Law school 1L JD enrollment falls slightly as non-JD enrollment reaches all-time highs

The 2019 law school enrollment figures have been released. They show a slightly worse first-year JD enrollment and continued soaring growth in non-JD enrollment. About 15% of law school enrollees, 1 in 7, are not enrolled in a JD program.

While this is the first year of decline in 1L enrollment in five years, it remains mostly flat. (The 2010 peak was 52,488 1Ls.) In 2018, 1L enrollment was 38,390; it fell to 38,283 this year. It’s the sixth straight year of enrollment between 37,000 and 39,000.

Despite much hyped promises of a “Trump bump” in law school enrollment, law school enrollment has been mostly flat for some time. The small improvements in the last few cycles simply never materialized this year—of course, several schools have closed in the last few years, too, and schools may be improving quality of students rather than increasing quantity.

View fullsize

Total JD enrollment also increased slightly to 112,882 (still well off the peak of 2010-2011 with 147,525).

View fullsize

Non-JD enrollment continues to climb. The ABA changed its definitions a few years ago, which resulted in a spike in reported non-JD enrollment, but the steady climb continues. (It’s also worth noting that those enrolled in both JD and non-JD programs simultaneously are counted in each set, so this slightly overstates, to an unknown degree, non-JD enrollment.) 19,819 were enrolled in non-JD programs, a 1,400-student jump over last year. It’s now about 15% of all law school enrollment.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Growth in non-JD online enrollment as a part of overall non-JD enrollment continues, too, with much faster growth in recent years—up from 5588 last year to 7378 this year. This is a bit of good news for law schools. I continue to wonder about the sustainability and value proposition of non-JD legal education, but perhaps my concerns are overblown. There is clearly a demand for such programs.

That said, more information about the kinds of degrees and the outcomes of those who secure these degrees would be welcome information, if the kind that is unavailable at this time. (I recently looked at debt and earnings of graduates of such programs from the Department of Education.)

Last year, I wondered if we’d see law school enrollment creep past 40,000. That didn’t happen. For law schools, a robust and valuable JD program is essential, and that would be a good step toward restoring some of the losses suffered after the recession. But we’re far from that point.

Below I highlight a handful of schools with the highest non-JD enrollment as a percentage of total law school enrollment.

View fullsize

What happens to a summer associate class at a large law firm after a decade?

Back in the summer of 2006, I was a summer associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago. We had 70 summer associates that year, and we received a facebook of everyone across the firm. Most returned in 2007, but I returned after my clerkship in 2008 to work at the firm until 2010—I worked with phenomenally talented attorneys and learned an incredible amount, particularly through participating in a long jury trial. I was given extraordinary responsibility fairly quickly. (I made my share of mistakes attributable to my youth and inexperience, too.) I came out of the experience all the better.

In 2011, I looked through the facebook at who was at the firm and who’d left—of course, some never came back after that summer (I know a few who took jobs elsewhere even after receiving an offer), and the financial crisis exerted significant pressure on many of my colleagues. But by March 2011, there were just 26 associates from that summer class who were working at the firm. By November 2015, that number had dwindled to 8. Four still remain 13 years after that summer (or 12 years after most of them graduated and began)—and two just became share partners (congrats!).

Once or twice a year from 2011 onward, I’d check to see the updates. Those check-ins are charted below. The dotted line from 2006 to 2011 reflects the fact that not all summer associates returned to the firm. But it provides some perspective for those who are participating in OCI this year to think about what life in a decade (or 12 or 13 years…) might look like. It's probably typical of many law firms: there’s simply a lot of movement these days.

View fullsize

Patent bar exam results have been declining alongside state bar exam pass rates

View fullsize

Bar exam pass rates have fallen and remained relatively low for several years. The National Conference of Bar Examiners noted long ago that Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam scores had been declining, which hinted at a future slide in state bar exam pass rates in the future—even though the MPRE is independent of the state bar exam.

I recently discovered that the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes patent bar pass rates. From my understanding, this bar is most commonly taken by law students or recent graduates. Test-takers are those who intend to do certain patent legal practice before the USPTO. Test-takers have declined in recent years, consistent with the decline in overall law school enrollment.

I noted that patent bar pass rates have declined in recent years alongside state bar pass rates. I took the first-time overall state bar pass rates against the patent bar pass rates.

It’s another indication of an overall concern about the ability of law school graduates, regardless of the form of the test or the area of examination, to pass—and an indication that law schools need to consider solutions apart from content-specific or state bar exam-specific concerns.

MBE scores improve for July 2019 exam

The National Conference of Bar Examiners recently shared that mean Mulistate Bar Exam scores have improved for the July 2019 test—and the biggest improvement in over a decade.

View fullsize

Coming off a 34-year-low in MBE scores, the news is welcome. First-time test-takers were roughly the same over the July 2018 and July 2019 exams, which is also good news—it likely means first-time pass rates will improve, at least modestly, in most jurisdictions. Still, the median 141.5 score is a far cry from the July 2018 administration, which had a 145.6 score. Schools continue to see higher-than-hoped failure rates because admissions and retention practices still haven’t kept pace with changes in student quality. Whether this July is a turning point for future years remains to be seen—pessimistically, the turn in July 2017 scores didn’t portend much good news for July 2018, but time will tell.

