At graduation employment figures for law school graduates in 2018
One underdiscussed statistic, in my view, is the “at graduation” employment figures at law schools.
Among 145 USNWR-ranked schools sharing data, the median at graduation employment rate was 56.1%. The median among all USNWR-ranked schools at 10 months after graduation was 83.3%. So there is substantial movement in those 10 months after graduation—passing the bar exam, moving to a new city, places of employment with limited resources hiring at the time they have an opening rather than years out, and so on. (The aggregate at-graduation employment metric, which is not the figure reported below, is just 4% of the overall USNWR ranking.)
Nevertheless, the ABA’s required disclosure employment data only includes the 10-month figures. USNWR collects and discloses the at-graduation employment rates, too. For students wondering about job security and likelihood of obtaining a position (and the ability to begin paying down debt promptly), at-graduation is an interesting figure. It’s also a figure that might relate to “elite” employment outcomes, like judicial clerkships (including state court clerkships) and big law firm associate positions—those are the kind that hire out months if not years in advance of a start date. It might be the case that government or public interest positions hire more frequently after graduation, a different way of thinking about these figures.
So below at graduation employment outcomes for the Class of 2018. USNWR includes full-time, long-term, bar passage-required and J.D.-advantage jobs that are not funded by a law school in this category.
| School | Employed at grad 2018 |
| Columbia | 94.2% |
| Virginia | 92.3% |
| Cornell | 91.3% |
| Penn | 90.9% |
| Chicago | 90.3% |
| Stanford | 90.2% |
| Northwestern | 90.0% |
| NYU | 89.5% |
| Harvard | 88.8% |
| Duke | 88.2% |
| Michigan | 84.2% |
| Seton Hall | 84.2% |
| Berkeley | 83.8% |
| Yale | 82.8% |
| Vanderbilt | 81.0% |
| Minnesota | 79.7% |
| Georgetown | 78.5% |
| Arizona State | 77.9% |
| Washington & Lee | 77.0% |
| Washington University (St. Louis) | 76.1% |
| Fordham | 74.4% |
| Texas | 73.1% |
| Iowa | 73.0% |
| BYU | 72.3% |
| Rutgers | 70.5% |
| UCLA | 70.3% |
| USC | 69.8% |
| George Washington | 69.8% |
| Villanova | 69.6% |
| Boston University | 68.1% |
| Penn State-Dickinson | 66.7% |
| UC-Davis | 66.1% |
| St. Louis | 66.0% |
| Notre Dame | 65.9% |
| North Carolina | 65.8% |
| Uconn | 65.6% |
| Kansas | 64.7% |
| Georgia | 64.6% |
| St. John's | 64.6% |
| Florida | 64.4% |
| Illinois | 64.4% |
| Ohio State | 64.3% |
| William & Mary | 64.2% |
| Kentucky | 63.9% |
| Boston College | 63.7% |
| Maryland | 63.6% |
| Baylor | 63.6% |
| Utah | 63.0% |
| Albany | 63.0% |
| Tulane | 62.9% |
| Alabama | 61.6% |
| UC-Irvine | 61.4% |
| Tennessee | 61.4% |
| Emory | 59.9% |
| Temple | 59.8% |
| Richmond | 59.7% |
| Nebraska | 59.6% |
| Wake Forest | 59.2% |
| Louisville | 58.7% |
| Creighton | 58.7% |
| Hofstra | 58.6% |
| Colorado | 58.5% |
| George Mason | 58.4% |
| Baltimore | 58.3% |
| SMU | 57.9% |
| Cardozo | 57.0% |
| Toldeo | 56.9% |
| Arizona | 56.6% |
| UNLV | 56.6% |
| Oklahoma | 56.3% |
| Mercer | 56.3% |
| Wisconsin | 56.2% |
| Indiana-Bloomington | 56.1% |
| Maine | 56.0% |
| Washburn | 55.0% |
| Washington | 53.8% |
| Missouri | 53.8% |
| LSU | 53.7% |
| Houston | 53.5% |
| South Carolina | 53.4% |
| Penn State-University Park | 52.0% |
| Drake | 52.0% |
| Wayne State | 51.8% |
| Syracuse | 51.7% |
| Gonzaga | 51.5% |
| Loyola Chicago | 50.3% |
| Brooklyn | 50.0% |
| DePaul | 50.0% |
| American | 49.1% |
| Marquette | 48.8% |
| Pace | 48.8% |
| New York Law School | 48.7% |
| South Dakota | 48.7% |
| Georgia State | 48.6% |
| Miami | 48.5% |
| Denver | 48.1% |
| Cincinnati | 47.8% |
| Howard | 47.4% |
| Buffalo | 46.6% |
| University of St. Thomas | 46.5% |
| Tulsa | 45.7% |
| Hawaii | 45.3% |
| Florida International | 45.2% |
| Loyola Law School-Los Angeles | 45.0% |
| Montana | 44.9% |
| Arkansas | 44.2% |
| Northeastern | 44.1% |
| New Hampshire | 43.8% |
| New Mexico | 43.8% |
| Michigan State | 43.5% |
| Catholic | 43.3% |
| Duquense | 43.3% |
| Texas Tech | 43.2% |
| Quinnipiac | 42.7% |
| Wyoming | 42.4% |
| Illinois-Chicago (John Marshall) | 42.0% |
| Vermont | 42.0% |
| West Virginia | 41.8% |
| Pepperdine | 41.7% |
| Florida State | 41.1% |
| Drexel-Pennsylvania | 41.1% |
| Stetson | 41.0% |
| Suffolk | 41.0% |
| Case Western Reserve | 40.5% |
| Chicago-Kent | 40.5% |
| San Diego | 40.2% |
| Missouri | 40.0% |
| Akron | 40.0% |
| Texas A&M | 39.9% |
| Memphis | 39.8% |
| Oregon | 39.5% |
| Santa Clara | 39.2% |
| UC-Hastings | 38.3% |
| Lewis & Clark | 38.2% |
| Pittsburgh | 37.8% |
| Indiana-Indianapolis | 36.6% |
| Cleveland State | 36.4% |
| Mitchell Hamline | 34.4% |
| Mississippi | 34.1% |
| Chapman | 32.8% |
| Seattle | 30.2% |
| Dayton | 28.2% |
| Belmont | 26.9% |
| Loyola New Orleans | 26.1% |
| Willamette | 26.0% |