U.S. News Ranks Law Schools for Tuition Support

The cost of law school is a serious component in the school selection process. For the 2022-2023 academic year, according to the U.S. News & World Report, the cost of private law school averaged $52,325. Among public universities (out-of-state), the average came in a bit lower at $40,056, or significantly lower (in-state) at $26,917.

While most students take out loans to pay for law school, many schools also offer tuition support in the form of grants. Recently, U.S. News published a list of the top ten law schools for tuition support (below), based on the percentage of 2022-2023 full-time students who received enough funding in grant money to cover at least half of their tuition. 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $39,800 per year in-state; $49,800 per year out-of-state

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 80%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $35,000

Case Western Reserve University

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $58,808 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 80%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $40,000

University of Southern California (Gould)

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $73,998 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 72%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $40,000

University of Dayton

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $37,364 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 72%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $33,000

Gonzaga University

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $50,235 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 66%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $24,378

Loyola University Chicago

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $53,156

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 65%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $31,000

DePaul University

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $51,132 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 65%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $30,000

Washington and Lee University

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $54,460 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 64%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $35,000

University of California, Irvine

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $54,183 per year in-state; $66,298 per year out-of-state

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 63%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $25,000

William & Mary

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $38,274 per year in-state; $56,014 per year out-of-state

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 61%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $25,193

The Chairman and CEO of U.S. News & World Report Accuses Elite Law and Medical Schools of Evading Accountability

The U.S. News & World Report has publicly defended its rankings, hitting back at the elite law and medical schools that have staged public boycotts. Eric Gertler, Executive Chairman and CEO of U.S. News & World Report, penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed, which was ffollowed a day later by a full-page ad in the Boston Globe timed to coincide with a conference hosted by Harvard and Yale Law Schools on “best practices in data.” 

While US News & World Report’s previous response to the boycott focused on responding to criticisms of the methodology and seeking collaboration, more recently, they have taken a defensive stance. Gertler’s op-ed not only defended the rankings, but also leveled sharp accusations towards the withdrawing schools. He accused them of evading accountability and not wanting to rely on an independent third party that they cannot control. Gertler then went on to tie the schools’ decision to withdraw from the rankings to the Supreme Court’s current review of the use of affirmative action in school admissions decisions. He proposes that elite schools are currently de-emphasizing GPA and standardized test scores in admissions, in advance of the decision, to provide themselves more leeway in the future. 

“There is added urgency as the Supreme Court considers a pair of cases on affirmative action that could change admission norms. Some law deans are already exploring ways to sidestep any restrictive ruling by reducing their emphasis on test scores and grades—criteria used in our rankings,” Gertler wrote.

In defending the rankings, which Gertler admits cannot accommodate every nuance in educational excellence, he points to the ranking’s ability to provide “accurate, comprehensive information that empowers students to compare institutions and identify the factors that matter most to them.” And, he concludes, the elite schools that have withdrawn have ended their participation in a critical national discourse about what constitutes excellence in education. 

Employment Market “Strongest Ever” for 2021 Law School Graduates

The National Association for Law Placement’s (NALP) latest data release confirms that the employment market for 2021 law school graduates was “one of the strongest ever.” 

The report’s findings include:

• The overall employment rate for the 2021 graduating class, 91.9 percent, increased 3.5 percentage points from 2020, and matched the record employment rate set by 2007 graduates. Conversely, the unemployment rate (measured 10 months post-graduation) fell three percentage points in 2020 to 6.3 percent, and those unemployed and seeking employment fell from 8.1 percent to 5.2 percent. 

• Full-time, long-term, and bar passage required jobs, the gold standard among law school graduates, increased 4.3 percentage points from the previous year, to 76.7 percent—a record high.

• The percentage of those taking private practice jobs came in at its highest level (57 percent) since 2003. 

• An increasing proportion of graduates also entered into public interest employment. Employment in public interest has gradually increased over the past five years and this year matched the previous year’s record high of 8.7 percent. 

• Other employment sectors held steady. The number of 2021 graduates taking judicial clerkships came in at 3,402; it has been between 3,100 and 3,500 since 2008. Similarly, 11.1 percent of 2021 graduates chose government employment (non-judicial clerkship), which is on par with the 11 to 13 percent who have entered this sector post-graduation for more than 20 years. 

• The Class of 2021 graduates also garnered record salaries. The class’s mean salary increased 6.4 percent (from 2020) to $109,469. And the median starting salary increased to $80,000, up $5,000 from the previous year. Law firm hires received a mean salary increase of 6.6 percent to $137,844; the median salary increased from $130,000 to $131,500. Among the largest law firms, starting salaries jumped from $190,000 to $205,000 (and in some cases, $215,000). 

James G. Leipold, Executive Director of the NALP, summarized the findings in the report, “This is as strong a set of employment and salary outcomes as I have seen in my more than 18 years here at the NALP. Certainly, they confirm that the slight downturns in many markers measured last year were not the beginning of a larger downturn in the job market but instead were one-time downturns that reflected the market interruptions and many complicating factors brought on by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notwithstanding those interruptions, the legal employment market for new law school graduates has remained strong, and as we have seen in the past, remarkably resilient despite economic challenges.”

AccessLex Institute Publishes Findings on Access, Affordability, and Value of Law School

The AccessLex Institute published its 2022 Legal Education Data Deck to showcase the latest trends in the access, affordability, and value of law school. AccessLex, a nonprofit institution with a mission to improve access to legal education and maximize its affordability and value, creates the data deck using publicly available datasets. We have provided key insights from the deck below. 

Applicant Volume

• Between 2017 and 2021 females made up the majority of applicants, and the proportion of male applicants declined each year during this period. Women accounted for 56 percent of applicants and men made up 42 percent in 2021. Correspondingly, women’s admissions rates were lower than men’s. In 2021, however, women’s admissions rate climbed to 70 percent (+2 percentage points from 2020), which was the first year-over-year increase in admissions rate for either men or women since 2014. 

• In 2017, female enrollment surpassed males. Since then, female enrollment has increased annually while male enrollment has declined. 

• In 2021, just under two-thirds of law degrees were awarded to white students (63 percent), while about a quarter went to students who identified as Hispanic/Latino (12 percent), Black/African-American (7 percent), and Asian (6 percent). 

Costs

• In 2021, there was a significant decrease in the average cost of full-time tuition and fees. Using 2021 dollars to compare costs across time, private school expenses decreased to a level not recorded since 2016, public school (resident) costs decreased to 2014 levels, and public school (non-resident) decreased to a level below 2013. 

• Between 2013 and 2020, there was a significant increase in the median grant amount awarded to full-time students. Using 2021 dollars to compare, the median grant amount increased from $15,800 in 2013 to $22,100 in 2020. 

• The share of full-time students receiving grant awards also increased between 2011 and 2019. In 2011, 13 percent of full-time students received a grant worth at least half of tuition, and in 2019, that number had more than doubled to 29 percent. Similarly, in 2011 52 percent of full-time students received a grant (worth any amount) and by 2019 over three-quarters (78 percent) received grant money. 

Value

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlooks projects growth in legal employment between 2019 and 2029. Among positions requiring a graduate or professional degree, lawyers are projected to have the third largest increase in openings (32,300). 

Access the full report here. 

Related blogs: Law School Hiring Rebounds to Pre-Pandemic Levels