Davis also cited timing as the primary reason for his decision to return to school.

“Given the current environment, it’s a good time to add those credentials,” said Davis, referring to the cache of an MBA degree.

Davis called the recent economic boom “a fantasy world” that would eventually have to return to normality.

At the height of the dot-com fever, many in the business world felt that a lack of an MBA degree was not necessarily an impediment to entrepreneurial success. But now that the fantasy is over, business and law schools seem to be more attractive to those looking for a stable paycheck.

While it is too early to know how the renewed interest in law and business schools will affect the demographics of the HLS and HBS student bodies, forecasts are mixed—especially at HLS—about a possible influx of Silicon Valley refugees.

“People who are very business- and entrepreneurial-minded might be a nice injection,” said first-year HLS student Katherine W. Wray.

But she also said that “it could be bad because if you have people who are coming just to make money and to hedge against an economic downturn it could lessen the intellectual curiosity of the place.”