Law Schools Offering The Most Value

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The Best Value Law Schools

Are you looking for a law school with reasonable tuition that will help you pass the bar and get a job?
You may want to look at National Jurist’s 2013 Best Value Law Schools. This annual ranking lists the schools with the best value with the least amount of debt. The ranking methodology, which incorporates tuition, cost of living, post-graduation debt, bar passage rates, and job placement, found that the University of Alabama provides the biggest bang for the student dollar.
Here is a listing of the top 10 schools:

Rank School Average Debt (2012 Grads) Tuition Cost of Living Two Year Bar Pass Average Two Year Bar Pass State Average Weighted Employment Rate
1 University of Alabama $67,611 $19,660 $16,322 94.7% 86.0% 89.3%
2 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville $59,384 $12,515 $17,492 78.7% 78.0% 86.6%
3 Louisiana State University $78,762 $18,618 $19,788 81.0% 68.2% 88.7%
4 University of Nebraska $54,989 $14,363 $14,480 92.5% 86.4% 81.0%
5 University of South Dakota $54,352 $13,288 $14,148 94.6% 95.8% 82.2%
6 Brigham Young University $56,112 $10,950 $19,876 90.8% 84.2% 80.3%
7 University of Kentucky $75,738 $19,404 $15,996 89.6% 84.2% 87.3%
8 Georgia State University $68,283 $15,154 $15,061 93.5% 84.2% 79.0%
9 Florida State University $73,134 $19,731 $17,770 87.3% 78.8% 80.9%
10 William & Mary $94,852 $27,800 $16,300 91.3% 80.2% 87.9%

In addition, National Jurist assigns letter grades to various schools. Here are the schools, ranking just below the Top 10, that earned an A- for value:

  • Brigham Young University (Non-LDS)
  • Texas Tech University
  • University of Akron
  • University of Arizona
  • University of Arkansas-Little Rock
  • University of Connecticut
  • University of Florida
  • University of Iowa
  • University of Kansas
  • University of Memphis
  • University of Missouri-Kansas City
  • University of North Carolina
  • University of Tennessee
  • University of Washington
  • University of Wisconsin

Ironically, none of the law schools ranked in the Top 5 by US News and World Report were included in the Top 25 of National Jurist’s Best Value Law Schools. In fact, Yale, Stanford, and The University  of Chicago each only earned a B-.
Of course, National Jurist’s rankings aren’t without critics of its methodologies. For example, Above The Law cites that nearly 50 percent of students at three of the top ten value schools – The University of Alabama, The University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, and Brigham Young University – lost their scholarships, adding to their debt load.
To review the full rankings from National Jurist, click here: National Jurist
Additional Source: Above The Law

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