Is law school worth it? Ask three numbers, not one ranking

Whether law school is worth it is not a school-wide verdict, it is a personal break-even. Three figures from the official ABA Standard 509 disclosures answer it for a specific applicant at a specific school: the three-year net cost, the full-time, long-term (FTLT) employment rate, and the local attorney salary where they will practice.

The three numbers that decide it

Start with the three-year net cost (sticker tuition minus the median grant, times three), the FTLT employment rate (full-time, long-term, JD-required jobs about ten months out), and the local attorney wage for the state where you will actually practice. Divide net cost by the odds of a real legal job and you have a cost-per-outcome that no ranking will sell you.

The trap: sticker price vs. an average salary

The mistake is comparing a school's sticker price to a national average lawyer salary. Both numbers mislead: almost no one pays sticker, and almost no new graduate earns the average. Use the median grant for the school and the median attorney wage for your state, and the math gets honest fast.