Top Colleges for $$ Legal Jobs
December 2023
Summary: Where you get your undergraduate degree can have a big impact on how much money you make in your legal career. And while a few elite private universities give you the biggest salary boost, a number of top public universities offer sizable raises as well.
It’s all about the Benjamins…
Let’s say you’re planning a career in law, whether as legal counsel for a top corporation like Google or as a future partner at a law firm, and you want to get the most bang for your buck from your undergraduate degree. Which universities regularly churn out graduates with the highest salaries? A 2023 study from the Burning Glass Institute (a nonprofit that studies employment trends) found that where you get your undergraduate degree can have a big impact on how much money you make down the road. Specifically, they looked at your first ten years after graduation and asked: How much more do you make than the average person at your position?
The results…
Perhaps unsurprisingly, graduates from some of the most prestigious universities commanded the highest legal salaries in the decade following graduation. And Stanford led the pack by a sizable margin. On average, graduates of Stanford who go into law make almost $50,000 a year more than the national average. While the average legal salary in the first 10 years after graduation is $112,031/year, the average salary for a Stanford grad is $161,209. That’s about a 44% raise!
The other usual suspects made the list as well: #2 Princeton, #3 Harvard, #4 Dartmouth, #5 Yale, etc. While #1 Stanford was well ahead of the next-best school by about $7,000/year, all of the elite universities on this Top 10 list gave their graduates a hefty boost over the national average. Graduates of #10 Washington University at St. Louis, for example, made more than $25,000 the national average. So if you graduated from any of these schools, you’re doing just fine.
Important Note About Law School
It should be noted, however, that this study did not look at where any of these lawyers went to law school; it only looked at where they got their undergraduate degrees. It can be reasonably inferred, however, that graduates of these top universities were eventually admitted to many of the top law schools, which further contributed to their sky-high salaries.
The Next 10 on the list…
The next 10 Best Colleges for legal jobs tell a similar story (see chart). On average, graduates of these schools make anywhere from $8,000-$25,000 more than the national average. The biggest payoffs come from top schools like #11 Georgetown, #12 Brown, #13 Northwestern, #14 Brigham Young, and #15 Columbia. Again, this is presumably due, at least in part, because graduates of these top schools eventually continue their legal careers at some of the top law schools in the country, which further boosts their earning potential.
Top Public Universities…
There’s more good news. Looking to save a lot on undergraduate tuition? Smart shoppers know a bargain when they see one, and there are a number of excellent public universities (particularly in California) that give you a huge boost in salary when you go into law. Assuming you’re an in-state resident, you can cut your college costs in half, if not more, by attending one of the state schools on the list. And as you can see by the chart below, there’s virtually no difference in salary between the Tier 1 (Top 10) Public Universities and the Tier 2 (#11-20) Private Universities. Which means that when it comes to your salary in the legal profession, going to a top public university is “almost as good” as going to a top private university, but not quite. Still, the money you could save going to a state school might offset this difference.
UC Berkeley tops the list for graduate salaries. Graduates of Berkeley who go into law can expect an average salary of $139,574 over the first ten years after graduation, which is $27,000/year more than the national average. What’s notable is that six of the top ten public universities on the list are all University of California schools: #1 UC Berkeley, #2 UCLA, #4 UC San Diego, #5 UC Irvine, #6 UC Santa Barbara, and #7 UC Davis. If you graduate from any of these institutions, you should be making well above the national average in your legal career, at least for the first 10 years.
While it wasn’t part of this study, it’s safe to assume that one of the big benefits of the UC school system is its proximity to Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley pays big bucks for in-house legal counsel, and many UC students find valuable internships, networking opportunities, and profitable careers working in high tech. It’s definitely something to consider when you consider your undergraduate options.
More Public University Options
Outside of the Top 10 Public Universities, there are a number of well-respected institutions that will give you a slight boost in salary over the national average. These include #11 William & Mary, #12 University of Colorado, #13 University of Connecticut, #14 Texas A&M, and #15 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. But it’s worth noting that the salary bump from these 2nd Tier public universities is quite small, and can be easily offset by the cost of living in your city, the tax structure of your state, etc. Generally speaking, the most noticeable salary boost will be felt if you graduate from one of the Top 10 Public Universities, or any one of the Top 20 Private Universities.
Stanford undergraduates who go into law can expect to make $50,000 more annually than the national average in their first 10 years after graduation.
Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri (#10 on the list of high-paying legal jobs) has been steadily rising in prestige and now ranks as the #15 best university in the nation, according to 2023 U.S. News & World Report.
Brigham Young University in Utah is a Mormon institution that does not permit alcohol, tobacco, coffee or sex among its undergraduates. But they take their academics seriously, and graduates who go into law earn $20,000/year more than the national average.
UC Berkeley tops the list for public universities: graduates who go into law earn an average salary of $139,000 over their first 10 years, which is $27,000/year more than the national average.
Graduates of the University of California school system benefit from some of the highest legal salaries in the nation. Presumably it has a lot to do with the fact that these institutions act as “feeder schools” for some of the most lucrative legal jobs in Silicon Valley.