Law Schools

The 10 Law Schools With The Most Expensive Out-Of-State Tuiton

Out-of-state students are being price-gouged at these law schools.

By Staci Zaretsky on August 08, 2018 11:42 am

Most people who are applying to law school think they may be able to escape the horrors of student loan debt by going to a state public school. After all, they think, the tuition is usually much cheaper at these schools, so how bad could their debt situation truly be after graduation?

Yes, state public schools are less costly than private schools, but many pre-law students are forgetting the fact that these public schools offer in-state and out-of-state tuition. While the average out-of-state tuition for the previous academic year was $40,000, at some public schools, the out-of-state tuition is quite high, and by the time you graduate, you may be equally as indebted as some of your private school peers.

U.S. News recently compiled a list of the 10 most expensive law schools for out-of-state tuition during the 2017-2018 academic year. Here they are, ranked by their completely eye-popping out-of-state tuition rates:

  1. UVA: $61,300 (in-state: $58,300)
  2. Michigan: $60,508 (in-state: $57,262)
  3. Connecticut: $59,852 (in-state: $29,410)
  4. UC-Davis: $57,014 (in-state: $47,763)
  5. Indiana-Bloomington: $54,232 (in-state: $34,073)
  6. UC-Berkeley: $53,315 (in-state: $49,364)
  7. South Carolina: $53,050 (in-state: $28,858)
  8. Minnesota: $52,586 (in-state: $44,066)
  9. UCLA: $52,151 (in-state: $45,657)
  10. UT-Austin: $51,995 (in-state: $35,015)

Some of these law schools are really price-gouging their out-of-state students. Come on, UConn. Just because you’re in the same state as Yale, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be charging just a hair under the elite school’s tuition rates for your out-of-state students (for what it’s worth, Yale’s tuition was $62,170 last year).

If you want to go to a state school but you’re worried about cost, make sure you do all of your research first. Yes, you may eventually be able to get in-state tuition if you can establish state residence after your first year in law school, but that process can be complicated in some states. At the end of the day, you may be just as deeply indebted if you attend a state school as an out-of-state student than if you were to enroll at a private law school — which almost defeats the point of going to a state school.

10 Most Expensive Law Schools for Out-of-State Tuition [U.S. News]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked 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.