Law school median and mean debt loads, 2015-2017

The Department of Education has been releasing more disclosures to the public concerning higher education. Its most recent data disclosures include preliminary student loan debt loads over a two-year period, 2015-2017.

One useful piece of information is the median debt loads of students who incurred debt. USNWR discloses schools’ self-reported mean debt loads, although those figures are sometimes less than helpful due to school disclosure irregularities. But the mean may distort what a typical student’s loans look like, if a large batch of students borrow just a few dollars to cover perhaps the end of law school. That could artificially lower the mean, whereas the median law student may have much higher debt loads. (It could also work the other way.)

The Department of Education tables include both median and mean debt loads. Granted, this data, while better than the self-reported USNWR data, still has its share of flaws. I looked up every “law” program—many reported the degrees differently, usually “Doctoral Degree” or “First Professional Degree,” but I removed every self-described “Master’s Degree” program. I sorts the schools by median debt load. Included are the school types (public, private, and “proprietary” i.e., for-profit). Also included are the “count” of individuals in the two-year cohort (and you can view more about how the “count” and other terms are defined). The count includes those who completed the program in that time period. (Some were listed as “Privacy Suppressed,” which I converted to “n/a.”) Recall, too, that these are only those who incurred debt; a good number of students graduate each year without incurring law schools. (For a sense of those figures, check out the latest USNWR disclosures. Many schools report that at least 20% of their graduates, sometimes more, incur no debt.)

I’ll start with the top 20 schools in median debt.

Law School	School Type	Count	Median Debt
Florida Coastal School Of Law	Proprietary	476	$198,655
Whittier College	Private	237	$196,008
Thomas Jefferson School Of Law	Private	337	$195,892
University Of San Francisco	Private	n/a	$195,820
Southwestern Law School	Private	540	$193,653
Charlotte School Of Law	Proprietary	n/a	$188,985
Arizona Summit Law School	Proprietary	272	$188,191
New York University	Private	570	$183,857
Atlanta's John Marshall Law School	Proprietary	287	$177,854
American University (The)	Private	588	$177,157
Barry University	Private	365	$168,309
New York Law School	Private	414	$167,078
Golden Gate University	Private	166	$166,264
Columbia University	Private	513	$165,314
Georgetown University	Private	937	$163,688
George Washington University	Private	804	$163,300
Thomas M. Cooley Law School	Private	641	$161,986
Pepperdine University	Private	n/a	$161,300
Nova Southeastern University	Private	133	$161,219
Santa Clara University	Private	231	$160,558

Four for-profit schools are in the top 20. The remainder are in California (7), New York (3), the DC area (3), and Florida (2), along with Thomas M. Cooley Law School. (It’s also worth noting that Whittier, Charlotte, and Arizona Summit have announced their closures.)

Now for the bottom 20 schools, the ones with the lowest median debt among those who incurred debt:

Law School	School Type	Count	Median Debt
Texas Tech University	Public	185	$70,006
University Of Kentucky	Public	194	$69,860
Temple University	Public	308	$69,583
Georgia State University	Public	293	$69,200
University Of Connecticut	Public	214	$69,085
University Of Alabama	Public	174	$68,992
Wayne State University	Public	175	$67,640
University Of Kansas	Public	170	$66,415
Mitchell Hamline School Of Law	Private	409	$64,429
University Of Mississippi	Public	167	$64,300
University Of Iowa	Public	167	$62,249
University Of Arkansas	Public	178	$61,500
University Of North Dakota	Public	90	$61,500
University Of Tennessee	Public	191	$61,500
University Of Wisconsin - Madison	Public	263	$61,500
Taft University System (The)	Proprietary	27	$61,500
Indiana Institute Of Technology	Private	26	$59,650
University Of Nebraska	Public	159	$59,124
Brigham Young University	Private	n/a	$51,250
Santa Barbara And Ventura Colleges Of Law	Private	36	$20,500

Unsurprisingly, most are public schools, many in lower cost-of-living locations. But near the bottom of the list are a pair of non-ABA-accredited law schools in California (Taft, and Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law), with relatively (in one case, quite) low reported debt loads. At the bottom of the list among ABA-accredited schools is the private BYU, at just $51,250 median debt load.

The entire table is below the jump. Additionally, I included the same table with the mean debt, too. Of course, recall that any data like this, particularly “preliminary,” may have inaccuracies, and some of the coding may mean that I’m inadvertently including or excluding certain institutions.

UPDATE: At least one school was incorrectly reported as “private” when it is “public.” I have made that change.

