Some data on law school-specific debt load disparities between men and women
The ever-valuable LSSSE data recently noted that women tend to graduate from law school with higher debt loads than men. The ABA has tracked this, too. On the heels of recent Department of Education data disclosures, however, we can drill down on law school-specific figures.
I looked at mean debt data for males and non-males. (That’s how the DOE codes the data—I assume the vast majority of non-males are females, but it could include non-binary individuals, and I’ll formally use the DOE coding.) Unsurprisingly (given the aggregate figures from LSSSE & ABA, among others), there are more schools where the mean debt loads for non-males are greater than the mean debt loads for males. At about half the schools, the debt ratios are close to parity—of the 208 schools in my data set, about 100 have a mean debt load of less than a $5000 difference between the sexes.
But I found 72 schools where average debt incurred was at least $5000 more among non-males than males. That gap was at least $10,000 at 34 schools. And it was at least $20,000 among four.
On the other side, there were 35 schools where average debt incurred was at least $5000 more among males than non-males. The gap was at least $10,000 at 14 schools, and at least $20,000 at one school.
I looked at schools on mean non-male debt, less mean male debt. A positive figure (+$10,000) means that the average non-male debt was that much larger than male debt. A negative figure (-$5000) means that the average male debt was that much larger than non-male debt.
Below is a table, then a visualization. These are 2018-2019 figures.
| School | Mean non-male debt less mean male debt |
| Univ. of Massachusetts-Dartmouth | $42,979 |
| Univ. of the District of Columbia | $25,457 |
| Widener Univ. | $24,442 |
| Western Michigan Univ.-Thomas M. Cooley | $20,851 |
| Tulane Univ. of Louisiana | $18,508 |
| Pepperdine Univ. | $18,209 |
| Barry Univ. | $18,017 |
| Mercer Univ. | $17,882 |
| Nova Southeastern Univ. | $17,881 |
| Saint Louis Univ. | $17,587 |
| Washington and Lee Univ. | $17,286 |
| Lewis & Clark College | $17,245 |
| Univ. of Georgia | $16,200 |
| The John Marshall Law School | $15,927 |
| Univ. of Akron Main Campus | $15,761 |
| Santa Clara Univ. | $14,160 |
| Univ. of Richmond | $13,590 |
| Northern Kentucky Univ. | $13,087 |
| Mississippi College | $12,907 |
| Arizona Summit Law School | $12,693 |
| Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law | $12,043 |
| Suffolk Univ. | $12,000 |
| Univ. of Oklahoma-Norman Campus | $11,975 |
| Univ. of Kansas | $11,939 |
| Case Western Reserve Univ. | $11,852 |
| Univ. of La Verne | $11,705 |
| Southern Univ. Law Center | $11,593 |
| Campbell Univ. | $11,431 |
| Whittier College | $10,906 |
| Wake Forest Univ. | $10,609 |
| Univ. of Detroit Mercy | $10,458 |
| North Carolina Central Univ. | $10,227 |
| Univ. of Memphis | $10,088 |
| Thomas Jefferson School of Law | $10,048 |
| Harvard Univ. | $9,671 |
| Univ. of Idaho | $9,472 |
| Arizona State Univ.-Tempe | $9,329 |
| Samford Univ. | $9,257 |
| Seattle Univ. | $9,223 |
| Stanford Univ. | $9,134 |
| Florida Coastal School of Law | $9,116 |
| Mitchell Hamline School of Law | $9,114 |
| Univ. of Houston | $9,071 |
| The Univ. of Texas at Austin | $8,970 |
| Southwestern Law School | $8,517 |
| St John's Univ.-New York | $8,355 |
| Cornell Univ. | $8,213 |
| Touro College | $8,136 |
| Univ. of Missouri-Columbia | $7,997 |
| Southern Illinois Univ.-Carbondale | $7,938 |
| Univ. of Chicago | $7,675 |
| St. Mary's Univ. | $7,570 |
| Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $7,440 |
| New England Law-Boston | $7,232 |
| Ohio Northern Univ. | $6,882 |
| West Virginia Univ. | $6,867 |
| Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | $6,859 |
| The Catholic Univ. of America | $6,859 |
| Univ. of South Carolina-Columbia | $6,776 |
| Univ. of Baltimore | $6,579 |
| Western State College of Law at Argosy Univ. | $6,425 |
| Argosy Univ.-Orange County | $6,425 |
| Stetson Univ. | $6,127 |
| Georgia State Univ. | $6,041 |
| Capital Univ. | $6,023 |
| Rutgers Univ.-New Brunswick | $6,005 |
| Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore | $5,959 |
| Yale Univ. | $5,666 |
| American Univ. | $5,456 |
| Georgetown Univ. | $5,390 |
| Concordia Univ.-Portland | $5,229 |
| Texas A & M Univ.-College Station | $5,119 |
| Univ. of Wyoming | $4,994 |
| Pontifical Catholic Univ. of Puerto Rico-Ponce | $4,925 |
| New York Univ. | $4,850 |
| Univ. of Notre Dame | $4,832 |
| Trinity Law School | $4,802 |
| Trinity International Univ.-Illinois | $4,802 |
| Wayne State Univ. | $4,799 |
| Fordham Univ. | $4,747 |
| George Washington Univ. | $4,736 |
