by Angelita Faller
U.S. News and World Report ranked the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law one of Top 10 law schools in the U.S. where graduates have the least student debt.
Coming in eighth on this year’s list, Bowen moved up two spots from the No. 10 position from the 2016 ranking. The law school was also ranked in the Top 10 in 2014.
“We are very pleased with what this particular ranking means for Bowen graduates,” said Bowen Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz. “Students who graduate from law school with little debt have more choices about their futures. Instead of having to take a job based solely on which one would allow them to most speedily repay their mounds of student debt, Bowen grads can focus on realizing their dreams.”
Bowen graduates from the Class of 2016 left school with an average student loan debt of $65,931. This is about half the $112,776 average debt for 2016 law school graduates in the U.S., according to U.S. News and World Report.
“News of Bowen graduates’ small debt load, the law school’s innovative curriculum, outstanding faculty, and collegial student culture has spread,” Schwartz said. “Applications for Bowen’s fall 2017 class are up 32 percent and follow a 20 percent increase in applications for fall 2016.”
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey came in first on the list, followed by the University of South Dakota, Brigham Young University, North Carolina Central University, Florida A&M University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Georgia State University, UA Little Rock, University of North Dakota, and the University of Mississippi.
Law school graduates can easily rack up student loan debt of more than $100,000, but some schools provide more bang for your buck. Law school students graduated with a debt ranging from $56,173 to $182,411, according to U.S. News and World Report.
The list is based on debt data 181 ranked law schools provided for U.S. News and World Report’s annual survey.
