An affordable option

Here are four facts that critics are not telling people:

Fact 1: The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth law school, just like every other graduate program developed on our campus over the last decade, would not require any additional tax dollars. It would be funded by the estimated $22.5 million donation of private assets, and by annual law student charges, grants, and private fund-raising.

The UMass state appropriation accounts for 18 percent of the university’s operating budget, down from 80 percent several decades ago. This year, we will receive less state funding than we received a decade ago.

Yet, during the last decade, we have embraced the challenge to maintain access and quality. Our innovative faculty and staff have repeatedly proven an ability to build our university’s impact on the Commonwealth despite fiscal constraints. We have added excellent programs in marine science, nursing, public policy, Portuguese studies, crime and justice, and others while state funding declined. We have a built a major life science research building and built or renovated 4,500 units of student housing without state funds. Nobody ever suggested that those activities would require increased state investment.

Fact 2: The UMass Dartmouth School of Law would generate nontax revenue for both the university and the Commonwealth during difficult fiscal times.

Priced at just under $24,000 (before financial aid), this school would generate $5.7 million in student charges and become a magnet for federal, corporate, and foundation grants, as well as private philanthropic funding. In the first year, we would return $600,000 in tuition to the Commonwealth general fund. (In Massachusetts, tuition is remitted to the general fund while fees stay on campus.)

Fact 3: We are not adding a law school. The Commonwealth will continue to have nine law schools, regardless of our decision. However, if we do accept the donation, one of the nine will become a public option that we are confident would achieve ABA accreditation, and be connected to a dynamic public campus with a public mission to serve the public good.

Having a lower-cost, high-quality public option opens opportunity for students who today cannot consider attending law school. Since 2005, when we last attempted to create a public option, the tuition at one Boston private law school that is among our harshest critics has increased 70 percent and is now $38,500 per year.

We are planning to add 200 additional law school seats over the next five years in a state that now fills 6,500 law school seats every year. Of those, 5,500 are located in Boston, making law school the most geographically concentrated academic pursuit in the state.

Competition is a healthy thing; it ensures the best outcome at the best price. Private higher education institutions that benefit from their public charity status should not fear public competition or resort to unfounded attack rhetoric. Competition ensures that we all do our best for students and the community.

Fact 4: Law school graduates are competitive in the job market. The US Department of Labor projects “Employment of lawyers is expected to grow 11 percent during the 2006-2016 decade, about as fast as the average for all occupations.’’ Pre-recession numbers indicate that 90 percent of Massachusetts law school students find jobs within nine months of graduation. Most graduate programs would be happy with such success.

Surely, Massachusetts families, particularly working and middle-class families, need and deserve to have an accessible, affordable law school option so they can pursue their own dreams. UMass-Dartmouth deserves a fair, timely, and merit-driven review of its proposal to make that happen.

Jean F. MacCormack is chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.