2020 employment figures show big swings at some law schools
I offered my overall assessment of the state of employment for the Class of 2020, as recently released. Some schools saw significant improvement in placement in full-time, long-term, bar passage-required jobs. Many schools are the same ones that saw significant improvements in bar passage rates or are in “diploma privilege” jurisdictions, which is perhaps no surprise.
| BPR 2020 | BPR 2019 | Delta | |
| Arkansas | 75.9% | 59.6% | 16.3 |
| Chapman | 69.7% | 53.8% | 15.9 |
| Montana | 87.0% | 73.2% | 13.7 |
| Gonzaga | 81.7% | 68.2% | 13.5 |
| Ave Maria | 52.6% | 39.4% | 13.2 |
| Willamette | 81.5% | 69.0% | 12.5 |
| Dayton | 81.4% | 69.0% | 12.4 |
| Detroit Mercy | 80.5% | 68.2% | 12.3 |
| Southwestern | 57.1% | 46.0% | 11.1 |
| South Carolina | 81.6% | 70.7% | 10.9 |
| South Dakota | 80.4% | 70.0% | 10.4 |
| Utah | 84.8% | 75.3% | 9.5 |
| Florida A&M | 49.1% | 40.3% | 8.8 |
| Elon | 73.1% | 65.0% | 8.1 |
| San Francisco | 47.6% | 39.5% | 8.1 |
| Seattle | 70.3% | 62.6% | 7.7 |
| Wayne State | 77.5% | 69.9% | 7.5 |
| St. Thomas (Florida) | 65.2% | 58.0% | 7.3 |
| Oklahoma City | 72.8% | 65.9% | 6.9 |
| Idaho | 75.5% | 68.8% | 6.8 |
Other schools—especially those in states hardest hit by the pandemic like New York, or those schools that also saw a significant drop-off in bar passage rates, did not fare as well:
| BPR 2020 | BPR 2019 | Delta | |
| CUNY | 46.3% | 75.0% | -28.7 |
| North Carolina Central | 23.7% | 50.4% | -26.7 |
| Touro | 52.2% | 75.2% | -23.0 |
| Ohio Northern | 62.0% | 80.9% | -18.9 |
| Oklahoma | 70.5% | 89.1% | -18.6 |
| UMass-Dartmouth | 42.4% | 60.9% | -18.5 |
| NYLS | 56.6% | 73.5% | -17.0 |
| Widener-Commonwealth | 62.6% | 78.9% | -16.3 |
| Pace | 63.5% | 79.5% | -15.9 |
| Quinnipiac | 46.1% | 61.1% | -15.0 |
| Pepperdine | 61.6% | 75.8% | -14.2 |
| Southern Illinois | 48.5% | 61.9% | -13.4 |
| Florida International | 70.1% | 83.2% | -13.1 |
| Mitchell|Hamline | 49.0% | 61.8% | -12.9 |
| Faulkner | 50.0% | 62.7% | -12.7 |
| Widener-Delaware | 48.1% | 60.6% | -12.5 |
| Baylor | 79.2% | 91.3% | -12.1 |
| Western New England | 39.8% | 51.9% | -12.1 |
| Liberty | 68.4% | 80.4% | -12.0 |
| Mercer | 73.3% | 85.3% | -11.9 |