---

Law School	School Type	Count	Median Debt
Florida Coastal School Of Law	Proprietary	476	$198,655
Whittier College	Private	237	$196,008
Thomas Jefferson School Of Law	Private	337	$195,892
University Of San Francisco	Private	n/a	$195,820
Southwestern Law School	Private	540	$193,653
Charlotte School Of Law	Proprietary	n/a	$188,985
Arizona Summit Law School	Proprietary	272	$188,191
New York University	Private	570	$183,857
Atlanta's John Marshall Law School	Proprietary	287	$177,854
American University (The)	Private	588	$177,157
Barry University	Private	365	$168,309
New York Law School	Private	414	$167,078
Golden Gate University	Private	166	$166,264
Columbia University	Private	513	$165,314
Georgetown University	Private	937	$163,688
George Washington University	Private	804	$163,300
Thomas M. Cooley Law School	Private	641	$161,986
Pepperdine University	Private	n/a	$161,300
Nova Southeastern University	Private	133	$161,219
Santa Clara University	Private	231	$160,558
Elon University	Private	77	$160,285
University Of The Pacific	Private	244	$158,437
University Of Virginia	Public	386	$158,376
Ave Maria School Of Law	Private	115	$158,206
Howard University	Private	219	$156,563
Northwestern University	Private	329	$156,418
Seattle University	Private	375	$155,575
Charleston School Of Law	Proprietary	206	$154,378
Willamette University	Private	182	$154,190
Marquette University	Private	322	$154,154
John Marshall Law School (The)	Private	n/a	$154,079
Cornell University	Private	n/a	$153,937
Fordham University	Private	428	$151,250
University Of California, Berkeley	Public	433	$150,862
Touro College	Private	228	$150,767
University Of Miami	Private	388	$150,659
University Of Detroit Mercy	Private	119	$149,993
University Of Pennsylvania	Private	331	$149,729
Saint Thomas University	Private	n/a	$149,322
California Western School Of Law	Private	331	$149,246
Chapman University	Private	n/a	$148,852
Hofstra University	Private	328	$148,342
University Of Chicago (The)	Private	268	$146,806
University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor	Public	457	$145,182
Campbell University	Private	196	$144,330
Loyola Marymount University	Private	466	$144,200
University Of Denver	Private	396	$143,237
Catholic University Of America (The)	Private	195	$141,718
Loyola University Chicago	Private	318	$141,244
Mercer University	Private	n/a	$140,818
University Of La Verne	Private	78	$140,182
Valparaiso University	Private	241	$139,821
Duke University	Private	n/a	$138,000
University Of California, Hastings College Of The	Public	454	$137,787
Stetson University	Private	444	$137,217
Samford University	Private	n/a	$135,438
Southern Methodist University	Private	283	$134,484
University Of San Diego	Private	313	$134,348
Widener University	Private	342	$134,228
Trinity International University	Private	n/a	$133,925
Lewis & Clark College	Private	n/a	$133,785
Harvard University	Private	815	$133,617
Depaul University	Private	363	$132,803
Creighton University	Private	181	$132,800
Oklahoma City University	Private	n/a	$132,586
South Texas College Of Law Houston	Private	469	$132,415
Emory University	Private	391	$131,738
University Of Notre Dame	Private	279	$130,589
Loyola University New Orleans	Private	n/a	$130,522
Western New England University	Private	n/a	$129,662
University Of Southern California	Private	283	$129,223
Capital University	Private	172	$129,089
Vanderbilt University	Private	235	$129,030
Suffolk University	Private	n/a	$128,897
Mississippi College	Private	196	$128,722
Yale University	Private	n/a	$126,398
Seton Hall University	Private	242	$126,050
Roger Williams University	Private	169	$123,384
Tulane University	Private	256	$121,757
University Of California, Los Angeles	Public	469	$121,453
Belmont University	Private	n/a	$120,498
Stanford University	Private	250	$120,410
University Of Dayton	Private	n/a	$120,274
University Of California, Irvine	Public	67	$119,986
Texas A&M University	Public	301	$119,803
Brooklyn Law School	Private	544	$119,445
Regent University	Private	134	$118,275
University Of Maryland, Baltimore	Public	279	$118,155
Appalachian School Of Law	Private	75	$117,964
Texas Southern University	Public	249	$117,935
Drake University	Private	76	$116,863
John F. Kennedy University	Private	n/a	$116,722
Argosy University	Proprietary	134	$114,795
George Mason University	Public	174	$114,383
Wake Forest University	Private	268	$113,656
Saint John's University	Private	321	$112,662
University Of Minnesota - Twin Cities	Public	315	$111,766
Yeshiva University	Private	388	$111,031
Boston University	Private	308	$110,891
Albany Law School Of Union University	Private	n/a	$110,549
University Of Baltimore	Public	363	$109,510
Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapoli	Public	122	$109,422
New England Law | Boston	Private	n/a	$109,422
University Of Washington - Seattle	Public	210	$109,405
Gonzaga University	Private	176	$109,362
University Of North Carolina - Chapel Hill	Public	302	$107,059
Saint Louis University	Private	n/a	$106,638
University Of Texas At Austin	Public	460	$106,283
Syracuse University	Private	247	$106,000
Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University	Public	150	$105,703
Northeastern University	Private	231	$105,639
Florida International University	Public	n/a	$104,971
Illinois Institute Of Technology	Private	319	$104,921
Pace University	Private	267	$102,821
University Of Massachusetts - Dartmouth	Public	n/a	$102,500
St. Mary's University	Private	341	$102,500
University Of South Carolina - Columbia	Public	319	$102,007
University Of Colorado Boulder	Public	268	$101,626
University Of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh	Public	247	$101,186
Boston College	Private	306	$100,594
Ohio Northern University	Private	n/a	$100,224
Inter American University Of Puerto Rico - School	Private	325	$99,403
College Of William & Mary	Public	309	$98,700
University Of Missouri - Kansas City	Public	235	$98,511
University Of California, Davis	Public	209	$98,403
Southern Illinois University At Carbondale	Public	201	$98,215
University Of Richmond	Private	230	$97,625
Washington And Lee University	Private	146	$97,276
Pontifical Catholic University Of Puerto Rico	Private	278	$97,269
Ohio State University (The)	Public	264	$97,238
University Of The District Of Columbia	Public	60	$96,992
Pennsylvania State University (The)	Public	243	$96,321
Southern University And Agricultural & Mechanical	Public	187	$95,437
University Of Louisville	Public	156	$94,503
University Of Southern Maine	Public	132	$94,364
North Carolina Central University	Public	316	$94,358
Arizona State University	Public	n/a	$94,325
University Of Nevada - Las Vegas	Public	184	$94,197
Concordia University	Private	43	$93,755
University Of Houston	Public	302	$92,067
Baylor University	Private	n/a	$91,401
Lincoln Memorial University	Private	n/a	$91,323
University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign	Public	n/a	$90,928
State University Of New York At Buffalo	Public	259	$90,928
Michigan State University College Of Law	Private	425	$90,674
University Of New Hampshire	Public	n/a	$89,700
Humphreys University	Private	25	$89,317
University Of Oregon	Public	180	$88,306
Drexel University	Private	222	$87,864
University Of Idaho	Public	193	$85,550
Indiana University - Bloomington	Public	248	$85,162
University Of Florida	Public	463	$84,508
Duquesne University	Private	210	$84,428
University Of Saint Thomas	Private	160	$84,261
West Virginia University	Public	169	$84,227
University Of Wyoming	Public	104	$84,032
University Of New Mexico	Public	n/a	$83,999
Cleveland State University	Public	179	$83,868
Villanova University	Private	203	$83,761
Northern Illinois University	Public	121	$83,660
Case Western Reserve University	Private	171	$82,570
University Of Georgia	Public	284	$82,480
Washburn University - Topeka	Public	148	$82,194
Quinnipiac University	Private	115	$82,000
Rutgers, The State University Of New Jersey	Public	n/a	$82,000
University Of Toledo	Public	142	$81,546
Washington University In St. Louis	Private	269	$81,500
University Of Arizona (The)	Public	162	$81,178
Florida State University	Public	294	$81,159
Northern Kentucky University	Public	136	$79,951
University Of Utah	Public	187	$79,768
University Of South Dakota	Public	109	$79,143
Cuny School Of Law '(The)'	Public	151	$78,224
University Of Hawaii At Manoa	Public	127	$77,849
University Of Arkansas At Little Rock	Public	116	$77,208
University Of Montana (The)	Public	134	$76,666
University Of Memphis (The)	Public	159	$76,622
Purdue University Global	Public	74	$76,508
University Of Cincinnati	Public	140	$76,173
Massachusetts School Of Law At Andover	Private	n/a	$75,467
University Of Tulsa (The)	Private	116	$75,326
University Of Oklahoma	Public	n/a	$74,250
University Of Akron (The)	Public	184	$73,756
University Of Missouri - Columbia	Public	168	$71,603
Louisiana State University	Public	258	$71,422
Texas Tech University	Public	185	$70,006
University Of Kentucky	Public	194	$69,860
Temple University	Public	308	$69,583
Georgia State University	Public	293	$69,200
University Of Connecticut	Public	214	$69,085
University Of Alabama	Public	174	$68,992
Wayne State University	Public	175	$67,640
University Of Kansas	Public	170	$66,415
Mitchell Hamline School Of Law	Private	409	$64,429
University Of Mississippi	Public	167	$64,300
University Of Iowa	Public	167	$62,249
University Of Arkansas	Public	178	$61,500
University Of North Dakota	Public	90	$61,500
University Of Tennessee	Public	191	$61,500
University Of Wisconsin - Madison	Public	263	$61,500
Taft University System (The)	Proprietary	27	$61,500
Indiana Institute Of Technology	Private	26	$59,650
University Of Nebraska	Public	159	$59,124
Brigham Young University	Private	n/a	$51,250
Santa Barbara And Ventura Colleges Of Law	Private	36	$20,500

