collageDespite common belief, most schools and universities provide student accommodation in the form of dorms, apartments, and group living. Some schools provide lodging for students who have children. Parent academics and their children are frequently housed in apartment-style accommodations at colleges providing family housing. That said, what do you actually know about the Best Law Schools for Students with Families if you’re planning on going to law school with your family?
As a matter of fact, most law schools will be ‘parent-friendly’, meaning that applicants with children will not be at a disadvantage. Some schools have more resources for students with children than others, such as help with child care options, blogs with advice from former students with children and more. You want to look for a reputable website that offers unrestricted access to all the content on universities and degrees and Collegelearners is here for you for all the information you want. You’ve come to the right place if you need information about Best Law Schools for Students with Families and other related topics including best family law schools, best law schools for juvenile justice, best family law schools in California and law schools with family law clinics. Our website is completely informed. As a law student, you can expect to learn how to deal with some of the most problematic – indeed, often seemingly irresolvable – conflicts and issues in modern society and morality. In providing a framework for examining and understanding different societies and cultures, law degrees are a useful way to prepare not only for specific legal careers, but for a wide range of professional roles – and indeed for life in general.
going to law school with a family
Earning a college degree can be difficult when raising a child at the same time. In years past, having a child often meant the end of pursuing higher education. In recent decades, however, more and more adults with children return to college, thanks in part to online education.
According to a 2017 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, almost five million students across the nation have dependent children. That figure represents about a quarter of all college students, an increase of 30% since 2004. While the number of student parents is rising, they have lower graduation rates than peers without children.
A number of universities recognize the difficulty student parents face and have established programs to provide assistance. Many provide family housing, on-campus childcare, scholarships, and support programs. Some offer these child-friendly resources for free, while others charge reasonable fees.
There’s a lot to think about when deciding which law school is appropriate for you, and as new parents ourselves, we understand how difficult some of these considerations can be. You want to ensure that your hard work leads to a fast-track legal career, but you also want to make sure that your family’s needs are addressed. What’s the use of busting your buttocks just to get through another door and face another equally challenging obstacle? We’ve done the legwork for you and compiled a list of the top 10 law schools with family-friendly features so you can find the right fit.
| 1 | Misericordia University | Dallas, PA | A small Catholic liberal arts school founded by the Sisters of Mercy, Misericordia offers a very supportive environment for student mothers. The university hosts the Ruth Matthews Bourger Women with Children program, one of only eight of its kind in the nation. It provides free housing in two-bedroom units for single mothers and their children for up to four years. Family facilities at the two on-campus residential units include kitchens, dining rooms, study areas, playrooms, and laundry. Since 2000, the Bourger program assists mothers and their children with not only an apartment but also an array of academic and family enrichment programming. Academic advising, tutoring, counseling, scheduling, and career services help students set goals and meet them. The program provides some families with a 40% childcare subsidy as well. Students must pursue their bachelor’s full-time to remain eligible. The program accepts single mothers of up to two children, between the ages of two and eight. | |
| 2 | Wilson College | Chambersburg, PA | A small liberal arts college in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Wilson developed an innovative program for single parents with young children. The Single Parent Scholar (SPS) program allows individual parents to pursue a bachelor’s while living on campus with one or two kids. Young families share a dorm, residing in a suite with two bedrooms and a bathroom. Families use the kitchen and lounge space communally. The school accepts children aged 20 months to 12 years. While parent scholars attend class, Wilson provides childcare at no cost. Children also eat free in the dining hall, but parents must have a dining plan as well as provide lunch for their children while they are in class. Interested students gain admission to Wilson and apply for the SPS program once admitted. There is no application fee. The college limits the SPS program to 26 families. Wilson also sponsors enrichment activities, parenting workshops, and mentoring opportunities for single parent students. The school’s 300-acre campus boasts a farm, green space to explore, and a playground. | |
| 3 | College of Saint Mary | Omaha, NE | Omaha-based College of Saint Mary operates one of the most progressive student-parent support programs in the nation. Mothers Living and Learning provides not only housing and childcare but also its own dedicated group of faculty and support staff. The Nebraska Catholic school created the program to allow single moms with children under the age of six to earn their bachelor’s degrees. It boasts its own college course, the successful single mother, and monthly life skills workshops. Students accepted into the Mothers Living and Learning program move into the college’s Madonna Hall, which features private suites, communal living spaces, and a downstairs area with child furniture, books, puzzles, and play space. The Spellman Child Development Center provides childcare during weekdays. The program also provides students with a mentor who helps them with course scheduling and advising and guides them in their search for a pediatrician, career services, and even legal help. The student-led group Many Opportunities for Mothering Solo (M.O.M.S.) offers support, networking, and camaraderie within Saint Mary. | |
| 4 | Endicott College | Beverly, MA | Few colleges offer a student-parent programs as comprehensive as Endicott’s Keys to Degrees. Set on Massachusetts’ North Shore, the small private institution created the four-year program to aid and empower students who had children before they could earn a college degree. Open to mothers or fathers with a single child, Keys to Degree provides a structured support system, offering help and care to the parent as well as the child. Students must be age 18-24 at the time of admission. Benefits of the program include family housing on Endicott’s oceanfront campus year-round, and a meal plan that allows students five meals a week while children eat free. During the school year, Endicott provides childcare while parents attend class or work at an internship. The college assigns each program participant a dedicated mentor, who helps them juggle scheduling, care, and academic issues. Keys to Degrees also sponsors workshops and parenting enrichment opportunities. | |
