NALP Bulletin, November 2017
NALP's 2017 Law School Career Services Survey for US schools collected information on office staffing and salaries for career services offices as of May 1, 2017. All in all, a total of 106 law schools responded to the survey. The schools represented every region, enrollment size, and a mix of public and private law schools. These schools collectively reported on over 400 career services professionals.
Among the findings:
The median salary for primary professionals was $95,000, and the average was not quite $100,000. Salaries are generally higher at private schools, larger schools, and those in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and West/Rocky Mountain Regions. (See Table 1, Salaries for Primary Professionals as of May 1, 2017.)
The overall median is up by $7,000 compared with a median of $88,000 at the time of the 2015 survey.
The median for second professionals was $69,500, and the average was about $70,800. Again, salaries are generally higher at larger schools and at those in Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and West/Rocky Mountain Regions. (See Table 2, Salaries for Other Professional and Administrative Positions as of May 1, 2017.) The median in 2015 for second professionals was $67,500.
Additionally, schools averaged 3.7 full-time professional staff in the CSO office, essentially unchanged from 2015. The figures ranged from 1.8 at small schools to 6 at larger schools.
About 34% of schools reported having a staff member whose duties primarily encompass employer development, compared with 30% in 2015. Over half of private schools reported such a staff person, compared with just 11% of public schools.
Primary professionals averaged 13 years in the field; second professionals averaged 9 years. The figures for 2015 were 11.5 years and 7 years, respectively.
The full report, with more detail on all these topics and more, is available as a member resource.
Table 1. Salaries for Primary Professionals — as of May 1, 2017
| 25th Percentile |
Median | 75th Percentile |
Average | # of Salaries Reported |
|
| All Schools - Overall | $80,000 | $95,000 | $110,000 | $99,820 | 98 |
| Private Law Schools | |||||
| Private Law Schools - Overall | 80,000 | 99,269 | 124,680 | 104,566 | 50 |
| By NALP Region: | |||||
| Northeast and Mid-Atlantic | 80,000 | 134,500 | 148,000 | 125,651 | 10 |
| Southeast | 80,000 | 83,000 | 106,000 | 93,200 | 18 |
| Midwest | 80,000 | 99,750 | 110,000 | 104,946 | 10 |
| West/Rocky Mountain | 90,000 | 102,019 | 119,800 | 103,726 | 12 |
| By size of school (JD enrollment): | |||||
| JD enrollment fewer than 400 | 68,615 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 78,250 | 14 |
| JD enrollment 400-600 | 80,000 | 92,000 | 129,580 | 105,038 | 15 |
| JD enrollment more than 600 | 100,000 | 110,000 | 136,000 | 121,773 | 21 |
| Public Law Schools | |||||
| Public Law Schools - Overall | 79,231 | 93,982 | 108,000 | 94,877 | 48 |
| By NALP Region: | |||||
| Northeast and Mid-Atlantic | 72,150 | 93,982 | 102,500 | 89,370 | 8 |
| Southeast | 78,000 | 85,000 | 106,440 | 97,423 | 16 |
| Midwest | 80,000 | 89,850 | 98,857 | 89,455 | 13 |
| West/Rocky Mountain | 75,000 | 98,732 | 122,000 | 101,584 | 11 |
| By size of school (JD enrollment): | |||||
| JD enrollment fewer than 400 | 75,000 | 81,000 | 95,250 | 83,043 | 23 |
| JD enrollment 400-600 | 80,000 | 102,880 | 115,000 | 100,318 | 15 |
| JD enrollment more than 600 | 94,493 | 103,929 | 125,000 | 113,932 | 10 |
Note: Figures reflect full-time salaries only. Groupings with fewer than 5 salaries are not reported.
Table 2. Salaries for Other Professionals — as of May 1, 2017
| 25th Percentile |
Median | 75th Percentile |
Average | # of Salaries Reported |
|
| Second Professionals | |||||
| Overall | $59,949 | $69,500 | $80,000 | $70,832 | 150 |
| By NALP region: | |||||
| Northeast and Mid-Atlantic | 68,000 | 75,500 | 89,100 | 77,818 | 26 |
| Southeast | 56,106 | 64,250 | 74,000 | 67,823 | 50 |
| Midwest | 57,412 | 67,500 | 74,000 | 68,850 | 29 |
| West/RM | 65,000 | 72,000 | 80,000 | 71,417 | 45 |
| By size of school (JD enrollment): | |||||
| JD enrollment fewer than 400 | 52,000 | 58,011 | 69,000 | 60,911 | 25 |
| JD enrollment 400-600 | 56,106 | 68,300 | 82,000 | 69,178 | 49 |
| JD enrollment more than 600 | 67,000 | 72,750 | 84,000 | 75,162 | 76 |
| Third Professionals | |||||
| Overall | 56,300 | 68,279 | 78,000 | 67,975 | 80 |
| By NALP region: | |||||
| Northeast and Mid-Atlantic | 62,650 | 71,193 | 85,700 | 76,604 | 25 |
| Southeast | 52,787 | 61,200 | 75,000 | 62,635 | 27 |
| Midwest | 53,050 | 70,000 | 72,875 | 63,083 | 12 |
| West/RM | 55,290 | 68,500 | 79,155 | 67,170 | 16 |
| By size of school (JD enrollment): | |||||
| JD enrollment fewer than 400 | 47,000 | 49,000 | 57,000 | 51,167 | 6 |
| JD enrollment 400-600 | 53,150 | 59,000 | 70,000 | 60,371 | 20 |
| JD enrollment more than 600 | 62,950 | 72,875 | 81,000 | 72,658 | 54 |
| Fourth Professionals | |||||
| Overall | 50,000 | 62,400 | 73,000 | 60,675 | 26 |
| By NALP region: | |||||
| Northeast and Mid-Atlantic | 60,000 | 68,000 | 77,200 | 67,746 | 15 |
| Midwest | 40,000 | 42,556 | 55,000 | 46,111 | 5 |
| By size of school (JD enrollment): | |||||
| JD enrollment more than 600 | 55,000 | 62,400 | 73,000 | 61,502 | 25 |
| By type of school: | |||||
| Private | 55,000 | 62,400 | 74,000 | 63,190 | 21 |
| Public | 40,000 | 42,556 | 63,799 | 50,109 | 5 |
Note: Only groupings with 5 or more salaries reported are included in the table.
