2024 Best Value Colleges for Law in the Southwest Region
12
Ranked Colleges
2,937
Degrees Awarded
$19,700
Avg Net Price*
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
Law is the 28th most popular major in the country with 36,216 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, law graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $64,466 and had an average of $19,500 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Southwest region, there were 2,937 law graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,837 and $19,500 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking, we looked at 12 colleges that offer a degree in law. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality law programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the law program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
One Size Does Not Fit All
The law school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region”.
To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region.
Top 12 Best Value Colleges for Law in the Southwest Region
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Texas at Austin. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region. The University of Texas at Austin is a large school located in Austin, Texas that handed out 376 ’s law degrees in 2020-2021.
UT Austin not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $18,350 for southwest region law students per year to attend The University of Texas at Austin.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full UT Austin Law Report
Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Houston landed the #2 spot on the list. Houston, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s law degrees to 233 students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our southwest region law students list, UH has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $13,721 for southwest region law students per year to attend University of Houston.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Law at University of Houston
Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Oklahoma City University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 130 degrees to qualified ’s law students in 2020-2021.
OCU also made our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #10. The yearly cost to attend Oklahoma City University is $22,910 for southwest region law students.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Full OCU Law Report
Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #4 spot on the list. This large school is located in College Station, Texas, and it awarded 169 ’s law degrees in 2020-2021.
Texas A&M College Station also took the #3 spot in our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $18,919 for southwest region law students per year to attend Texas A&M College Station.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Texas A&M College Station Law Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend St. Mary’s University. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region list. St. Mary’s University is a small school located in San Antonio, Texas that handed out 202 ’s law degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our southwest region law students list, St. Mary’s has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for St. Mary’s University is $18,658 for Southwest Region Law students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 5.0% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Full St. Mary’s University Law Report
University of Oklahoma Norman Campus did quite well in the 2024 Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, coming in at #6. University of Oklahoma is a large school located in Norman, Oklahoma that handed out 170 ’s law degrees in 2020-2021.
University of Oklahoma not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Oklahoma is $21,122 for Southwest Region Law students.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Law at University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
Arizona State University - Tempe did quite well in the 2024 Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, coming in at #7. Located in Tempe, Arizona, this large public school awarded 283 diplomas to qualified ’s law students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our southwest region law students list, ASU - Tempe has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend ASU - Tempe is $13,107 for Southwest Region Law students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Law at ASU - Tempe
Texas Tech University did quite well in the 2024 Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, coming in at #8. Located in Lubbock, Texas, this large public school awarded 131 degrees to qualified ’s law students in 2020-2021.
Texas Tech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #11 on our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $16,194 for southwest region law students per year to attend Texas Tech.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Law at Texas Tech University
With a ranking of #9, University of Tulsa did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region list. University of Tulsa is a small school located in Tulsa, Oklahoma that handed out 95 ’s law degrees in 2020-2021.
University of Tulsa also took the #8 spot in our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Tulsa is $24,232 for Southwest Region Law students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Tulsa Law Report
Texas Southern University landed the #10 spot on the 2024 Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. TSU is a medium-sized school located in Houston, Texas that handed out 167 ’s law degrees in 2020-2021.
TSU also made our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #12. The yearly cost to attend Texas Southern University is $17,914 for southwest region law students.
Read more about Law at Texas Southern University
With a ranking of #11, University of Arizona did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region list. University of Arizona is a public institution located in Tucson, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 110 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our southwest region law students list, University of Arizona has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Arizona is $13,358 for southwest region law students.
Read more about Law at University of Arizona
With a ranking of #12, Southern Methodist University did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Law Schools in the Southwest Region list. SMU is located in Dallas, Texas and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 221 ’s law degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at SMU, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Law Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SMU is $38,208 for southwest region law students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Law at Southern Methodist University
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Notes and References
References
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
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