63% Of Law School Grads Think The Third Year Is Pointless

Kaplan surveyed 712 law school grads and found 63% answered yes to this question:

"Do you think the traditional three-year law school education can be condensed into two years without negatively impacting the practice-readiness of new attorneys?"

If they had to do a third year, the survey found, 97% would want so spend time actually practicing law instead of taking electives, as law students typically do their last year.

The momentum for a two-year legal education comes as schools face declining enrollment, which might make them reluctant to lose a year of tuition. One school has come up with an innovative solution to this problem. Brooklyn Law School has a new JD program that crams three years of legal education into two. The course requirements are the same, as is the cost. But people who finish their degrees in two obviously spend less money on living expenses, the school points out on its website.

"We're not going to admit people unless we're sure they can do the extra work," Brooklyn Law School Dean Nicholas Allard recently told Business Insider. "It's a solution for people for whom time is money."

Brooklyn Law is keeping its three- and four-year programs for folks who want to take their time.