Law Schools, Money

The 5 Most Expensive Law Schools In America (2017)

These debt figures are scary.

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money-falling-from-sky-bonus-salary-student-loans-paid-off-300x200It costs quite a pretty penny to go to law school these days, and the vast majority of law students are debt-financing their degrees. That said, recent law school graduates are deeply indebted. In fact, according to the most recent data reported to U.S. News, new graduates of public law schools have an average debt of $90,217, while graduates of private law schools have an average debt of $130,349.

But which law schools cost the most money to attend?

Forbes recently took a look at the law schools that will put the biggest dents in graduates’ bank accounts. Before we get to the top 5, this is the methodology that was used:

To see which institutions carry the largest pricetags for ordinary students, we looked to updated data on law school costs provided by Law School Transparency, a non-profit information hub for all things having to do with law school. …

In ranking the costliest schools, we took Law School [Transparency’s] data and looked at it in a way that that assumes a student will have some debt-financing, will be a non-resident of the school and will be awarded the median discount for that school. We also looked at how much money a graduate would need to pay every month to pay off student loans.

Without further ado, here are the five most expensive law schools in the country:

  1. NYU: $261,548
  2. Columbia: $261,212
  3. Chicago: $261,190
  4. UConn: $257,572
  5. Harvard: $256,208

Click here to see the full list of the top 12 most expensive law schools.

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Don’t forget that those figures include median discounts. It a student were to pay full freight to attend any of these law schools, their debts after graduation would be even higher. In order to pay down these absurd debts on a standard 10-year repayment plan, one would need to shell out four figures each month. Here are those eye-gouging figures:

  1. NYU: $2,910
  2. Columbia: $2,906
  3. Chicago: $2,906
  4. UConn: $2,865
  5. Harvard: $2,850

Because those numbers would preclude some law school graduates from living indoors, it almost makes you want to thank God for income-based repayment options (and six-figure starting salaries at Biglaw firms, of course).

It’s worth noting that graduates of the final institution on the Forbes list of the costliest law schools, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, will wind up with $237,956 in debt and a 24.5 percent chance of securing full-time, long-term work as lawyers. Those numbers are frightening, and they don’t add up for anyone who hopes to be a successful lawyer.

With debt and employment information like this readily available online, make sure you do your research before choosing a law school. Your financial future is on the line.

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America’s Most Expensive Law Schools, 2017 [Forbes]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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