Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
Students who are first generation are really dealing with a lot. This disparity is especially troubling. We’re talking about students who come into law school with less. And they are graduating from law school owing even more.
— Meera Deo, survey director for the annual Law School Survey of Student Engagement, commenting on the survey’s first in-depth examination of first-generation students. As noted by Reuters, the latest survey found that first-generation students make up 26% of law students nationwide. According to survey data, first-generation students tend to hail from lower-income families, are more likely to take care of dependents and work than their classmates, are less likely to receive merit scholarships, and tend to graduate with higher debt than their classmates.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.