The Good And The Bad With Online Law Degrees
In 1999, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed her belief that students earning law degrees through online programs weren't getting the education they needed to be good attorneys. Her skepticism was echoed by law school professors and legal scholars. She said that students need an interactive course of study and that students who are forced to learn through isolation, such as with online courses, miss a lot of what they should be experiencing.
To a point, Justice Ginsburg was right. However, what she failed to consider was that attending full time college and law school is a financial impossibility for many people. Working adults, those who live far from universities offering law programs, and those with other obligations can't get to on-campus classes several times a week. They have a choice between taking an online law degree program or not taking one at all. These are reasons why online learning came into being in the first place and was so quick to catch on with the public. It isn't that online courses are easy, and the people who take them need to have a great deal of commitment and self-initiative to succeed which puts them a step ahead of many on-campus students.
The online law degree programs themselves have come a long way in the last decade, too. They are now offered by many more institutions who are in competition with each other for your business. Therefore, they all strive to develop the best programs possible. Classwork isn't completely done in isolation, either. University websites have class message boards where students working on the same class can come together to bounce ideas off of each other, get differing perspectives, and help each other understand the material. In addition, these courses have highly-experienced instructors who will assist you every step of the way. You actually get more personal attention taking online classes than you do in packed lecture halls.
The biggest problem with online law degrees is that currently there are no online colleges offering law degrees that are accredited by the American Bar Association. In forty nine states attorneys are required to take the Bar exam in order to practice law. Only California will allow online learners to take the Bar. If you already live in California or are willing to move there, you will be able to take the Bar and practice law. There's always a possibility that after practicing law in California for a number of years and establishing a good track record you may be able to practice law in other states as well.
Law is still a profession where there is a lot of demand, and our country needs good lawyers. If you are one of those people who has always wanted to earn a law degree, you'll be able to do so with an online law degree. Who knows? By the time you graduate the government may decide to recognize online university degrees as viable contenders to take the Bar exam.
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