electronic mail. Students may purchase a laptop from the Stanford Bookstore through a special program with the law school. Students who must purchase a laptop to meet this requirement are eligible to have their financial aid budgets increased by as much as $3,300. Only specific computers meet the needs of the law school’s computing systems.Do the math!JD Financial Support | Stanford Law SchoolFinancial Aid Yellow Ribbon Program FormsLoan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP)CSS Profile ApplicationFree Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)Financial AidStanford Law offers financial aid is to assist students who would otherwise be unable to pursue a legal education at SLS. Approximately 78 percent of the student body receives a tuition fellowship or loan assistance, with the average fellowship portion per recipient totaling about $23,000 annually. Aid is awarded on the basis of demonstrated need and is provided through a combination of tuition fellowships, government guaranteed loans and private loans.To apply for financial aid, please complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the CSS Profile application. The FAFSA should be completed as soon as possible after January 1. A service of the U.S. Department of Education, FAFSA is free to all applicants. Please note that the Title IV School Code for Stanford Law School is E00341 and our CSS Profile code is 7832. To receive an aid package prior to the May 1 admissions response deadline, you must complete both applications by March 15, 2017.In general, the financial award system operates as follows:Each year the school determines a standard budget to cover basic costs (tuition plus living expenses).Each student’s need is calculated by subtracting reported resources from the standard budget. These resources include one–third of reported assets; 57% of summer gross earnings over $6,000; assumed earnings of spouse (if married); and an imputed parental contribution (based on the CSS Profile analysis) if the student is dependent.Each student is then expected to borrow or otherwise raise a portion of this need, with the remainder being an outright grant, subject to a limit of full tuition.Financial aid is evaluated annually. Therefore, one cannot be guaranteed the same level of aid over three years of attendance.Stanford Law School uses an age-based test to determine the dependency percentage from your parent contribution. Unless you are 29 years of age as of September 1, financial resource information from your parents must be submitted on the CSS Profile application. Parental information is never required on the FAFSAfor graduate students.Under our policy guidelines, the following rules apply:If you are 25 or younger as of September 1, we will take into consideration the full extent of our calculated parental contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.If you are 26 as of September 1, we will protect 25% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 75% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.If you are 27 as of September 1, we will protect 50% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 50% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.If you are 28 as of September 1, we will protect 75% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 25% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.If you are 29 as of September 1, no parental resources are considered when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance. Therefore, you need not submit any parental financial information to CSS Profile.Loans available to law students come primarily from three governmental programs: Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, and Federal Direct Graduate Plus Loans. All graduate and professional students are independent for purposes of determining federal loan eligibility.Additional financial aid information is provided in the School’s Financial Aid Handbook.2016-17 FINANCIAL AID HANDBOOKYellow Ribbon ProgramThe Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as Chapter 33, is the most commonly used VA educational benefits program at Stanford. This program provides funding for tuition, required fees, books, and housing. The level of a qualifying veteran’s Chapter 33 benefits is determined by the length of military service since 9/11/2001. For the 2016-17 academic year, the base benefit for tuition and fees is capped at $21,970.If you qualify for Chapter 33 benefits at the 100% level, you will receive additional funding through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Under this program, Stanford Law provides an annual contribution to supplement the Chapter 33 base tuition benefit. The VA matches Stanford’s Yellow Ribbon contribution. For the 2016-17 academic year, Stanford Law’s annual Yellow Ribbon contribution for students will be 50% of the remaining tuition and fees with the VA providing the other 50% — together covering the full costs of tuition and fees.Most VA educational benefit programs pay benefits directly to students on a monthly basis. However, under the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), the VA sends tuition and fees benefits to Stanford, where the Central Financial Aid Office is responsible for applying the funds to the student account (university bill). Chapter 33 books and housing benefits are sent directly to students monthly. You may need to apply your housing benefits to the university bill to pay for on-campus room and board.FormsThe following forms will be provided by the Office of Financial Aid as necessary but are available here if additional copies are needed:Continuing Student Financial Aid Supplement Form 2016-17Loan Memo 2016-2017Loan Comparison Chart 2016-2017Loan Request Form 2016-2017Expense Budget 2016-17Due to the nature of federal, state, and institutional guidelines, this information is subject to change without notice.Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP)For graduates who take low-paying public interest jobs and have substantial educational debt, Stanford Law School offers the Miles and Nancy Rubin Loan Repayment Assistance Program — the most generous loan relief program in the country — along with a variety of other fellowships. Stanford Law was one of the first law schools in the country to launch such a program, setting the standard for schools that have followed our lead. Stanford Law makes loans to eligible applicants to help meet education loan payments. Loans made by Stanford through this program will be forgiven (up to 100 percent) depending on verification of participant income using federal tax returns. Visit the LRAP section of this site for additional information.7 Ways to Figure If Going to Law School Is Worth ItYour school's reputation"For the group of very select law schools at the top, the employment prospects are terrific," says Steven Harper, a former attorney and author of "The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis." "Life can look awfully good, and it will be awfully good for the vast, vast majority of those people, but that's maybe 10 percent out of 200 law schools."There's a sharp discrepancy in job prospects between first- and lower-tier schools. When comparing U.S. News and World Report's top 20 law schools with institutions that landed in the 126-to-146 ranking range, students attending upper-echelon institutions were nearly twice as likely to hold full-time, long-term law jobs as their lower-tier counterparts. Students attending lower-tier schools were also about 2.5 times more likely to be underemployed.The Ivy League isn't the only ticket to a post-graduate job, says Kyle McEntee, executive director of Law School Transparency, an organization that helps students with the decision to attend law school, and provides employment and underemployment data on law institutions nationwide. Schools with a solid local reputation and strong ties to the community can be just as effective at finding work in that area.Your rankRegardless where you attend, your performance will be a factor for future employers. A study published last year in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies shows that grades are "the most important predictor of career success," even more so than your school's reputation. The study, authored by law professors at UCLA and the University of Arizona, states that "... it is well known that judges care greatly about grades in choosing their clerks, professors care about grades in choosing their research assistants, and many employers insist on good grades in choosing new hires."Harper says that students who can stay above the bottom 25th percentile in GPA have the best shot at landing a job that pays enough to repay student loans."You have to be really honest and realistic with yourself about 'how well am I going to stack up against my peers?'" he says. "You have a very hard time convincing anybody, I think, who's entering law school that they'll ever wind up below the median, much less below the 25th percentile in anything, whether it's practicing law or something else, but guess what? That's just mathematics. There's an honest self-reflection that has to happen."Your specialtySome legal fields are hotter than others, which may explain why schools like New York University are changing their curricula to focus more on specializations. A study by Robert Half Legal of 200 attorneys in hiring positions revealed that litigation, business, commercial and health care law are expected to offer the greatest number of jobs.Leslie Levin, associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Connecticut School of Law, says that students can increase their marketability by having a clear idea of the law field they'd like to practice and by taking relevant courses and pursuing externship opportunities."Focusing on an area in which the student would like to practice and then positioning him or herself as somebody (who) is knowledgeable in that area will increase their employability," she says. "So, for example, if somebody gets a tax certificate, they are going to be more appealing if they want to go to a firm or the government and practice tax than somebody else."Summer associate gigs help, too. More than 90 percent of law students who held summer associate positions in 2012 were offered entry-level positions after graduation, reports the National Association for Law Placement.Your expectations"(Students) should think foremost on why they want to be a lawyer," says Andrew J. McClurg, author of "1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School." "If their only reason was to make a whole lot of money, that was never a good reason, even when the economy was great."Many students have unrealistic expectations about post-law school life and few have a clear picture of the daily lives of practicing attorneys, says Levin. Some don't know that they may not use their J.D. A survey by the NALP shows that 1 in 5 2012 graduates worked in a nonlegal profession or held jobs where a degree might have been an advantage or requirement, but passage of the bar was not required.The best way to understand what attorneys do is by observing them first-hand, she says."Even in college, people often will get part-time jobs in law firms. They can volunteer for organizations where lawyers are working and doing public interest work. They should talk to lawyers; if they know lawyers, they can shadow lawyers," she says. "The one thing they shouldn't do is assume that what they are seeing is the entire