| 5 | St. Catherine’s University | St. Paul, MN | Set in the twin cities of Minnesota, St. Catherine hosts a unique student support program called Access and Success. The Catholic liberal arts university created the program for all students regardless of their gender, degree level, marital status, ability to pay, or the age of their children. “St. Kate’s” also offers family housing in one- or two-bedroom apartments on its campus in Saint Paul. Students pay an all-inclusive fee through their student account and may use these furnished residences year-round.Access and Success connects students with financial help through the Post-Secondary Child Care Grant, which helps parents with children under the age of twelve afford college. Access and Success also features lists of area childcare providers and after-school options. It sponsors lactating rooms on both the St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses and child-friendly study areas. St. Catherine’s also maintains a list of students willing to provide on-campus childcare as well as sick or short-term service providers. | |
| 6 | Texas Woman’s University | Denton, TX | ||
| 7 | Smith College | Northampton, MA | ||
| 8 | Kent State University | Kent, OH | ||
| 9 | Middle Tennessee State University | Murfreesboro, TN | ||
| 10 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | ||
| 11 | University of Washington | Seattle, WA | ||
| 12 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL | ||
| 13 | Ferris State University | Big Rapis, MI | ||
| 14 | The University of Massachusetts | Amherst, MA | ||
| 15 | Arkansas State University | Jonesboro, AR |
MANY PEOPLE DREAM OF attending law school, being a lawyer or pursuing a particular career track. But many do not seek a law degree right out of college for a myriad of reasons. Perhaps they had second thoughts, chose to work for a few years to save tuition funds or encountered a new dream.
Family law is one of the most important legal specialties because of who can be in the crosshairs: children. It focuses on so many of society’s chilling realities, from domestic violence to homelessness to family abandonment.
Many schools devote considerable resources to this area of law. Here are some new developments at the nation’s top law schools:
- New York Law School launched a full-year clinic this fall — the Juvenile Rights Law Clinic. It is in partnership with the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice and will allow students to help represent children in Manhattan Family Court proceedings in which parents or guardians are charged with abuse and neglect. Students can also represent children in custody, immigration, juvenile justice and school suspension matters and work on policy and legislative reform. In addition, New York Law School will take over publishing of the ABA Family Law Section’s “The Family Law Quarterly.”
- Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law’s VanSickle Family Law Clinic has partnered with the International Rescue Committee in Dallas to work on unaccompanied minor cases in family court. Students represent detained unaccompanied minors living in foster care and children released to sponsors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In addition, a grant from the Dallas Bar Foundation allows students to create self-help videos.
- Robert Latham, associate director of the Children & Youth Law Clinic at University of Miami School of Law, has built an interactive website that maps the placement of every child who has passed through Florida’s Department of Children and Families since 2002. He recently completed an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on Florida’s foster care system.
- Seattle University School of Law launched a pop-up clinic to address the increased need for domestic violence protection orders during the pandemic. Student volunteers were on call to help victims fill out forms to obtain protection orders. Research has shown a large increase in abuse-related calls to police since the pandemic began.
- Loyola University Chicago School of Law celebrated its 25th year of advocating for children and families through its Civitas ChildLaw Center, the largest child and family law program in the nation. The center’s Education Law and Policy Institute has added two staff members, and the Center for the Human Rights of Children has hired Sarah Diaz as its new associate director. The program continues to focus on issues of family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Drake University Law School’s Student Bar Association, led by President Kerrigan Owens, established a pop-up clinic for young mothers at the Young Women’s Resource Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The nonprofit organization supports, educates and advocates for girls and young women ages 10 to 21 in the Des Moines community. The clinic, staffed entirely by Drake Law students, performed intake services involving issues such as custody and domestic violence and then forwarded the cases to the Polk County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project.
- Southwestern Law School has teamed with the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law to offer law students a family clinic program. It is the only clinical education program in Los Angeles dedicated to family law and includes topics such as stopping domestic violence and enhancing the welfare of children. Under the supervision of a staff attorney from the Buhai Center, students offer legal advice to clients in a variety of family law matters, including domestic violence, division of property, visitation, custody, parentage and child support.
- DePaul University College of Law recently opened a family law field clinic. This year-long clinical course offers a survey of the laws surrounding marriage, divorce, invalidity of marriage, legal separation, parentage and adoption. Students will represent real clients at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services. After appropriate training, students will interview and counsel clients, develop case plans, investigate witnesses and facts, prepare letters and legal documents, negotiate and otherwise help clients solve family law disputes.
- Washburn University School of Law’s Children and Family Law Center allows students to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, working side-by-side with Habitat staff to build homes and neighborhoods.
- University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law is one of the only law schools in the country to offer an emphasis on family law in both the J.D. and LL.M. programs. It also has two family law clinics, a study abroad program focused on family law, and a family law journal.
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