(Reuters) - Many law students are struggling to learn effectively as the coronavirus pandemic keeps classes online, according to a report released Wednesday, prompting some to question the value of the education they're receiving.

In a survey of 2,897 law school students, faculty, and administrators, nearly 45% of students said they're concerned about their ability to learn critical lessons in online classes. The survey was sponsored in August by Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters news and Westlaw.

When asked to rate the value for money of their law degree, 30% of students assigned it a low score.

"We are not getting the same quality of education, so we should not be paying even more for our education (than) we were last year," one student respondent wrote. Another wrote that they and their "soon-graduating peers will always have an asterisk next to their J.D., due solely to being forced online."

U.S. law schools began shuttering campuses in March, as the coronavirus prompted states to enact economic shutdowns. Since then, some top schools have stayed completely remote as others adopted a hybrid in-person and online model.

Schools that moved class online without dropping tuition have faced student blowback. A Harvard Law School student in June sued the university, seeking partial reimbursement for his spring tuition and fees, arguing online classes were less rigorous and of a lower quality than in-person instruction.

Still, applications to law school have risen this year, Law School Admission Council data shows. And just 8% of administrator respondents to the survey listed student demands for reduced tuition as one of their greatest challenges.

Over half of students listed their inability to influence school decisionmaking during the pandemic as challenging.

"This has been the hardest semester of my life," one student wrote. "The administration (at my school) is not supporting its students. They raised tuition and have not been listening to our concerns."