range of what lawyers do."Your connectionsGetting into a good school and acing your classes is only half the battle. The law grads who are getting jobs are the ones who have spent time hobnobbing with future employers, says McClurg."Joining student organizations and going to bar functions and putting yourself out there and making connections, other than your academic record, that's really one of the only things you can do" to increase your marketability, he says.That also means remembering that you may not be able to get a job in your first choice of legal field, says Blair Gould, a third-year law student at Wayne State University who's primarily interested in corporate and real estate law but is also gaining litigation experience."People need to continuously be diversifying their legal skill set," he says. "Take advantage of any kind of connections you can make and join any civic or social organization you can because all of those things will come into play eventually. You never know what's going to happen in the future."Your financial prospectsNearly 9 out of 10 third-year law students advise those considering law school to consider an institution's financial aid package before enrolling, reports Kaplan. That's because how much you borrow will largely determine where you work after graduation.Median starting salaries at law firms clock in at $90,000 per year -- a 28 percent drop since 2008 -- but not every lawyer is bringing home the big bucks. Median salaries at public interest organizations hovered at $44,600 annually, while judicial clerks and government employees earned $52,000. That's barely enough to cover the $558 monthly student loan payments public law students face if they borrow the average $76,000 in loans at an 8 percent interest rate over a 30-year period. On the flip side, the median salary at large firms is $160,000.The good news is that more than 100 law schools offer loan assistance and forgiveness incentives, reports Equal Justice Works, and public interest workers may be eligible for accelerated federal loan forgiveness. Scholarships also abound, but read the fine print, warns McEntee."Oftentimes scholarships come with stipulations, and stipulations are difficulties," he says.Your goalsIf working in the legal profession is what you want to do for all the right reasons, debt and employability statistics shouldn't derail you, but they should be a consideration, says Levin. To keep financial figures in check, Levin recommends that students consider lower-cost state schools or attend law school part time. They should also do some serious research to ensure they understand what attorneys do, the variety of contexts in which they work and whether they would be a good match for the legal profession."If (being an attorney) is really what makes you happy, it may take longer to pay off the debt, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it," she says. "(Whether law school pays off) really depends on what you hope to get out of your law degree and what you want to do with your life."Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/college-finance/going-to-law-school-worth-it-1.aspx#ixzz4XVp2B6s2Follow us: @Bankrate on Twitter | Bankrate on FacebookIs Going to Law School Worth It? Depends on WhereBy Greg DePersio | Updated January 26, 2017 — 6:00 AM ESTA 2015 study by the Access Group Center for Research and Policy Analysis found that only one in five people who graduated from law school between 2010 and 2015 strongly agreed that obtaining a law degree was worth the cost. Perhaps more troubling, only 38% of law school graduates, down from 56% between 2000 and 2009, described themselves as having a good job after graduation.With four out of five recent law school graduates at least somewhat regretting their decision to attend – and six out of 10 failing to find a good job after graduating – it makes sense to examine whether going to law school is still worth it in 2017. Keeping in mind the high tuition costs, interest rates and potential salaries, another good metric to consider would be its ROI (return on investment), calculated as its salary-to-debt ratio in a new study by online lender SoFi.Law School CostsGoing to law school full-time requires a three-year commitment, and the average tuition and fees for just one of those years at an American Bar Association-accredited institution often exceeds $40,000. This cost does not include rent, food, transportation and other living expenses. As the law school workload does not permit most students to hold jobs, student loans represent the most common method of paying these costs. Consequently, the average law school graduate in 2015 took on over $140,000 in student debt to obtain his or her degree.For many students, student loan debt accumulates on top of debt they already carry from undergraduate school. Members of the class of 2016 graduated college with over $37,000 in student debt on average. While most lenders allow the deferment of undergraduate loan payments while attending law school, any unsubsidized portion of such debt continues to accrue interest. All told, it is not uncommon for a law school graduate to enter the working world with a net worth of negative $250,000.Expected SalaryTaking on such debt might be a smart investment if a law degree provided reasonable assurance of a high-paying job. Ideally, recent graduates should earn yearly salaries equal to or greater than their total student debt. This level of pay usually allows for paying off student loans within 10 years without materially affecting a person's lifestyle.Stories abound, however, of law school graduates struggling to find any sort of legal job, much less one that enables the repayment of student debt in a timely manner. The New York Times