Law School	School Type	Count	Mean Debt
Thomas Jefferson School Of Law	Private	337	$190,263
Southwestern Law School	Private	540	$187,494
Whittier College	Private	237	$186,978
Florida Coastal School Of Law	Proprietary	476	$182,215
Touro College	Private	n/a	$178,607
University Of San Francisco	Private	n/a	$176,289
Arizona Summit Law School	Proprietary	272	$175,459
Charlotte School Of Law	Proprietary	n/a	$172,517
New York University	Private	570	$170,700
American University (The)	Private	588	$166,187
Atlanta's John Marshall Law School	Proprietary	287	$164,577
Georgetown University	Private	937	$160,905
New York Law School	Private	414	$160,222
Barry University	Private	365	$156,543
Elon University	Private	77	$155,958
Faulkner University	Private	10	$154,834
Thomas M. Cooley Law School	Private	641	$153,258
Golden Gate University	Private	166	$153,104
Pepperdine University	Private	n/a	$152,712
Columbia University	Private	513	$151,400
Nova Southeastern University	Private	133	$150,527
Ave Maria School Of Law	Private	115	$150,525
John Marshall Law School (The)	Private	n/a	$150,306
Howard University	Private	219	$149,946
George Washington University	Private	804	$149,904
University Of Virginia	Public	386	$149,871
Willamette University	Private	182	$148,864
Santa Clara University	Private	231	$148,759
Saint Thomas University	Private	n/a	$147,706
Touro College	Private	228	$147,305
Fordham University	Private	428	$147,020
Northwestern University	Private	329	$146,926
University Of Miami	Private	388	$146,684
California Western School Of Law	Private	331	$146,536
University Of Pennsylvania	Private	331	$146,402
Loyola Marymount University	Private	466	$146,358
Charleston School Of Law	Proprietary	206	$145,354
University Of The Pacific	Private	244	$144,881
Seattle University	Private	375	$143,904
University Of Denver	Private	396	$143,871
University Of California, Berkeley	Public	433	$143,418
Cornell University	Private	n/a	$143,335
Marquette University	Private	322	$142,402
Hofstra University	Private	328	$140,548
Chapman University	Private	n/a	$140,055
University Of La Verne	Private	78	$139,824
Catholic University Of America (The)	Private	195	$139,404
Mercer University	Private	n/a	$138,036
Harvard University	Private	815	$136,746
University Of Detroit Mercy	Private	119	$135,700
University Of Chicago (The)	Private	268	$134,795
University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor	Public	457	$134,538
Duke University	Private	n/a	$133,131
Lewis & Clark College	Private	n/a	$132,824
Campbell University	Private	196	$131,858
Valparaiso University	Private	241	$131,103
Loyola University Chicago	Private	318	$130,973
Widener University	Private	342	$130,489
Trinity International University	Private	n/a	$130,446
Southern Methodist University	Private	283	$129,977
Stetson University	Private	444	$129,753
University Of San Diego	Private	313	$129,427
Creighton University	Private	181	$129,223
Suffolk University	Private	n/a	$128,405
Samford University	Private	n/a	$126,954
Seton Hall University	Private	242	$126,918
Tulane University	Private	256	$125,898
Loyola University New Orleans	Private	n/a	$125,774
University Of California, Hastings College Of The	Public	454	$125,545
Mississippi College	Private	196	$125,458
Western New England University	Private	n/a	$125,446
University Of Southern California	Private	283	$124,796
Depaul University	Private	363	$124,285
Oklahoma City University	Private	n/a	$124,005
South Texas College Of Law Houston	Private	469	$122,530
Capital University	Private	172	$122,388
University Of Notre Dame	Private	279	$120,935
Baylor University	Private	n/a	$120,798
University Of California, Irvine	Public	67	$120,742
Belmont University	Private	n/a	$120,657
Stanford University	Private	250	$119,935
Vanderbilt University	Private	235	$119,460
Yale University	Private	n/a	$119,139
Argosy University	Proprietary	134	$119,071
Regent University	Private	134	$118,765
New England Law | Boston	Private	n/a	$118,727
Emory University	Private	391	$118,187
Drake University	Private	76	$117,875
John F. Kennedy University	Private	n/a	$117,788
Roger Williams University	Private	169	$117,507
University Of California, Los Angeles	Public	469	$117,431
Texas A&M University	Public	301	$116,569
Brooklyn Law School	Private	544	$115,290
University Of Maryland, Baltimore	Public	279	$115,234
Saint John's University	Private	321	$114,793
Yeshiva University	Private	388	$113,065
University Of Dayton	Private	n/a	$111,690
University Of Baltimore	Public	363	$111,218
Syracuse University	Private	247	$110,287
St. Mary's University	Private	341	$110,159
George Mason University	Public	174	$110,086
Wake Forest University	Private	268	$109,384
Texas Southern University	Public	249	$109,359
Pace University	Private	267	$108,729
Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapoli	Public	122	$107,843
Northeastern University	Private	231	$107,260
Saint Louis University	Private	n/a	$106,453
University Of Minnesota - Twin Cities	Public	315	$105,304
Illinois Institute Of Technology	Private	319	$105,102
