Law School Debt by the Numbers

April 18 (Bloomberg Law) -- Just how onerous is the debt load for law students? Consider the graduates of San Diego's California Western School of Law. They have an average of more than $153,000 in loans, the biggest debt load of any law school in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

That's enough to buy this 41-foot yacht, complete with hydraulic Jet Ski lift, or stay on a private Caribbean island for more than 100 days, or dine at an Outback Steakhouse every night for more than 16 years. Even if they stretch out the loans over 25 years, graduates could be spending as much as 20 percent of their gross income just to pay off the debt.

While Cal Western tops the charts, it's hardly the only law school where graduates are saddled with massive debt. The average law student nationwide leaves school owing more than $100,000. And there are far more law school graduates than available legal jobs. This decade, U.S. law schools will produce four times as many new lawyers as there will be new lawyer jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. So it's no wonder that the number of people taking the L.S.A.T. has dropped 24 percent over the last two years. Law school isn't the ticket to riches it once was.



Produced by Josh Block
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https://www.bloomberglaw.com

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[intheleventhour]

no one listen to @Magus79. he's clearly been listening a little too much to the career counselor that doubles as a sales associate. higher education has become a business above all else and i have seen too many people fall for the hype. dual degrees do not help for entrylegal pos. what matters is the rank of your school. the next thing that matters is the rank within your class. then the nearest legal market that will have mercy on you and throw a few peanuts your way.the #s arestacked against u

[harpreetsingh2084]

on the brighter side this is the law school which produces highest number of bar passers in ca.

[FutureCACPA]

130k??

I hope you are going to a top 25. I had a friend that graduated from a 2nd tier. I make more money with my BS and CPA license than about 9/10ths of his graduating class. If you factor in debt repayment that number probably goes to 97/100. I have a friend that is a partner at an NLJ 250 firm. They won't even visit 2nd and 3rd tier stenchpiles. They don't care about your MBA they would rather have an LLM.

[FutureCACPA]

The MBA teaches accounting at a really low level unless you emphasize it. As to those other things they are not skills. No employer will give a shit about those. I am a consultant at a national firm I know my stuff guy. School doesn't teach you that much as compared to practice. You would be better off getting a BA and then going to work. Now if we are talking top 25 MBA that is different. But employers don't care that much about a low ranking MBA. Where do you work right now?

[Magus79]

...not sure if trolling or just plain stupid...

The Master of Business Administration teaches advance classes in Accounting, Marketing, Management, Economics, Office Management, PR, and Corporate Strategy. All of these focuses are extremely useful in the business world. By applying knowledge to a scenario, you are using your skills acquired through education to be a productive worker in society.

How are they not job skills?

[FutureCACPA]

MBA's are not job skills! LOL

[Magus79]

True, but that's the point of my comment. If you go to a lower ranked law school, obtaining more skills than a simple JD helps you stand out and improves your quality of a job and salary.

[FutureCACPA]

The rank of your law school is more important than earning a dual degree. Cal Western is a garbage stenchpile 4th tier school. I wouldn't recommend any law degree from there.

[heartlessvietboy]

How should law firms be? For example.

1. After students graduate they work for the government.

2. They are paid by the government.

3. People can walk into a law office and file claims.

[Magus79]

By about five thousand.

Considering I am going to take a 130,000 loan, what's another five or six grand? Also, MBA JD students have more opportunities for jobs at higher salaries. Debt is not bad, you just have to properly plan on how to repay.