In today’s world, the vast majority of students attending law school have been saddled with seemingly insurmountable six-figure debt loads. Many law students are under the mistaken impression that they’ll be able to pay off that debt quickly; after all, they believe their starting salaries after graduation will be in line with the now-standard starting salary of up to $225,000 at Biglaw firms across the country (depending on office location). Unfortunately, these high-salary positions account for only a small percentage of entry-level jobs for recent law school graduates. The vast majority of law school graduates will be left wondering how they’ll ever be able to pay down their debt in a timely fashion, if at all. What’s a prospective law student to do?
Choose the most cost-efficient law school to which you’ve been accepted, preferably one with a high salary-to-debt ratio, and your starting salary may well meet or exceed your student debt burden. There are several law schools whose graduates are very well-compensated after graduation — in fact, they’re so well-compensated that it makes up for the costs of their education.
U.S. News recently put together a ranking of the 25 schools with the highest salary-debt ratios in the private sector among 2024 graduates. Did your law school or alma mater make the cut? Here are the Top 10.
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Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law (TX): 2.92-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $150,000
- Average debt (2024): $51,451
Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School (UT): 2.56-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $140,000
- Average debt (2024): $54,678
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University of Alabama School of Law: 2:37-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $150,000
- Average debt (2024): $63,225
University of Florida Levin College of Law: 2.28-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $140,000
- Average debt (2024): $61,356
Wayne State University Law School (MI): 2.22-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $135,000
- Average debt (2024): $60,852
Washington University School of Law (MO): 2:20-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $205,000
- Average debt (2024): $93,380
University of Illinois College of Law: 2:11-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $150,000
- Average debt (2024): $71,157
Boston University School of Law (MA): 2:07-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $225,000
- Average debt (2024): $108,550
Georgia State University College of Law: 2:07-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $100,000
- Average debt (2024): $48,259
University of Tennessee-Knoxville Winston College of Law: 2:07-to-1
- Starting median private salary (2023): $150,000
- Average debt (2024): $72,377
Click here to see the full list.
We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, but before you decide to shell out tens of thousands of loan dollars to attend a law school in the hope of having a high salary after graduating, it’s worth it to do all of your research beforehand.
25 Law Schools Where You Can Pay Off Your Debt [U.S. News]
Staci 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 Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.