University Of Washington - Seattle	Public	210	$104,816
Appalachian School Of Law	Private	75	$104,751
Gonzaga University	Private	176	$104,061
Florida International University	Public	n/a	$103,805
Hamline University	Private	n/a	$103,549
Boston University	Private	308	$103,412
Boston College	Private	306	$103,300
Stetson University	Private	n/a	$103,025
Albany Law School Of Union University	Private	n/a	$102,647
University Of Massachusetts - Dartmouth	Public	n/a	$102,166
University Of North Carolina - Chapel Hill	Public	302	$102,039
University Of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh	Public	247	$100,937
University Of Colorado Boulder	Public	268	$100,687
University Of Texas At Austin	Public	460	$100,120
Washington And Lee University	Private	146	$99,743
North Carolina Central University	Public	316	$99,397
Ohio Northern University	Private	n/a	$99,364
Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University	Public	150	$99,241
University Of The District Of Columbia	Public	60	$99,053
University Of Richmond	Private	230	$98,256
Southern University And Agricultural & Mechanical	Public	187	$97,877
University Of South Carolina - Columbia	Public	319	$97,758
Duquesne University	Private	210	$97,599
Pontifical Catholic University Of Puerto Ric	Private	278	$97,174
Arizona State University	Public	n/a	$96,920
University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign	Public	n/a	$96,195
Pennsylvania State University (The)	Public	243	$96,103
Villanova University	Private	203	$95,946
University Of New Hampshire	Public	n/a	$95,723
College Of William & Mary	Public	309	$95,654
Inter American University Of Puerto Rico - School	Private	325	$95,175
University Of Houston	Public	302	$94,515
Drexel University	Private	222	$94,453
Ohio State University (The)	Public	264	$94,210
University Of Nevada - Las Vegas	Public	184	$93,899
Humphreys University	Private	25	$93,865
Quinnipiac University	Private	115	$93,726
University Of California, Davis	Public	209	$93,667
University Of Louisville	Public	156	$93,612
Indiana University - Bloomington	Public	248	$93,379
University Of Missouri - Kansas City	Public	235	$93,104
Michigan State University College Of Law	Private	425	$92,924
State University Of New York At Buffalo	Public	259	$92,108
University Of Southern Maine	Public	132	$91,522
Concordia University	Private	43	$90,995
Washington University In St. Louis	Private	269	$90,881
Southern Illinois University At Carbondale	Public	201	$90,584
Lincoln Memorial University	Private	n/a	$89,830
Case Western Reserve University	Private	171	$89,821
University Of Oregon	Public	180	$88,748
University Of Idaho	Public	193	$88,218
University Of Saint Thomas	Private	160	$87,679
University Of Utah	Public	187	$87,311
University Of Wyoming	Public	104	$87,084
Cleveland State University	Public	179	$87,010
Northern Illinois University	Public	121	$86,582
University Of Hawaii At Manoa	Public	127	$85,910
Rutgers, The State University Of New Jersey	Public	n/a	$85,182
Florida State University	Public	294	$84,310
University Of Florida	Public	463	$84,052
West Virginia University	Public	169	$83,920
University Of Arizona (The)	Public	162	$83,884
University Of South Dakota	Public	109	$83,322
University Of Tulsa (The)	Private	116	$83,107
Louisiana State University	Public	258	$82,907
University Of Georgia	Public	284	$82,605
Washburn University - Topeka	Public	148	$81,972
University Of Oklahoma	Public	n/a	$81,629
Alliant International University	Proprietary	n/a	$81,410
University Of Memphis (The)	Public	159	$81,224
Northern Kentucky University	Public	136	$81,164
University Of Toledo	Public	142	$81,143
University Of New Mexico	Public	n/a	$80,068
Concordia University	Private	n/a	$79,498
Texas Tech University	Public	185	$79,436
University Of Kentucky	Public	194	$79,160
University Of Akron (The)	Public	184	$78,953
Temple University	Public	308	$78,731
Massachusetts School Of Law At Andover	Private	n/a	$78,433
Wayne State University	Public	175	$78,042
Liberty University	Private	n/a	$77,218
University Of Montana (The)	Public	134	$76,804
University Of Alabama	Public	174	$76,753
University Of Kansas	Public	170	$76,195
Mitchell Hamline School Of Law	Private	409	$74,963
University Of Tennessee	Public	191	$74,744
Cuny School Of Law '(The)'	Public	151	$74,724
Purdue University Global	Public	74	$72,513
University Of Cincinnati	Public	140	$72,453
University Of Arkansas At Little Rock	Public	116	$72,079
University Of Iowa	Public	167	$71,536
University Of Wisconsin - Madison	Public	263	$71,525
University Of Connecticut	Public	214	$70,787
University Of Missouri - Columbia	Public	168	$70,657
Georgia State University	Public	293	$69,753
University Of Arkansas	Public	178	$67,448
University Of Mississippi	Public	167	$66,247
Indiana Institute Of Technology	Private	26	$65,639
University Of Nebraska	Public	159	$62,485
University Of North Dakota	Public	90	$62,151
Taft University System (The)	Proprietary	27	$60,581
Brigham Young University	Private	n/a	$51,245
Santa Barbara And Ventura Colleges Of Law	Private	36	$30,506

