Once again the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law has been cited nationally for its relatively low cost among top-ranked law schools and for the low average debt its graduates carry.
In data from the latest U.S. News and World Report, graduates of the William S. Richardson School of Law carried the second lowest average level of debt in the nation. That again put the law school among the 10 affordable law schools that leave their graduates with the least average debt.
Explained Law Dean Avi Soifer, “The generosity of our alumni, faculty and friends in providing scholarship support, and the skill of Cyrelle White, our financial aid officer, make it possible for us to stay true to the founding vision of the law school: to provide opportunity for every qualified student we accept, no matter what that student’s financial situation might be.”
Added White, “We’re proud to be one of the most affordable law schools in the nation, while still offering our students a high quality legal education.”
Average debt at School of Law for graduates in the 2014 class who borrowed for law school was $56,266. That compared to the lowest ranked school, J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, whose graduates carried an average of $54,203.
Nationally, students in the law school graduating classes of 2014 who borrowed to pay for law school at 182 ranked institutions took on an average debt of $111,899. That amounts to just under twice the debt incurred by graduates of the William S. Richardson School of Law.
This is the third time in a row that the William S. Richardson School of Law has been among the 10 highly ranked law schools whose graduates carry the lowest debt.
The debt numbers were calculated and reported as of September 1 using the most recent data from the graduating class of 2014.
—By Beverly Creamer
