Nkarachọ
Law licence (law degree and bar exam)
The most expensive credential on this site by a wide margin, leading to the best-paid occupation on it. Three years, six figures of debt, and a national exam that 37% of sittings fail.
Ihe ọ na-efu iji nweta - n'etiti nke n'etiti nke n'etiti.
Ụbọchị nke nkụzi, oge zuru ezu. Oge akụkụ na-ewe ogologo oge.
Ụbọchị nke ụgwọ n'ime ọnwa chọrọ ka kpuchie na ụgwọ. Ọ bụghị ọnwa ruo mgbe ị na-aga n'ihu n'ozuzu - oge nkuzi n'elu na-abịa mbụ.
Òtù: US Department of Education, College Scorecard, Field of Study data, 2026 · ngosi
Gịnị bụ ego nke ọnụọgụgụ ahụ, nakwa ihe ọ bụghị
Six figures, and this is only the borrowed part. That range is median cumulative FEDERAL LOAN DEBT at completion, not a tuition sticker price and not total cost. It is what completers actually borrowed, so it excludes grants, savings, family money, employer funding and living costs — which makes it a FLOOR on what the credential costs, never a ceiling. The low and high figures are the 25th and 75th percentiles across the institutions that report a figure for this programme, so a quarter of institutions sit below the low end. College Scorecard pools two award years into each figure; the release used here is dated 10 June 2026.
Three years full time for the degree, after a bachelor's, then a bar examination and a character-and-fitness review before admission. Part-time programmes run four years.
Admission is per state and each maintains its own continuing legal education requirement and annual fees.
Olee ndị mmadụ na-echekwa nke a, na olee ndị na-arụ ọrụ na mpaghara ebe ahụ
Olee ndị na-enweta nke a n'afọ ọ bụla
42,496 bar examination sittings that resulted in a pass — 2025, February and July 2025 examinations combined.
Anyị anaghị agbanwe ya n'ime pasent. Nke a bụ a afọ n'okporo ụzọ - ndị mmadụ na-enweta na credential na otu afọ. Ọrụ figures bụ a na-aga stock, onye ọ bụla na-arụ ọrụ na ọrụ na otu oge. N'ịga n'okporo ụzọ na a stock na-emepụta a nọmba na-agụ dị ka a na-enye ọrụ ọnụego na bụ ọ bụghị otu. Ebe anyị na-echekwa na-aga n'okporo ụzọ ọnụọgụgụ nke credential ndị na-echekwa anyị na-ebipụta na-arụ ọrụ share; ebe a anyị enweghị otu, ya mere anyị na-ebipụta n'okporo ụzọ na-akwụsị.
Ihe nke nke ahụ na-agụnye: 67,442 people sat a US bar examination in 2025 and 42,496 passed, a 63% pass rate. It counts SITTINGS rather than people: someone who failed in February and passed in July appears in both columns, and someone admitted in two states can appear twice. It is a one-year flow and not a count of anyone holding a licence to practise today.
The American Bar Association publishes a standing count of US lawyers — about 1.37 million in 2025 — but only rounded to two decimal places of a million, and its underlying survey PDF is not publicly retrievable. We use the exact bar-exam flow rather than a rounded stock, which means this page shows how many qualify each year and no percentage.
National Conference of Bar Examiners, 2025 Statistics — Persons Taking and Passing the Bar Examination (People newly credentialed during one year) · ngosi
Gịnị ka e mere ndị mmadụ nke gwụchara nkuzi ahụ
afọ iri na anọ mgbe e mechara, site na ndekọ federal
_Nkebi 40,840 ndị ahụ mechara Law (JD), first professional degree na-amụghị ihe ruo afọ anọ mgbe ahụ, 1,860 enweghị ego ọbụla n'ime ndekọ ahụ — 4.6%. Ndị na-arụ ọrụ na-enweta n'etiti nke $107,773, na n'etiti n'etiti $75,568 na $176,111.
"Ọ dịghị ego na-echekwa" abụghị "enweghị ọrụ". N'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'ihi na ọ bụ n'
Ihe nke usoroiheomume ahụ na-ekpuchi: CIP 22.01 at first-professional level is the Juris Doctor. The figure is about law graduates, not admitted lawyers: it counts everyone who finished the degree, including those who never sat or never passed a bar examination. That is the right population for the question "was law school worth it" and the wrong one for "how many lawyers are out of work".
This measures law graduates, not admitted lawyers: everyone who finished the degree is in it, including those who never sat or never passed a bar examination.
Onye bụ n'ime cohort: completers nke natara federal ụmụ akwụkwọ enyemaka - na-erughị n'elu nke US undergraduates, na ọzọ n'elu na-adịghị achọpụtara ebe a. Ndị mmadụ na-aga na-aga n'ihu ọmụmụ bụ na ọ bụla n'ime elu. The Department suppresses ụlọ ọrụ na cohorts obere n'ihi na-ebipụta na-agbakwunye statistical ụda na-agwụcha, ya mere nke a bụ a sum n'elu ụlọ ọrụ dị ukwuu nke ukwuu iji kọwaa: 163 nke ha, na-agbake 97.0% na-eweta n’ime ụlọ ọrụ ahụ. Ihupụta program ndị dị obere na-eziga ozi na-akpụga ọnụọgụgụ site na 0.0 %d%%
Òtù: US Department of Education, College Scorecard, Field of Study data, 2026 — release of 10 June 2026; measured four years after completion · ngosi · akara nke otu maka program ọbụla anyị nwere ike ịdebata
Ihe ọ na-enye gị ohere ime
Nkwụ ụgwọ bụ nke ọrụ, ọ bụghị nke ikike. Ha bụ ọrụ ọ na-eweta gị maka.
| Ọrụ | Ọkachasị? | Median | Ejirila |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | Legally required to hold the job | $159,670 | 754,500 |
Nkwụ ụgwọ na ọrụ: BLS Occupational Employment na Wage Statistics, Mee 2025.
Ọ na-akwụ ụgwọ maka onwe ya?
Ọrụ a na-emechi ọnụ ụzọ ahụ na-akwụ median nke $159,670. Ọrụ-n'ozuzu-n'ozuzu n'ime ọrụ ọ bụla anyị na-ebipụta bụ $50,020, ka ọbụna n'ihi na ọ bụ ihe dị ka $109,650 afọ tupu tax.
Gụọ nke ahụ dịka ngbanwe n'ihe dị n'ime ọrụ, ọ bụghị n'ihe dị n'ime ọrụ gị. Gịnị bụ baseline ahụ, nakwa ihe ọ na-ewepụ
Na ọ na-atụ anya na ị ga-enweta ọrụ ahụ. N'ụdị ọbụla nke nkwụghachi azụ na saịtị a bụ n'ihi na a na-ewere ya n'ọrụ. Ọ bụ n'ihi na a na-atụ anya na ndepụta nke onye na-echekwa n'elu nwere ike ịtụle, na ọ bụ n'ihi na a na-atụ anya na ọbụla ọzọ nkwụghachi saịtị na-eme ya n'ụzọ dị n'enweghị isi.
Ihe ịchọrọ tupú ịmalite
- A bachelor's degree
- A place at an ABA-accredited law school
- A pass in the state bar examination
- A character and fitness review
Enweghị ike ime nke a ma ọ bụrụ na
- you are borrowing the full amount without a clear route to the higher-paying half of the profession — the pay distribution here is famously bimodal and the median hides it
- you assume passing is routine — 37% of bar examination sittings in 2025 did not pass
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