revealed in 2015 that more than 20% of graduates from the class of 2010 held jobs that did not require law degrees. Only 40% worked in law firms, compared to 60% from the class of 2000. The remainder operated solo practices, with varying degrees of success, or performed contract work.The SoFi study, which incorporates data from student-loan refinancing applications between Jan. 2014 and Dec. 2016, shows that some schools do better than others when it comes to both job placements and salaries. Looking at students three years out of law school, Cornell University, Columbia University and New York University take the top three spots in the SoFi study with average salary paid in excess of $177,000. Consider that the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2015 had the top 10% of lawyers earning more than $187,200.For the Class of 2015, Columbia University saw 401 out of its 413 graduates find full time jobs; at New York University the numbers were 474 of 485. In some cases, of course, students may choose to put off those high-money jobs for prestigious public service spots: In 2015, 99 of 199 Yale Law School graduates were employed in clerkships, which paid a median salary of $69,000 (Yale ranks 8th on the SoFi list for salaries).Graduates of second-tier programs often settle for work outside of top law firms, where the pay is much lower. The 2015 median pay for law school graduates across the board was only $64,800. Idealistic young attorneys who choose public service fare even worse financially. Entry-level district attorneys earn a median pay of $37,000; public defenders do slightly better at $40,000.Schools with the Best Salary-to-Debt RatioEven new lawyers who land good jobs rarely receive paychecks commensurate with their debt levels. The SoFi analysis also ranks law schools based on which offer the best value defined by their salary-to-debt ratio. That figure is an indication of how much more your potential salary could exceed your potential debt and help make a more informed decision about whether law school is worth it.Brigham Young University takes the number-one spot: With students expecting an average salary of $108,000 and holding an average debt just below $65,000, the school has an impressive 1.7x salary-to-debt ratio, making it a a good value-for-money bet. University of Texas at Austin, comes in second with the ratio at 1.4x on the back of lower debt burden thanks to its relatively cheaper tuition. Yale Law School ranks third – not just because of higher salaries graduates get compared to the top two on this list ($177,771; BYU is $64,873 and UT, $147,44), but also because of its generosity with financial aid.Opting for schools that fare poorly on this metric could cost you. Take for example, Florida Coastal School of Law, which ranked lowest on the SoFi ROI list, with a salary-to-debt ratio of 0.5x. Let's break down the numbers: The school's tuition, $44,000, is at par with some of the top schools in the country. Students graduate with $158,427 in debt (considerably higher than the $123,793 Yale grads have), but the average annual salary for graduates is only $84,664.Other ConsiderationsThe numbers do not consider the financial risk of being a law school dropout. The first-year law school attrition rate nationwide is nearly 7%. A handful of law schools lost over 30% of their first-year students in 2015. Enrolling in law school but failing to finish offers no greater marketability than a bachelor's degree. It does, however, substantially add to a person's debt load.All told, the decision to attend law school is one that should be approached with great consideration. Indeed, 1% of attorneys have successful, high-paying careers. Supply and demand dynamics, however, have changed considerably since the 1980s, with fewer high-paying, entry-level jobs and many more law school graduates chasing those jobs. Pile on tuition costs – which, for decades, have risen at three times the inflation rate – and going to law school is not the financial no-brainer that it once was. For more on the choice, see Career Advice: Accounting vs. Law and Career Advice: Investment Banking vs. Law.Read more: Is Going to Law School Worth It Anymore? | Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/082416/going-law-school-worth-it-anymore.asp#ixzz4XVq64gcoFollow us: Investopedia on Facebook

Coursera’s Business Model Taking ShapeCoursera is finding its niche and business model. The MOOC provider is moving towards three revenue-generating strategies: 1) fee-based courses which require students to pay a fee for access to graded assignments, 2) Specializations, a sequence of courses with a capstone project, and 3) Course Certificates (formerly known as Signature Track).Signature Track, launched in 2013 was Coursera’s first (significant) revenue generating strategy. Students paid a fee in exchange for the opportunity to earn a verified certificate. Initially only a handful of courses featured the certificate option. Signature Track has since expanded, had a recent name change to Course Certificate and features a flat fee of $49. The Course Certificate option is now available across numerous courses. Revenue estimates suggest Certificates generated between $8 and $12 million in 2014 (Shah, 2014).Specializations feature a sequence of courses (typically four to six) with a capstone project where students apply the skills learned in order to earn a certificate. Launched two years ago, the program appears successful given the number of Specializations offered—in the hundreds according to Coursera. Fees range between $300 and $600. Tuition is determined by the price of each course (which range between $39 and $79), the number of courses within each, and the fee for the capstone project. If there is