U.S. News and World Report has released one of its short lists, this one focusing on the top 10 law schools whose students have the least amount of debt upon graduation.
The most recent data shows that the class of 2013 had $108,815 in debt upon graduating from law school. This is a slight increase from the class of 2012, which had $108,293 upon graduating from law school.
The school that topped the list was the Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia. Students who graduated from this law school with debt did so with just an average of $34,645. This is the lowest average out of the 181 ranked schools that sent data into a survey from U.S. News.
Out of all the schools that reported student debt, graduates from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law had the most average debt, coming in at $180,665.
The top 10 list is as follows:
| School name (state) | Average debt load, class of 2013 | U.S. News law school rank |
|---|---|---|
| University of the District of Columbia (Clarke) | $34,645 | RNP |
| Barry University (FL) | $47,799 | RNP |
| University of Arkansas—Little Rock (Bowen) | $52,205 | 121 |
| University of South Dakota | $54,352 | 145 |
| Brigham Young University (Clark) (UT) | $56,053 | 36 |
| University of Arkansas—Fayetteville | $62,185 | 61 |
| University of Nebraska—Lincoln | $63,435 | 54 |
| University of North Dakota | $66,763 | 129 |
| University of Wyoming | $67,733 | 129 |
| Southern Illinois University—Carbondale | $67,966 | RNP |