Friday, March 17, 2017
2018 U.S News Law School Rankings: Average Student Debt
Following up on my posts (links below) on the 2018 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Matt Leichter, Only 13 Law Schools Didn't Report 2016 Graduate Debt to U.S. News:
Each year U.S. News & World Report lists law schools by the average indebtedness of their graduates. Importantly, the figures exclude accrued interest, which can be quite considerable. However, these numbers are probably the best estimate of the cost of attendance at a particular law school presented in a comparable form. The ABA does not publicize graduate debt in the 509 information reports, making U.S. News an unfortunately necessary source.
Here are the 25 law schools with the highest amount of average law school debt (among those students with law school debt).
# | SCHOOL | 2015 DEBT | 2016 DEBT | PCT. CHANGE |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Thomas Jefferson | 172,726 | 182,411 | 5.6% |
2. | Whittier | 148,316 | 179,056 | 20.7% |
3. | San Francisco | 162,434 | 167,671 | 3.2% |
4. | New York University | 166,022 | 167,646 | 1.0% |
5. | Georgetown | 160,606 | 166,027 | 3.4% |
6. | American | 160,274 | 164,194 | 2.4% |
7. | Golden Gate | 143,740 | 161,809 | 12.6% |
8. | Columbia | 168,627 | 159,769 | -5.3% |
9. | John Marshall (Chicago) | 162,264 | 158,888 | -2.1% |
10. | Florida Coastal | 160,942 | 158,878 | -1.3% |
11. | Cornell | 155,025 | 158,128 | 2.0% |
12. | New York Law School | 161,910 | 157,568 | -2.7% |
13. | Pennsylvania | 144,153 | 156,725 | 8.7% |
14. | Virginia | 146,907 | 155,177 | 5.6% |
15. | Northwestern | 155,796 | 154,923 | -0.6% |
16. | Pepperdine | 148,959 | 154,475 | 3.7% |
17. | Elon | 128,407 | 153,347 | 19.4% |
18. | Harvard | 149,754 | 153,172 | 2.3% |
19. | Ave Maria | 134,071 | 152,476 | 13.7% |
20. | Detroit Mercy | 137,047 | 152,000 | 10.9% |
21. | Barry | 138,410 | 151,479 | 9.4% |
22. | Denver | 132,158 | 150,055 | 13.5% |
23. | Santa Clara | 144,130 | 149,940 | 4.0% |
24. | Miami | 155,796 | 149,580 | -4.0% |
25. | Willamette | 133,318 | 148,429 | 11.3% |
TaxProf Blog posts on the 2018 U.S. News Law School Rankings:
- 2018 U.S. News Law School Peer Reputation Rankings (And Overall Rankings)
- Winners And Losers In The 2018 U.S. News Law School Rankings ... Should It Matter?
- Pepperdine Is #1 In ADR, #5 In Practical Training
- Florida Law School Rankings War Intensifies: UF Marches Toward Top 35, FSU Says It Is Best Law School In State And Aims For Top 4 National Public Law School (With Michigan, UC-Berkeley & Virginia)
- 2018 U.S. News Tax Rankings
- Law School Rankings By Student Quality (LSAT And UGPA)
- March Madness Law School Bracket
- Law Professors Are Tough Graders (Of Other Law Schools)
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/03/2018-us-news-law-school-rankings-average-student-debt.html
Comments
Probably because most law students work during the summer and during the school year and don't spend money like their the Sultan of Brunei while they're in law school (i.e., live with rooomates, have a tiny dormroom, take a part time job that provides free housing).
I'm still amused by the law student who sued her law school and was including in her request for damages the debt she incurred on shopping trips to tiffany's and other luxury outlets while she was a student!
Posted by: Math | Mar 17, 2017 4:04:45 PM
Interesting. To take two examples, Columbia and Harvard both sticker at or above $90k per year now, about $60k of which is tuition, and per their Form 509's large pluralities or even small majorities receive no tuition discounts. So ostensibly there are people paying around $270k for those degrees (before interest, tuition increases, bar loans, etc). Per those 509's, those students are in no way "balanced out" by an equally large group of students receiving full boat discounts. So how are the average debt loads so *low*? Hmmm... Wealthy families? Fudged numbers? Who knows?
Posted by: Unemployed Northeastern | Mar 17, 2017 10:44:57 AM
Interesting points, Math. Of course 1L's aren't allowed to work unless the ABA changed that regulation since last I checked, of course not all 2Ls and 3Ls can work for the exact same reason only 59% of law school grads wind up with full-time jobs as lawyers, and far from being profligate, law schools in cities with skyrocketing costs of living in large part haven't budged their COL allowances. In fact, one DC law school that starts with a "G" decreased over the last several years, by excising the technology budget, the books budget, and the public transportation budget. Who knew that the Metro was free now, amirite?
Posted by: Unemployed Northeastern | Mar 18, 2017 10:39:28 PM