Cost of attendance
In-depth analysis on law school costs including tuition, grants, debt, cost of living, and more.
Net Tuition for U.S. Law Schools
Net tuition is the average amount paid by all students during an academic year. Unlike nominal tuition, net tuition accounts for price discrimination, i.e. different students pay a different price. For the 2023-2024 academic year, 20.5% paid full price. The remaining 79.5% had a tuition discount, whether merit-based (LSAT and GPA are the most common factors) or need-based (increasingly rare). Some of these discounts are conditional, thus not guaranteed from year to year.
Between 2012 and 2018, the average net tuition at public law schools declined, despite nominal tuition increasing on average. This was due to increased discounting. Since then, net tuition has been on the rise. However, net tuition changes vary, sometimes wildly, as shown below.
Top 5 increases in private schools (2018-19 to 2023-24)
| School | Change |
|---|---|
| Tulane University | +106.4%$32.8k |
| Northeastern University | +86.8%$15.2k |
| University of Tulsa | +81.8%$16.4k |
| Drexel University | +69.5%$17.6k |
| University of St. Thomas - Minneapolis | +63.2%$14.7k |
Top 5 decreases in private schools (2018-19 to 2023-24)
| School | Change |
|---|---|
| Baylor University | -52.7%$34.5k |
| Vermont Law School | -29.3%$33.3k |
| University of Dayton | -24.3%$12.9k |
| DePaul University | -23.7%$30.5k |
| Brigham Young University | -15.4%$20.2k |
Top 5 increases in public schools (2018-19 to 2023-24)
| School | Change |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania State University - Dickinson Law | +934.8%$522 |
| George Mason University | +114.1%$4.7k |
| University of Oregon | +95.7%$14.3k |
| University of Wisconsin | +83.2%$6.5k |
| Texas Southern University | +71.2%$12.3k |
Top 5 decreases in public schools (2018-19 to 2023-24)
| School | Change |
|---|---|
| Michigan State University | -83.9%$22.8k |
| University of Florida | -56.7%$13.4k |
| Texas A&M | -52.5%$14.4k |
| University of Nebraska | -44.6%$6.6k |
| University of Cincinnati | -41.9%$11.2k |
School-specific tuition and scholarship data come from the American Bar Association. Net tuition is an estimate based on nominal full-time tuition and full-time scholarship data. The estimates at public law schools are higher than reality because net tuition was calculated using resident tuition at public schools. In order to more accurately estimate net tuition, scholarship data, as well as enrollment data, would need to distinguish between residents and non-residents. LawHub uses normal averages rather than weighted averages for the group averages.
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