Res Ipsa Blog

A low average cost of education doesn’t always translate to less debt on graduation. For example, although SMU has the highest average cost of education of all law schools in Texas, graduates from SMU carry less debt on average than graduates at Baylor and St. Mary’s. Similarly, Texas Wesleyan has the third highest cost of education, yet Wesleyan graduates have the second lowest average debt. Meanwhile St. Mary’s, which has the fourth lowest average cost of education, has the highest average debt on graduation of all Texas law schools.

Some schools have lower average debt because of generous scholarship programs. Driving down the average debt on graduation at SMU are over $5 million in scholarships given out each year. Other schools have lower average debt because many of their students are employed while in law school. For example, at Texas Wesleyan, over half of the law students attend part-time, allowing students to pay a greater portion of their law school expenses as they go. This explains why Texas Wesleyan students have one of the lowest average debt burdens on graduation despite being one of the most expensive law schools in Texas.

While most law students are not able to maintain full-time jobs and attend school at the same time, students can maximize their chances of getting a scholarship by applying to schools where their LSAT and GPA scores are well above the school’s median.

The Debt to Earnings ratio is a measure of how much debt the average law student acquires for every dollar they earn their first year out of law school. Since the D/E ratio reflects the amount of debt acquired, the lower the D/E ratio is, the better.

The D/E ratio overcomes one of the limitations of the C/E ratios: artificially inflated costs of education. Since students can only qualify for loans up to the school’s published cost of education, many schools inflate the COE so that students who need extra money are able to qualify for loans. Since D/E ratios reflect loans that were actually awarded, the ratios closely track the expenses that exceed the average student’s ability to pay out of pocket. While neither the D/E or C/E ratio alone can answer the question of what law school is best for a student, both metrics provide an interesting look at factors that law students should consider as they decide which school to attend.

Written by Benson Varghese. ♦ Contact Benson.♦ Have Res Ipsa Blog delivered to you.