Which 10 law schools have the most indebted grads?
Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego solved its debt problem last year with a debt-restructuring agreement, but debt will continue to be a problem for most of its grads.
The school is ranked No. 1 for producing graduates with the highest student debt, Above the Law reports, citing this chart by U.S. News & World Report.
Ninety-one percent of Thomas Jefferson’s grads have law school debt, and the average indebtedness for those with debt is $172,445. It is among these 10 law schools with the highest student debt (the averages are for those who incurred law school debt):
1) Thomas Jefferson School of Law: $172,445 (91% of grads have debt)
2) New York Law School: $166,622 (83% of grads have debt)
3) Northwestern University: $163,065 (80% of grads have debt)
4) Florida Coastal School of Law: $162,785 (93% of grads have debt)
5) American University: $159,316 (83% of grads have debt)
6) Vermont Law School: $156,713 (84% of grads have debt)
7) Touro College: $154,855 (85% of grads have debt)
8) University of San Francisco: $154,321 (88% of grads have debt)
9) Columbia University: $154,076 (76% of grads have debt)
10) Whittier College: $151,602 (91% of grads have debt)
Above the Law Notes that four law schools on the list are in the U.S. News second tier, with unpublished rankings. They are Thomas Jefferson, Florida Coastal, Touro and Whittier.
Four of the law schools placed fewer than 40 percent of their grads in full-time, long-term legal jobs, the blog says. They are: Thomas Jefferson, Florida Coastal, University of San Francisco and Whittier. (The employment numbers were for the class of 2013, except for Whittier, which were for the class of 2012.)
Updated on Feb. 20 to fix the phrasing in a sentence.
