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Which law schools offer the best and worst return on investment?

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 25, 2017, 9:40 am CST

If you want to earn a top salary as a lawyer, it’s a good idea to attend law school at Cornell, Columbia, New York University, the University of Chicago or Harvard.

But if you want the best return on investment, Brigham Young University and the University of Texas at Austin are good law-school choices, the New York Times DealBook blog reports.

At Brigham Young, tuition is only $12,000 for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while graduates seeking debt refinancing earn an average of $108,916. In-state tuition at the University of Texas is $34,000 a year, while graduates seeking debt refinancing earned an average of $105,254.

The findings (PDF) are based on an analysis of more than 60,000 student loan refinancing applications from January 2014 to December 2016. The applicants, on average, had worked for three years after graduation. Student loan refinance company SoFi conducted the study.

Here are the 10 law schools with the best graduate salaries relative to student debt:

1. Brigham Young University

2. University of Texas at Austin

3. Yale University

4. University of Houston

5. University of Georgia

6. Harvard University

7. Stanford University

8. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

9. University of Connecticut

10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

These 10 law schools have the worst salary-to-debt ratios:

1. Florida Coastal School of Law

2. Charlotte School of Law

3. Saint Thomas University

4. Barry University

5. Appalachian School of Law

6. Thomas Jefferson School of Law

7. Roger Williams University School of Law

8. Elon University

9. Texas A&M University

10. Arizona Summit Law School (formerly Phoenix School of Law)

See also:

ABAJournal.com: “These law schools are tops for median private-sector pay exceeding student debt”