This State’s Law Degrees Have the Best Value

Despite New York’s high cost of living, the state’s law degrees offer the most job opportunities and highest earning potential for law graduates, a new study finds.

The study by Uplift Legal Funding looked at each state’s degree affordability, financial aid, academic expenses, loan debt, annual salary, disposable income, rental costs, job opportunities, and hourly fees to identify the best states for lawyers. Each state was then assigned a score out of ten to determine the ease with which the average lawyer could recover their college expenses.

NEW YORK LAW DEGREES WORTH THE MOST

New York garnered a final score of 7.8 out of ten, excelling in degree affordability and offering reasonable living costs despite the high rental expenses. Most importantly, the state offers the most job opportunities and a lucrative earning potential for law graduates. Additionally, an overwhelming 79% of New York law students are awarded financial grants, loans, work-study, and/or scholarships.

The financial aid may be potential reason why most NY law students graduate with a relatively low level of student debt. The average NY law grad has $37,678 in debt, according to the Education Data Initiative—14% lower than the average Maryland student ($42,861).

New York law grads will also find it easier to reduce their debt as the state’s lawyers earn the highest salaries in the country— currently at $188,900 per year. On an hourly rate-basis, New York pay can be up to $400 an hour, compared to just $275 in Utah.

[INSERT: “Worth the most.pdf”
Source: Uplift Legal Funding]

MISSISSIPPI RANKS THE WORST

Mississippi law grads will find it harder to recoup the cost of their degree. Mississippi fared notably poorly in job opportunities, with a location quotient of 0.59 compared to New York’s 1.98. Additionally, the typical lawyer in Mississippi has a disposable income of $68,667 after factoring in the state’s cost of living, which is 16% less than that of New York.

Across the country, an average of 82% of law students in each state received some form of financial assistance. The worst performing states lacked job opportunities for law grads.

[INSERT: “Worth the least.pdf”
Source: Uplift Legal Funding]

Sources: Uplift Legal Funding, Education Data Initiative

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