Southwestern Law School

What are the graduation rates for students at Southwestern Law School?

Undergraduate four-year and six-year graduation rates are not useful measures of Southwestern's J.D. outcomes because it is a graduate and professional law school. Its J.D. schedules also have different planned lengths, including an accelerated route and part-time study.

For a meaningful completion comparison, applicants should examine Southwestern's ABA Standard 509 disclosures for academic attrition and transfer attrition, then consider bar-passage and employment disclosures as separate outcomes. A student leaving for another law school, a student extending study and a student not completing the degree are different cases; one undergraduate-style graduation percentage would obscure those distinctions.

What is the earning potential for graduates at Southwestern Law School?

No single earnings figure adequately describes the income prospects of Southwestern graduates. Pay after law school varies substantially by employer, practice area, location, prior experience and whether a graduate is working in a job that requires bar admission.

Southwestern's ABA employment disclosures offer a more relevant starting point than an unqualified salary claim: they separate job types and report outcomes for a specified graduating class at a defined point after graduation. Applicants should read any salary figures alongside the number of graduates who reported salaries. A median from reporting graduates describes that group; it is neither the expected salary for every graduate nor a measure of the value of a J.D. after loan payments.