Overall legal employment for the Class of 2018 improved somewhat

Despite poor, and in some cases declining, bar passage rates in many jurisdictions over the last four years, we’ve seen steady overall improvement in the market for law school graduates, and the Class of 2018 is no exception. All trends are fairly positive, even if small, and even if some of those are driven by shrinking class sizes. Below are figures for the ABA-disclosed data (excluding Puerto Rico’s three law schools).

	Graduates	FTLT BPR	Placement	FTLT JDA
Class of 2012	45,751	25,503	55.7%	4,218
Class of 2013	46,112	25,787	55.9%	4,550
Class of 2014	43,195	25,348	58.7%	4,774
Class of 2015	40,205	23,895	59.4%	4,416
Class of 2016	36,654	22,874	62.4%	3,948
Class of 2017	34,428	23,078	67.0%	3,121
Class of 2018	33,633	23,314	69.3%	3,123

Placement in bar passage-required jobs continued to improve, and graduates shrank. That put placement in full-time, long-term, bar passage-required jobs up to 69.3% (excluding school-funded positions). Unlike recent years, we also saw a small increase in J.D.-advantage position placement.

We can also compare the Class of 2018 to the Class of 2013—a recent high-water mark in total graduates and bar passage-required jobs (even if the percentage placed in those jobs was relatively low). We can look at placement by firm size, and by industry.

