Is Law School Worth It? An Honest Look at the Pros and Cons (2024)

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• Many law school students borrow heavily to cover high tuition and other education costs.
• For some, the cost may be worth it, though it depends on the school and the career pursued after.
• Potential post-law school earnings vary widely by specialty, firm size, location, and other factors.

The cost of law school

It's no secret that law school can be pricey. But is that price tag worth it for the earning potential you could enjoy later on? That's a question many potential law school students have to ask themselves.

According to the Access Lex Institute and a US Department of Education study of 2008 graduates, only 48% say their degree was worth the cost. Are you considering a legal career? Here's how to determine if law school is worth it for you.

Tuition and fees

Average full-time tuition for law school depends on your residency status (whether you're attending an in-state school or out-of-state one), as well as the type of school you attend.

According to data and analysis from the American Bar Association and Access Lex, the average full-time tuition is:

• $28,400 for residents at public law schools
• $40,860 for non-residents at public law schools
• $50,770 for private law schools

That's just tuition, though.

Living expenses

There are other costs to consider, too, including housing and living expenses. These vary widely by location. From fall 2022 to spring 2023, they ranged from $12,600 to $46,233, depending on the school attended.

Opportunity cost

Opportunity cost is another consideration. Since law students must spend an additional three years in school, their earning potential during that period is much lower than their peers. The average starting salary in 2022 for a graduate with a bachelor's degree was $60,028, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. That amounts to a three-year loss exceeding $180,000 for a law school student.

Loan repayment

With such high prices to deal with, law school students often graduate with large amounts of debt. According to an Access Lex analysis, law school graduates leave school with an average of $126,600 in debt.

Potential career paths and salaries

Lawyer

The earning potential for a lawyer depends widely on what you do with your degree. For recent Juris Doctorate graduates, those going into private legal practice made the most, with a median salary of $131,500. Lawyers who went into academics made the least money. The median academic salary for someone with a Juris Doctorate is $38,000.

Salaries also vary by type of legal practice. See below for a list of common attorney specialties and their average salary ranges, according to job platform Indeed:

The amount of time you've been working and the size of your firm matter, too. Salaries tend to increase both with tenure and with firm size. For example, a first-year associate at a firm of 100 or fewer has a median salary of $155,000. For eight-year associates at firms of 1,000 or more, it's $395,000.

"Big corporate law firms pay the most — well in the six digits, with excellent benefits," says Marina Shepelsky, founder of Shepelsky Law Group. "Working for a municipal legal aide organization or the district attorney's office may pay only in the five digits."

Alternative careers

Many lawyers don't go into legal practice at all. Recent data shows about a third of recent law school graduates went into business, academics, or government work.

Job market outlook

If you'll need student loans, calculating your potential salary-to-debt ratio can help you determine whether law school in general or, more specifically, a particular law school, is worth the cost of attendance.

Salary-to-debt ratios indicate what percentage of your expected monthly earnings you'll owe each month in student loan payments. So, lower ratios are typically better, indicating you'll need to devote a smaller amount of your pay to student loans. Higher ratios mean the opposite.

According to an analysis by Law School Transparency, salary-to-debt ratios range from 0.76% to just over 4.95% for US law schools. The school with the highest salary-to-debt ratio is the Florida Coastal School of Law, while Brigham Young University claims the lowest.

Personal factors to consider

The decision to attend law school shouldn't just be financially driven. You'll also want to consider the high dropout rates of law school, particularly among minorities. Overall, dropout rates are over 6% for first-year students. For American Indian, Hawaiian native, and Black students, the dropout rate is 11% to 13%.

Burnout is also a potential problem when going into the legal industry. Some legal jobs come with long hours and stressful working conditions, which could lead to health issues. As Shepelsky notes about "big corporate" firms, "They provide no work-life balance, and you are expected to work 14 hours a day or more, work through holidays and evenings, and are under tremendous stress and huge competition to make partner."

According to the International Bar Association, lawyers have an average score of 51 on the World Health Organization's Wellbeing Index. Anyone with a score of 52 or under is encouraged to seek mental health help.

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