Inside Higher Ed features a brief interview with Stephen Burnett, a former information technology dean at Seattle University School of Law, on the current state and future trajectory of remote and hybrid course delivery by law schools. (Burnett currently is at AllCampus, which provides services to universities in this area.)

Some commentary, a link, and excerpts, below the fold.

In the interview, Burnett implicates—without naming directly—the rankings- and revenue-management aspects of online legal education. M.S.L. and LL.M. programs tap into pools of students outside the student-selectivity and outcomes metrics that drive the U.S. News league tables, while online and hybrid part-time J.D. programs may grow enrollment at a lower marginal cost than expanding residential capacity. The cost-benefit of these programs may be high.

What’s more interesting is that the dollars-and-cents incentives also may line up with the mission case. As Burnett points out, the same degree programs that build enrollment and tuition revenue can reach the conventionally underserved: older working students and students living far from a law school—and potentially put new lawyers in communities underserved by the profession. Schools can advance institutional self-interest alongside educational access and access to justice. The more difficult question is whether the educational and employment outcomes of online and hybrid programs ultimately bear out that promise.

Joshua Kim, 3 Questions With Stephen Burnett, Law School Adviser at AllCampus⁠, Inside Higher Ed (Aug. 13, 2026):

[Remote part-time J.D. programs] can attract highly qualified candidates who otherwise would not be able to attend a traditional residential program. These candidates are typically older, have significant work experience and now have the flexibility to pursue a law degree. . . .

Schools should also continue educating alumni, employers and other stakeholders about the quality and effectiveness of online legal education. Demonstrating how online legal education can help train new lawyers who may live and practice in areas of a jurisdiction that do not have access to quality legal services is another benefit to the legal and political establishment.

Law schools can begin by incorporating more online components to their existing residential offerings. As the faculty, institution and other stakeholders in the community gain more firsthand experience with the outcomes that can be achieved through well-designed online legal education, the acceptance and expansion of online will follow.