| Golden Gate Univ.-San Francisco | $4,609 |
| Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock | $4,545 |
| Texas Tech Univ. | $4,425 |
| Univ. of Denver | $4,405 |
| Univ. of Utah | $4,403 |
| Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City | $4,345 |
| Appalachian School of Law | $4,001 |
| Univ. of Iowa | $3,976 |
| Seton Hall Univ. | $3,831 |
| DePaul Univ. | $3,825 |
| Albany Law School | $3,732 |
| Univ. of Virginia-Main Campus | $3,627 |
| Washington Univ. in St Louis | $3,569 |
| Univ. of Florida | $3,352 |
| Northwestern Univ. | $3,326 |
| Gonzaga Univ. | $3,324 |
| Emory Univ. | $3,273 |
| Charleston School of Law | $3,086 |
| Willamette Univ. | $2,836 |
| Univ. of Michigan-Ann Arbor | $2,793 |
| Univ. of Oregon | $2,746 |
| Univ. at Buffalo | $2,366 |
| Syracuse Univ. | $2,337 |
| Univ. of Arkansas | $2,249 |
| Illinois Institute of Technology | $2,042 |
| Belmont Univ. | $1,987 |
| Texas Southern Univ. | $1,680 |
| Washburn Univ. | $1,609 |
| Inter American Univ. of Puerto Rico-School of Law | $1,426 |
| California Western School of Law | $1,411 |
| Ohio State Univ.-Main Campus | $1,357 |
| Chapman Univ. | $1,341 |
| Univ. of the Pacific | $1,001 |
| Univ. of Louisville | $988 |
| St. Thomas Univ. | $664 |
| Cleveland State Univ. | $619 |
| Charlotte School of Law | $457 |
| Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa | $402 |
| Univ. of North Dakota | $284 |
| Brigham Young Univ.-Provo | $257 |
| Atlanta's John Marshall Law School | $104 |
| Savannah Law School | $104 |
| Univ. of Dayton | $50 |
| Univ. of Colorado Boulder | -$93 |
| Brooklyn Law School | -$169 |
| Boston College | -$214 |
| Univ. of Toledo | -$343 |
| Pace Univ. | -$406 |
| Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ.-Indianapolis | -$410 |
| Purdue Univ. Global-Davenport | -$417 |
| Purdue Univ. Global | -$417 |
| Loyola Marymount Univ. | -$700 |
| Hofstra Univ. | -$750 |
| Florida State Univ. | -$766 |
| Temple Univ. | -$809 |
| Univ. of Miami | -$1,194 |
| South Texas College of Law Houston | -$1,195 |
| Yeshiva Univ. | -$1,236 |
| Univ. of Tulsa | -$1,309 |
| The Univ. of Tennessee-Knoxville | -$1,316 |
| Michigan State Univ.-College of Law | -$1,475 |
| Howard Univ. | -$1,521 |
| Duquesne Univ. | -$1,652 |
| William & Mary | -$1,685 |
| Massachusetts School of Law | -$1,906 |
| Univ. of California-Davis | -$2,086 |
| The Univ. of Alabama | -$2,118 |
| Columbia Univ. in the City of New York | -$2,226 |
| Univ. of Washington-Seattle Campus | -$2,408 |
| Univ. of San Francisco | -$2,461 |
| Univ. of New Mexico-Main Campus | -$2,618 |
| Duke Univ. | -$2,882 |
| Univ. of Kentucky | -$3,042 |
| Loyola Univ. Chicago | -$3,172 |
| Univ. of New Hampshire-Main Campus | -$3,180 |
| Vermont Law School | -$3,241 |
| Ave Maria School of Law | -$3,298 |
| Quinnipiac Univ. | -$3,330 |
| Univ. of Nevada-Las Vegas | -$3,412 |
| Univ. of Southern Maine | -$3,502 |
| Univ. of California-Berkeley | -$3,644 |
| New York Law School | -$3,675 |
| Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln | -$3,685 |
| Florida Agricultural and Mechanical Univ. | -$3,805 |
| Louisiana State Univ. | -$3,869 |
| The Univ. of Montana | -$3,982 |
| Northern Illinois Univ. | -$4,129 |
| Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison | -$4,137 |
| Florida International Univ. | -$4,781 |
| Univ. of California-Hastings College of Law | -$4,803 |
| Univ. of Pennsylvania | -$4,860 |
| Univ. of Arizona | -$4,860 |
| Univ. of Connecticut | -$5,274 |
| Taft Univ. System | -$5,295 |
| Univ. of Cincinnati-Main Campus | -$5,311 |
| Drexel Univ. | -$5,630 |
| Univ. of St Thomas | -$5,638 |
| George Mason Univ. | -$5,982 |
| Villanova Univ. | -$6,181 |
| Roger Williams Univ. | -$6,393 |
| Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities | -$6,726 |
| Univ. of San Diego | -$6,806 |
| Southern Methodist Univ. | -$6,873 |
| Boston Univ. | -$7,034 |
| Univ. of Mississippi | -$7,069 |
| Univ. of California-Los Angeles | -$7,678 |
| Univ. of South Dakota | -$8,142 |
| Univ. of Southern California | -$8,502 |
| Marquette Univ. | -$8,537 |
| Creighton Univ. | -$8,542 |
| Regent Univ. | -$8,954 |
| Pennsylvania State Univ.-Dickinson Law | -$9,492 |
| Pennsylvania State Univ.-Main Campus | -$9,492 |
| Oklahoma City Univ. | -$10,330 |
| Valparaiso Univ. | -$10,441 |
| Ohio Northern Univ. | -$10,673 |
| Lincoln Memorial Univ. | -$11,282 |
| Univ. of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | -$12,507 |
| Baylor Univ. | -$13,041 |
| CUNY School of Law | -$13,275 |
| Indiana Univ.-Bloomington | -$13,515 |
| Loyola Univ. New Orleans | -$13,696 |
| Drake Univ. | -$13,700 |
| Northeastern Univ. | -$15,642 |
| Chapman Univ. | -$17,551 |
| Vanderbilt Univ. | -$18,237 |
| Univ. of California-Irvine | -$23,266 |