College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is a Law degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Professional, aggregated across 175 colleges (175 of 175 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$57,068

Graduates only, early career.$58,280 two years out.

Median federal debt

$106,102

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

1.72×

172% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is well above a first year's pay. Common where the credential needs long, costly graduate training (dentistry, law, medicine) — high pay does not mean a low debt burden.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Professional programs in Law report early-career pay between $50,901 and $66,845 — a spread of $15,944 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $50,901 median $57,068 75th pct $66,845

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Master's 6 colleges $39,422 $50,500 1.52×

Doctoral 27 colleges $56,355 $118,306 1.91×

Professional 175 colleges $57,068 $106,102 1.72×

Where a Professional in this field reports the highest early-career pay

The 15 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

Columbia University in the City of New York NY $193,362 $198,924 debt

New York University NY $189,685 —

Northwestern University IL $187,194 $154,286 debt

University of Pennsylvania PA $186,571 $171,488 debt

University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $185,710 $178,812 debt

Harvard University MA $184,307 $93,235 debt

University of Chicago IL $181,006 $188,691 debt

Georgetown University DC $165,914 $162,286 debt

University of California-Berkeley CA $160,390 $155,891 debt

Stanford University CA $151,574 $153,302 debt

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $146,285 $132,524 debt

Fordham University NY $146,081 $147,561 debt

Vanderbilt University TN $132,293 $139,857 debt

University of Southern California CA $121,676 $138,518 debt

Boston University MA $108,069 $117,740 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Law, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard