Commissioned Research
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
3-2016
Keywords
value of a law degree, personal well-being, employment, lawyer salaries, student loans
Abstract
Many policymakers and leaders have been paying close attention in recent years to the near-term job placement and earnings of law school graduates, which they often declare are representative of the “value” of a law degree. Such a focus on the economic payoff of a law degree is understandable because legal education has become a more costly and leveraged endeavor. While such metrics have merit, they do not provide a holistic view of graduates’ lives or the broader benefits that legal education provides.
