In our last posting, we shared salary information for the KU Law Class of 2010. At that time, national salary statistics for the Class of 2010 were not available.
They have since come in, and the data confirms our past observation that national salary statistics are often unreliable because of low reporting percentages.
Bar passage required jobs
For instance, 108 students reported salaries in the KU Law Class of 2009, or 82 percent of employed students. The KU Law mean salary for jobs requiring bar passage was $70,754. 94 percent of KU Law grads in the Class of 2009 with bar passage required jobs reported a salary.
When comparing this KU Law mean to the 2009 national mean for jobs requiring bar passage of $96,330, keep in mind that nationally only 61 percent of students reporting such jobs also reported a salary.
Students making higher salaries are much more likely to report these salaries to their law schools. For this reason, the $96,330 national mean for jobs requiring bar passage is not a reliable figure.
One hundred and two students reported salaries in the KU Law Class of 2010, or 78 percent of employed students. The KU Law mean salary for jobs required bar passage was $66,042. 86 percent of KU Law grads in the Class of 2010 with bar passage required jobs reported a salary.
Nationally, only 58 percent of students reporting such jobs also reported a salary. The national mean for jobs requiring bar passage for the Class of 2010 fell almost $10,000 to $86,985.
Jobs in private practice
The 2009 KU Law mean salary for jobs in the private practice of law was $79,259. 90 percent of KU Law grads in the Class of 2009 employed in private practice reported a salary. The national mean for jobs in private practice was $115,254, but on the strength of only 61 percent reporting.
The 2010 KU Law mean salary for jobs in the private practice of law was $69,821. 81 percent of KU Law grads in the Class of 2010 employed in private practice reported a salary. The national mean for jobs in the private practice for the Class of 2010 was $106,444, but with only 56 percent reporting.
Jobs in the public sector
Finally, the 2009 KU Law mean salary for public sector jobs was $50,666. 88 percent of KU Law grads in the Class of 2009 employed in the public sector reported a salary. The national mean for public sector jobs was $50,916, but was based on only 55 percent reporting.
The 2010 KU Law mean salary for public sector jobs was $50,768. 78 percent of KU Law grads in the Class of 2010 employed in the public sector reported a salary. The national mean for public sector jobs for the Class of 2010 was $51,730, with 55 percent reporting.
Todd Rogers, Assistant Dean for Career Services