The Top 20 Most Affordable Law Schools

Which law schools won't leave students drowning in debt after graduation?

Almost everyone knows that it costs an arm and a leg to go to law school, and that at this moment in time, the average law school graduate leaves law school up to six figures in debt. Student Loan Hero, a website that helps students and graduates organize, manage, and repay their student loans, was interested in seeing which law schools would have the greatest payoff, and in a survey of 116 schools, found that graduates owed an average of $111,752 in student loans at graduation.

At the “cheapest” law schools, however, graduates are looking at a completely different picture. Here are some interesting facts from Student Loan Hero about the 20 most affordable law schools in America:

• Annual law school tuition: $25,421
• Student loan balance at graduation: $83,195
• Post-law school starting salary: $78,569
• Employment rates: 90.7%
• Debt-to-income ratio: .94

Student Loan Hero has ranked the top 20 most affordable law schools, and we’ll provide our readers with a look at the top 10 here at Above the Law. If you’re interested, you can click here to see the full list.

Which law schools won’t leave students drowning in debt after graduation?

  1. Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School has an annual tuition of $12,310 for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. Nonmembers pay $24,620 each year. The average starting salary is $75,872. About 31 percent of BYU students are able to completely avoid law school debt.
  2. Georgia State University College of Law has an annual tuition of $16,858 for in-state students, while out-of-state tuition is $36,456. The average starting salary for the graduates is $83,427, with an average student debt at graduation of $64,384.
  3. Rutgers Law School has an annual tuition of $27,269 for in-state students. The average starting salary for the graduates is $64,604, with an average student debt at graduation is $56,173. Their students have the lowest student loan balance of all the 20 schools on the list.
  4. University of Iowa College of Law students pay $24,930 for in-state tuition. The average starting salary for the graduates is $74,903, with an average student debt at graduation is $74,128.
  5. University of Houston Law Center has an annual tuition of $30,401 for in-state students. The average starting salary for the graduates is $102,153, with an average student debt at graduation is $97,246. About 35 percent of students graduate without any student loan debt.
  6. University of Texas School of Law at Austin has an in-state tuition of $33,995 per year. The average starting salary for the graduates is $105,647, with an average student debt at graduation is $103,417. U.S. News & World Report even ranks the school as No. 1 for having the highest ratio between starting salaries to annual tuition costs.
  7. University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law has an in-state tuition of $25,525. The average starting salary for the graduates is $76,664, with an average student debt at graduation is $84,601. The tuition is so affordable that only 62 percent of students graduate with student loans.
  8. University of Nebraska College of Law – Lincoln has an in-state tuition of $15,036. The average starting salary for the graduates is $58,614, with an average student debt at graduation is $62,888. Graduates of Nebraska Law have third-lowest average student loan balance of all schools ranked by Student Loan Hero.
  9. University of Wisconsin Law School – Madison has an in-state tuition of $21,450. The average starting salary for the graduates is $72,089, with an average student debt at graduation of $77,555.
  10. University of North Carolina School of Law – Chapel Hill has an in-state tuition of $23,551. The average starting salary for the graduates is $88,781, with an average student debt at graduation is $95,365.

With debt and salary 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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20 Best Law Schools for Avoiding Six-Figure Student Debt [Student Loan Hero]


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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