If you’re going to invest your time and money into any sort of graduate school or doctorate degree, you want to make sure that investment is going to pay off. And for graduates of one particular North Carolina law school, it pays off in a big way. This research comes from a nationwide study of the law schools producing the highest-earning graduates. It was conducted by Florida personal injury lawyers Anidjar & Levine. They analyzed data from American Bar Association (ABA) accredited schools regarding the earnings of their graduates. This included the average earnings of recipients of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the schools. And when it came to law schools in particular? Graduates of Duke University Law School had the third-highest earning average nationwide.
After 4 years, alumni of Duke receive an average salary of $202,452. Anidjar & Levine report that this is 3210% more than than the average of the top 150 law schools combined which is $65,330. The only two schools with higher average salaries? Cornell and Yale Law. That’s not bad company to be in.
Of course, you have to be able to get into Duke Law first. According to the school’s website, the most recent class, the class of 2026 is “made up of 244 students, enrolled from 6,205 applicants.” That’s an acceptance rate of 3.9% in case you’re wondering. The median GPA of those students is 3.87. And the median LSAT score is a 170. (Though Elle Woods did score higher). You’ll also need that high salary to pay off the cost of law school. Duke Law School tuition is $74,100, with estimated expenses totaling $105,330 per year for the three-year program.
But for those who can make the cut, it will pay off with Duke graduates earning the most of any North Carolina law school and the third most nationwide. Is it too late to go back to school?
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