even modest student demand for Specializations as Coursera founder Daphne Koller indicates, revenue opportunity is significant (Bogen, 2015).The Purchase Course strategy announced that students will have to pay, to gain access to graded assignments. There is an option to ‘audit’ the course where students have access to course materials only. An excerpt from Coursera’s blog (below) outlines the strategy:Starting today, when you enroll in certain courses, you’ll be asked to pay a fee (or apply for Coursera’s financial aid program) if you’d like to submit required graded assignments and earn a Course Certificate. You can also choose to explore the course [audit] for free, in which case you’ll have full access to videos, discussions, and practice assignments, and view-only access to graded assignments. — Coursera Blog, January 19, 2016This format is similar to what’s offered at iVersity, a Europe-based MOOC provider. Tuition at Coursera ranges between $39 and $119 per course. Below is a screen shot showing the options presented to students enrolling for a course on Coursera’s platform.Fee-based courses appear linked to courses that are part of the Specializations programs. The screenshot above is an image of what is presented when enrolling for ‘Understanding Financial Markets’Coursera is now offering a ‘Specialization’ program for professional learners (2014), Christina Farr, Venture BeatFinancial Aid, Coursera Help CenterMaster New Skills in 2016 — 35+ Specializations Now Open, Coursera Blog2) iVersity’s Pay-for Certificate Program & Udacity’s Nanodegree PlusiVersity, one of Europe’s MOOC platforms launched it’s own version of Coursera’s Specializations—The Business Communication Programme. It’s targeted to working professionals seeking skills in business communication and marketing. It’s iVersity’s first venture into bundled programs. Yet the Programme is more similar to Udacity’s new Nanodegree Plus program, given it offers enhanced customer service—support and resources to help students find a job.Udacity’s program goes further by guaranteeing that students find a job within six months, or their money back. Fees at Udacity are monthly—$299. With an estimated program length between six and eight months that brings the cost between $1,794 and $2,392. iVersity’s tuition model takes a different approach but the price is similar (see screenshot below)—iVersity’s Programme at its regular price is $1,704 (approximate US funds), and the enhanced model is $2,611.Screenshot above: Prices for iVersity’s ‘Business Communication Programme’ as displayed on the webpage at iversity - Love to Learn. Online.. Sales prices still appear on site, February 2, 2016iVersity also offers corporate learning services to companies looking for support in creating their own professional development courses. It’s promoted on their site as “a new form of professional development“.Nanodegree Plus, UdacityThe Business Communication Programme, iVersity3) Udacity for BusinessUdacity also targets the corporate training market (tech-companies specifically) via its business webpage promoting “Hands-on Training. Done Online”. The courses and programs promoted are identical to Udacity’s existing ones, but are packaged to appeal to company and human resource executives as a solution to meet skill gaps among employees and as a tool for succession planning. Screenshot below from Udacity’s site:4) edX CEO: “edX offers complete programs online, not just individual courses“EdX, an open source platform and one of the few non-profit MOOC providers, also has revenue generating strategies, though not for profit. The strategies are needed to support edX’s goal of sustainability in order to achieve its mission of offering “access to high-quality education for everyone, everywhere”. Some of edX’s programs are similar to Coursera and Udacity—certificates with fees typically of $50 per course. Another is the XSeries program, a group of bundled courses. Students receive a Xseries Certificate upon completion, though unlike Coursera’s Specializations or Udacity’s Nanodegree, there is no final or capstone project. Another revenue strategy is licensing edX courses to countries such as China, India, France, the Middle East who have adopted Open edX (Young & Hobson, 2015).EdX also offers Professional Education Courses targeted to students looking for skills training and professional development. Courses are stand-alone and online, some are self-paced and others have a start and end date that span between four and six weeks. Fees can be hefty, ranging between $89 and $949, as this one “Yield Curve Analysis”.edX now offers complete programmes online, not just individual courses: CEO Anant Agarwal (2016), Rica Bhattacharyya, The Economic TimesEdX CEO Lays out Disruptive Vision for Higher Ed (2015), Here & Now, NPRInsight: Offering free, high-quality content on feature-rich digital platforms is not free for the MOOC provider or the partnering institutions. Even though free appeared to be the end-goal of MOOCs at the time of their launch in 2012. But free is not sustainable. The concept of MOOCs is shifting to where the demand is—fee-based certificate courses and programs in skill-specific areas, and corporate learning. In between are programs offering MOOCs for higher education credit, as with courses for ECTS credit at iVersity, edX’s Global Freshman Academy, and Malaysia’s national credit recognition policy for MOOCs. Even degrees (Georgia Tech’s CS Master’s degree) and mini-degrees based on MOOCs as with MIT’s Micro-Masters. There still are courses for free for the life-long learner, like myself, looking for high quality, online courses not for credit. I view this as a win-win-win for everyone; the platform providers, the institutions and the students.