FTLT	Class of 2013	Class of 2018	Net	Delta
Solo	926	313	-613	-66.2%
2-10	6,947	4,999	-1948	-28.0%
11-25	1,842	1,689	-153	-8.3%
26-50	1,045	1,020	-25	-2.4%
51-100	846	821	-25	-3.0%
101-205	1,027	1,002	-25	-2.4%
251-500	1,041	949	-92	-8.8%
501+	3,978	4,749	771	19.4%
Business/Industry	5,494	3,085	-2409	-43.8%
Government	4,360	3,860	-500	-11.5%
Public Interest	1,665	1,504	-161	-9.7%
Federal Clerk	1,259	1,174	-85	-6.8%
State Clerk	2,043	2,075	32	1.6%
Academia/Education	490	302	-188	-38.4%

The sharp demise of sole practitioners and small law firm placement is significant. Last year, I noted that placement in these positions might be the most at-risk when bar passage rates decline. Also of note is the decline in “business” jobs, which were typically J.D.-advantage positions and less desirable for graduates. Note, too, the continued rise of big law jobs—up nearly 800 placements since the Class of 2013. There had been some speculation during the recession that those jobs might be disappearing and that alternative positions would be needed for future classes, but this seems to be the healthiest market.

We can also compare the year-over-year placement in these job types, which are perhaps more volatile but still illuminating.

FTLT	Class of 2017	Class of 2018	Net	Delta
Solo	392	313	-79	-20.2%
2-10	5,145	4,999	-146	-2.8%
11-25	1,628	1,689	61	3.7%
26-50	953	1,020	67	7.0%
51-100	779	821	42	5.4%
101-205	956	1,002	46	4.8%
251-500	983	949	-34	-3.5%
501+	4,569	4,749	180	3.9%
Business/Industry	3,241	3,085	-156	-4.8%
Government	3,812	3,860	48	1.3%
Public Interest	1,419	1,504	85	6.0%
Federal Clerk	1,151	1,174	23	2.0%
State Clerk	1,984	2,075	91	4.6%
Education	303	302	-1	-0.3%

Even year over year, we saw placement in large firms increase 180 positions, while solo and firms of 10 or fewer attorneys decline by over 220 positions.

Visualizing legal employment outcomes in California in 2018

This is the eighth and final in a series of visualizations on legal employment outcomes for the Class of 2018. Following posts on outcomes in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Florida, DC-Maryland-Virginia, and New York, here is a visualization for legal employment outcomes of graduates of law schools in California for the Class of 2018. (More about the methodology is available at the Illinois post.) Last year's California post is here.

Please note, of course, that “J.D.-advantage” jobs may differ significantly from school to school, which may alter how one views the “overall” rate. (USNWR treats them as equivalent, but there are good reasons to think they may not be equivalent; and here, there are significant disparities among some schools and their J.D.-advantage placement.) And recall that I sort the table below to include school-funded positions, while the chart only includes unfunded positions. (It’s a reason I try to display the information in different ways!) The California market presented a mixed but somewhat positive picture. The closure of Whittier meant I removed it from the chart. Comparing all other schools year-to-year, graduates increased slightly from 3761 to 3804. And bar passage-required jobs increased slightly, too, from 2353 to 2405. But J.D. advantage jobs climbed at a faster rate, from 322 to 354, and school funded positions increased slightly. Placement among these schools rose from 73.3% to 74.9% in all positions.

As always, please notify me of any corrections or errata.

View fullsize

Peer Score	School	2018	YoY%	BPR	JDA	LSF	Grads	2017	BPR	JDA	LSF	Grads
4.9	Stanford University	96.9%	3.0	165	12	10	193	93.9%	163	15	7	197
4.4	University of California-Berkeley	95.8%	1.0	276	4	16	309	94.8%	269	6	14	305
4.1	University of California-Los Angeles	92.5%	0.0	257	19	20	320	92.5%	283	17	31	358
3.7	University of Southern California	87.3%	-2.6	162	11	6	205	90.0%	179	4	5	209
3.5	University of California-Irvine	86.8%	0.4	85	3	11	114	86.5%	72	4	7	96
3.4	University of California-Davis	86.4%	2.0	135	8	10	177	84.4%	119	10	12	167
2.7	Loyola Law School-Los Angeles	85.7%	6.1	213	24	3	280	79.6%	204	31	3	299
3.1	University of California-Hastings	78.7%	11.2	178	28	12	277	67.5%	166	22	1	280
2.7	Pepperdine University	78.6%	2.8	114	18	0	168	75.8%	134	34	1	223
1.9	Chapman University	73.9%	5.6	75	24	0	134	68.2%	81	20	0	148
2.7	University of San Diego	72.3%	4.7	172	19	0	264	67.6%	121	17	0	204
2.5	Santa Clara University	68.7%	4.7	127	22	0	217	64.0%	77	10	0	136
1.9	McGeorge School of Law	63.9%	4.8	66	19	0	133	59.1%	62	16	0	132
1.8	Southwestern Law School	63.2%	4.6	128	39	1	266	58.6%	124	43	0	285
1.5	California Western School of Law	61.1%	-3.3	86	32	0	193	64.5%	106	21	0	197
1.1	Western State College of Law	57.0%	4.9	49	8	0	100	52.1%	32	6	0	73
1.5	Golden Gate University	48.2%	-3.5	27	11	2	83	51.7%	33	11	1	87
1.9	University of San Francisco	45.0%	-15.8	49	26	1	169	60.8%	75	18	0	153
1.2	University of La Verne	43.1%	6.3	13	12	0	58	36.8%	12	2	0	38
nr	Thomas Jefferson School of Law	29.9%	-2.3	28	15	0	144	32.2%	41	15	0	174

Visualizing legal employment outcomes in New York in 2018

This is the seventh in a series of visualizations on legal employment outcomes for the Class of 2018. Following posts on outcomes in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Florida, and DC-Maryland-Virginia, here is a visualization for legal employment outcomes of graduates of law schools in New York for the Class of 2018. (More about the methodology is available at the Illinois post.) Last year's New York post is here.

