A Law Degree Is No Sure Thing - Some Law School Graduates Earn Top Dollar, but Many Do Not - 2024

Oct 15, 2026

A Law Degree Is No Sure Thing examines how law school outcomes vary widely for graduates in earnings, employment, debt, and bar passage. The report links expected growth in the legal field to shifting opportunities, highlights disparities across law schools, and analyzes demographic differences in enrollment and financial results. It evaluates the ROI of a law degree, including non-JD legal master’s programs, and studies how debt and debt-to-earnings ratios affect career prospects and bar study financing.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages84

Reading Time3 h 32 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The legal field is expected to grow over the next decade, but opportunities could change along with new developments in AI and other technologies.

Wide gaps in outcomes mark the disparities between law schools.

Law schools are becoming more demographically diverse, but the legal field is still disproportionately white and male.

Debt-to-earnings ratios are critical to determining return on investment from law degrees.

Part 1. Evaluating the ROI of a Law Degree

A law degree offers a lifetime earnings boost relative to a bachelor’s degree alone, but the best earnings outcomes are concentrated at a handful of institutions.

Non-JD legal master’s programs are fast growing, but still represent just a fraction of total enrollments at law schools.

An undergraduate degree in a law-related major does not necessarily lead to work in the legal field.

Part 2. Who Pursues Law Credentials, and How Well Do They Do Financially?

Women outnumber men at law schools, and their enrollment shares are highest at the schools with the lowest earning outcomes.

The gender wage gap is already evident just four years after graduation and is larger among older lawyers.

Hispanic/Latino students experienced the largest numeric increase in law school enrollments amid broader declines.

Disparities in earnings by race and ethnicity become even more pronounced when gender is also factored in.

Where law graduates work—and their legal specialty—has consequences for how much they earn.

Just over half of recent law school graduates work in law firms.

As with earnings outcomes, employment outcomes vary across law schools by race and gender.

Part 3. Debt and Bar Passage

Debt weighs heavily on many law school graduates.

Race and ethnicity are closely linked to how much debt students leave school with—and how likely they are to fund their bar studies with further loans.

Bar passage rates vary across institutions, with implications for graduates’ job and earnings prospects.

Part 4. The Future of Legal Occupations

A LAW DEGREE IS NO SURE THING Some Law School Graduates Earn Top Dollar, but Many Do Not By Jeff Strohl, Catherine Morris, and Ban Cheah 2024 Reprint Permission The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce carries a Creative Commons license, which permits noncommercial reuse of any of our content when proper attribution is provided. You are free to copy, display, and distribute our work, or include our content in derivative works, under the following conditions: Attribution: You must clearly attribute the work to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce and provide a print or digital copy of the work [to](to cewgeorgetown@georgetown.edu)[ ](to cewgeorgetown@georgetown.edu)[cewgeorgetown@georgetown.edu](to cewgeorgetown@georgetown.edu). Noncommercial use: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. Written permission must be obtained from the owners of the copy/ literary rights and from Georgetown University for any publication or commercial use of reproductions. Approval: If you are using one or more of our available data representations (figures, charts, tables, etc.), please visit our website at cew. [georgetown.edu/publications/reprint-permission](georgetown.edu/publications/reprint-permission) for more information. For the full legal code of this Creative Commons license, please visit [creativecommons.org](creativecommons.org). Our preference is to cite figures and tables as follows: Jeff Strohl, Catherine Morris, and Ban Cheah. A Law Degree Is No Sure Thing: Some Law School Graduates Earn Top Dollar, but Many Do Not. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, [2024.](2024. cew.georgetown.edu/law)[ ](2024. cew.georgetown.edu/law)[cew.georgetown.edu/law](2024. cew.georgetown.edu/law)[ ](2024. cew.georgetown.edu/law)Email [cewgeorgetown@georgetown.edu](cewgeorgetown@georgetown.edu) with any questions. A LAW DEGREE IS NO SURE THING Some Law School Graduates Earn Top Dollar, but Many Do Not By Jeff Strohl, Catherine Morris, and Ban Cheah 2024 Acknowledgments We are grateful to the individuals and organizations whose generous support has made this report possible: Lumina Foundation (Jamie Merisotis and Courtney Brown) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Patrick Methvin and Jamey Rorison) . We are honored to be their partners in our shared mission of promoting postsecondary access, completion, and career success for all Americans. We would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to Anthony P. Carnevale, the founding director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, for his leadership and guidance in this work. The staff of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce was instrumental in the production of this report from conception to publication. In particular, we would like to thank 􀂀 Artem Gulish for qualitative and quantitative feedback; 􀂀 Nicole Smith for data analysis; 􀂀 Martin Van Der Werf and Gayle Cinquegrani for editorial and qualitative feedback; 􀂀 Katherine Hazelrigg, Fan Zhang, Johnna Guillerman, Maryam Noor, and Abiola Fagbayi for communications efforts, including design development and public relations; and 􀂀 Coral Castro for assistance with logistics and operations. Many others contributed their thoughts and feedback throughout the production of this report. We especially are grateful to our talented designers and editorial advisors, whose efforts were vital to its successful completion. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Lumina Foundation or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, or any of their officers or employees. All errors and omissions are the responsibility of the authors. Contents 2 Introduction 5 The legal field is expected to grow over the next decade, but opportunities could change along with new developments in AI and other technolo

FAQs

What does the report say about whether a law degree is a reliable financial bet?

It shows that law degree outcomes vary substantially. Some graduates earn top dollar, but many do not, with differences driven by institution, employment, and debt dynamics.

How does the report evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of a law degree?

It assesses lifetime earnings relative to a bachelor’s degree and finds the strongest earnings outcomes are concentrated at a limited number of institutions. It also considers the role of non-JD legal master’s programs.

How are debt and bar passage connected to graduate prospects?

The report emphasizes that debt weighs heavily for many graduates and that race and ethnicity are linked to both how much debt students leave with and the likelihood of funding bar studies with additional loans. It also notes bar passage rates vary by institution.

Oct 15, 2026

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