YOUR COVERAGE about the proposed takeover of Southern New England School of Law by UMass-Dartmouth has suggested that the private law schools in Massachusetts cost double or nearly double the proposed tuition and fees ($24,000) for a public law school in the UMass system. That would be a flimsy foundation for the argument that Massachusetts needs an affordable alternative to the pricey schools. There already is a low-cost alternative for those who want one, the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, where tuition (about $14,500) is not a half but a third of the cost of the more expensive schools.
The Massachusetts School of Law, where I am an assistant professor, is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, though - for reasons that had little or nothing to do with the quality of education we provide - not by the American Bar Association.
Our institution is alive and thriving, and I don’t expect that will change much, regardless of what happens to Southern New England School of Law. But the debate ought to at least take into account a full view of the legal education picture in the state.
Andy Starkis
Andover 