Please note, of course, that “J.D.-advantage” jobs may differ significantly from school to school, which may alter how one views the “overall” rate. (USNWR treats them as equivalent, but there are good reasons to think they may not be equivalent; and here, there are significant disparities among some schools and their J.D.-advantage placement.) And recall that I sort the table below to include school-funded positions, while the chart only includes unfunded positions. (It’s a reason I try to display the information in different ways!) The market showed improvement for the Class of 2018. Bar passage-required jobs rose from 2786 to 2882; J.D.-advantage rose slightly and school funded positions fell slightly. And while total graduates increased slightly to 3689, the improvement in bar passage-required positions helped increase placement from 84.5% to 86.1%.

As always, please notify me of any corrections or errata.

View fullsize

Peer score	School	2018	YoY%	BPR	JDA	LSF	Grads	2017	BPR	JDA	LSF	Grads
4.6	New York University	96.7%	-0.4	411	3	29	458	97.1%	429	11	30	484
4.7	Columbia University	96.4%	0.1	420	8	5	449	96.3%	401	2	13	432
4.3	Cornell University	93.4%	-0.2	178	4	1	196	93.6%	186	2	1	202
2.3	St. John's University	91.6%	9.8	186	21	0	226	81.8%	154	21	0	214
3.3	Fordham University	88.4%	10.8	302	24	2	371	77.7%	245	23	3	349
2.8	Cardozo School of Law	84.9%	-2.1	207	23	1	272	87.0%	234	20	0	292
2.2	Hofstra University	82.4%	1.4	186	11	0	239	81.0%	180	12	0	237
1.9	New York Law School	81.0%	6.7	167	52	2	273	74.3%	123	56	0	241
2.6	Brooklyn Law School	80.5%	0.3	245	48	0	364	80.2%	264	31	0	368
1.9	Pace University	79.5%	-5.2	118	14	0	166	84.7%	127	17	0	170
2.0	Albany Law School	79.0%	-1.0	86	8	0	119	80.0%	78	10	0	110
2.2	University of Buffalo-SUNY	78.1%	7.0	101	13	0	146	71.1%	93	15	0	152
2.3	Syracuse University	76.3%	-2.9	116	16	0	173	79.2%	103	15	0	149
2.2	City University of New York	74.0%	2.7	64	7	0	96	71.3%	65	2	0	94
1.5	Touro College	70.2%	-5.0	95	4	0	141	75.2%	104	11	0	153

Visualizing legal employment outcomes in DC-Maryland-Virginia in 2018

This is the sixth in a series of visualizations on legal employment outcomes for the Class of 2018. Following posts on outcomes in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, and Florida, here is a visualization for legal employment outcomes of graduates of law schools in Washington, DC; Maryland; and Virginia for the Class of 2018. (More about the methodology is available at the Illinois post.) Last year's DC-Maryland-Virginia post is here.

Please note, of course, that “J.D.-advantage” jobs may differ significantly from school to school, which may alter how one views the “overall” rate. And recall that I sort the table below to include school-funded positions, while the chart only includes unfunded positions. (It’s a reason I try to display the information in different ways!) The market showed improvement for the Class of 2018. Bar passage-required jobs rose from 2318 to 2367; J.D.-advantage and school funded positions both fell slightly. There were more than 100 fewer graduates in this class, helping raise the overal employment rate from 80.3% to 83.9%. (Of note are four schools with fewer than 70 graduates each.)

As always, please notify me of any corrections or errata.

View fullsize

Peer score	School	2018	YoY%	BPR	JDA	LSF	Grads	2017	BPR	JDA	LSF	Grads
4.4	University of Virginia	97.7%	1.0	277	3	12	299	96.6%	271	7	8	296
4.2	Georgetown University	91.2%	2.2	532	28	33	650	89.0%	504	40	40	656
3	University of Maryland	88.9%	11.1	138	37	1	198	77.8%	108	36	3	189
3.3	William & Mary Law School	88.2%	7.5	149	16	0	187	80.8%	158	10	0	208
3.2	Washington & Lee University	87.6%	3.8	98	1	0	113	83.8%	79	4	0	99
3.5	George Washington University	84.0%	1.4	376	58	3	520	82.6%	422	69	9	605
2.7	George Mason University	83.9%	3.0	90	22	3	137	80.9%	92	26	5	152
2.7	University of Richmond	81.2%	-0.7	118	29	0	181	81.9%	101	21	0	149
1.2	Liberty University	80.0%	11.0	32	4	0	45	69.0%	37	3	0	58
1.2	Regent University	77.3%	2.9	45	5	1	66	74.4%	46	10	2	78
2.1	University of Baltimore	77.0%	4.2	136	21	0	204	72.8%	136	27	0	224
2.6	Howard University	73.7%	3.8	80	17	1	133	69.9%	65	6	1	103
2.8	American University	73.6%	5.6	201	69	3	371	68.0%	197	56	0	372
1.5	District of Columbia	70.1%	4.0	26	20	1	67	66.2%	19	27	1	71
2.1	Catholic University of America	68.0%	4.1	56	10	0	97	64.0%	61	10	0	111
1.2	Appalachian School of Law	51.7%	-7.8	13	2	0	29	59.5%	22	3	0	42