My daughter just got back from a meeting at her law school today. They were talking seriously to the students about what not to expect post-graduation. The items mentioned included jobs and income. She’s in a pretty good law school and this morose presentation did nothing to encourage the masses of students who are working hard to complete their juris doctorates. Are they hoping everyone will quit? No such luck.
Looking at the enrollment statistics for law schools with the lowest prospects for post graduate employment as per Law.com, and comparing them to current enrollment rates, indicates a lot of law school students don’t really care what their administration says; they’ll take that chance.
Taking a look at the official list of Law Schools with the Worst 2012 Post-Graduation Employment Rates was a little confusing so I decided to do a little digging to become more familiar with the actual data. Wait! A lot of the schools listed on the official list aren’t even ranked by US News and World Report. Come on! If the ranking is so low the law school score isn’t even published, shouldn’t the student already know their prospects of getting a job after graduation are a bit on the low side regardless of the economy? That would be my guess anyway.
But what about the schools in the Top 100 rankings? Wouldn’t it be more interesting to know the bottom of the heap for employment if you’re actually attending a school in the top 2 tiers?
Top 100 Ranked Law Schools with the Worst 2012 Post-Graduation Employment Rates
US News Employment 9 months
Rank Law School Enrolled Tuition* After Graduation
#56 American University (D.C.) 1,215 $46,794/yr 47.8%
#64 Pennsylvania State University 541 $40,532/yr 49.2%
#94 University of Oregon 480 $35,374/yr 49.4%
#61 Pepperdine University 618 $44,980/yr 51.1%
#96 Santa Clara University 693 not listed 51.4%
#48 University of California (Hastings) 1,097 $52,806/yr 51.6%
#80 Lewis & Clark (Northwestern) 483 $38,180/yr 53.6%
#80 Brooklyn Law School 998 $49,976/yr 54.3%
#98 St. John’s University 742 $48,070/yr 55.1%
#68 Case Western Reserve 567 $44,620/yr 55.2%
#86 Northeastern 604 $43,048/yr 55.2%
#68 University of San Diego 768 $43,860/yr 55.7%
#58 Yeshiva University (Cardozo) 1,032 $50,046/yr 55.8%
#47 U of Illinois Urbana-Champaigne 627 $45,917/yr 56.3%
#68 IIT Chicago-Kent 738 $43,260/yr 56.6%
#64 University of Denver (Sturm) 746 $39,840yr 56.8%
#29 Boston University 740 $44,168/yr 57.5%
#44 BYU 420 $21,900/yr 58.0%
#98 U of South Carolina 632 $43,398/yr 59.5%
#98 Villanova 684 $38,910/yr 59.9%
*All tuition is the highest listed tuition in US News and World Report.
So why be in law school in this day and age? Well, my daughter says it’s better to have a 50% or better chance of having a job with a juris doctorate than being in the unemployment line right out of your undergrad program. I would have to agree. And if you don't have a job after you've earned your JD? Well, there's always a good LLM program looking for students.
Looking at the enrollment statistics for law schools with the lowest prospects for post graduate employment as per Law.com, and comparing them to current enrollment rates, indicates a lot of law school students don’t really care what their administration says; they’ll take that chance.
Taking a look at the official list of Law Schools with the Worst 2012 Post-Graduation Employment Rates was a little confusing so I decided to do a little digging to become more familiar with the actual data. Wait! A lot of the schools listed on the official list aren’t even ranked by US News and World Report. Come on! If the ranking is so low the law school score isn’t even published, shouldn’t the student already know their prospects of getting a job after graduation are a bit on the low side regardless of the economy? That would be my guess anyway.
But what about the schools in the Top 100 rankings? Wouldn’t it be more interesting to know the bottom of the heap for employment if you’re actually attending a school in the top 2 tiers?
Top 100 Ranked Law Schools with the Worst 2012 Post-Graduation Employment Rates
US News Employment 9 months
Rank Law School Enrolled Tuition* After Graduation
#56 American University (D.C.) 1,215 $46,794/yr 47.8%
#64 Pennsylvania State University 541 $40,532/yr 49.2%
#94 University of Oregon 480 $35,374/yr 49.4%
#61 Pepperdine University 618 $44,980/yr 51.1%
#96 Santa Clara University 693 not listed 51.4%
#48 University of California (Hastings) 1,097 $52,806/yr 51.6%
#80 Lewis & Clark (Northwestern) 483 $38,180/yr 53.6%
#80 Brooklyn Law School 998 $49,976/yr 54.3%
#98 St. John’s University 742 $48,070/yr 55.1%
#68 Case Western Reserve 567 $44,620/yr 55.2%
#86 Northeastern 604 $43,048/yr 55.2%
#68 University of San Diego 768 $43,860/yr 55.7%
#58 Yeshiva University (Cardozo) 1,032 $50,046/yr 55.8%
#47 U of Illinois Urbana-Champaigne 627 $45,917/yr 56.3%
#68 IIT Chicago-Kent 738 $43,260/yr 56.6%
#64 University of Denver (Sturm) 746 $39,840yr 56.8%
#29 Boston University 740 $44,168/yr 57.5%
#44 BYU 420 $21,900/yr 58.0%
#98 U of South Carolina 632 $43,398/yr 59.5%
#98 Villanova 684 $38,910/yr 59.9%
*All tuition is the highest listed tuition in US News and World Report.
So why be in law school in this day and age? Well, my daughter says it’s better to have a 50% or better chance of having a job with a juris doctorate than being in the unemployment line right out of your undergrad program. I would have to agree. And if you don't have a job after you've earned your JD? Well, there's always a good LLM program looking for students.
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