We are proud of our employment record. KU Law students and graduates are highly sought after by employers throughout the state, region, and nation. The school's approximately 6,000 alumni live in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 14 foreign countries. They use their law degrees in both traditional and non-traditional ways. There were 173 students in the class of 2006. Of the 170 students who submitted employment information, 163 students (96%) reported employment as of February 2006, the final measuring date as determined by the National Association of Law Placement (NALP).
Of those graduates reporting employment, 99 provided salary information. For jobs requiring bar passage, the average salary was $63,329. The following charts and graphs illustrate employment information for the class of 2006:
As of February 2007 - Reported to National Association for Law Placement(NALP)
| Total number of students in class | 173 |
| Employment status known | 170 (98%) |
| Employed/Graduate School | 163 (96%)* |
| Seeking Employment | 2 (1%)* |
| Not Seeking Employment | 5 (3%)* |
* Percentage of those for whom employment status was known
Employment Status |
2006 |
2005 |
2004 |
| Employed/Graduate School | 96% |
96% |
90% |
| Seeking Employment | 1% |
3% |
7% |
| Not Seeking Employment | 3% |
1% |
3% |
Using the US News methodology (which differs slightly from NALP's employment calculation), 95.5% of KU Law graduates of the class of 2007 were employed within nine months of graduation. This represents the school’s best nine-month employment rate since 2000, and it exceeds the national average by several percentage points.
Class of 2006 and 2007 grads accepted employment in 29 states and are employed by top quality public and private employers in cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, P hoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Tulsa and Washington, D.C., as well as by a myriad of well-respected employers in Kansas and Missouri.
Graduation Year |
% Employed at Graduation |
% Employed Nine Months after Graduation |
US News Ranking |
2008* (not yet reported to US News) |
|||
2007* (not yet reported to US News) |
65.0 |
95.5 |
TBD (April 2009) |
2006* |
65.9 |
94.7 |
TBD (April 2008) |
2005 |
69.9 |
95.0 |
66 (April 2007) |
2004 |
55.1 |
88.5 |
70 (April 2006) |
2003 |
43.0 |
83.3 |
100 (April 2005) |
2002 |
60.7 |
92.1 |
63 (April 2004) |
2001 |
59.9 |
93.4 |
64 (April 2003) |
2000 |
64.7 |
95.9 |
Tier 2 (between 51-100) |
* US News no longer excludes the number of students not seeking employment from the demoninator of the employment percentage calculation.
Practice Area |
Percentage |
Private Practice |
51.3% |
Business |
18.0% |
Government |
15.0% |
Judicial Clerk |
8.8% |
Public Interest |
4.4% |
Academic |
2.5% |
Unknown |
0.0% |
Practice Area |
2006 |
2005 |
2004 |
Private Practice |
51.3% |
49.1% |
51.3% |
Business |
18.0% |
14.8% |
11.9% |
Government |
15.0% |
15.4% |
20.0% |
Judicial Clerk |
8.8% |
8.3% |
8.8% |
Public Interest |
4.4% |
8.3% |
4.4% |
Academic |
2.5% |
3.6% |
2.5% |
Size of Firm |
# Reported |
% Reported |
Solo |
3 |
3.7% |
2-10 attorneys |
32 |
39.0% |
11-25 |
10 |
12.2% |
26-50 |
7 |
8.5% |
51-100 |
2 |
2.4% |
101-250 |
4 |
4.9% |
251-500 |
12 |
14.6% |
501+ |
8 |
9.8% |
Unknown |
4 |
4.9% |
STATE |
# EMPLOYED |
% |
| Kansas | 70 |
44.3% |
| Missouri | 42 |
26.6% |
| Arizona | 6 |
3.8% |
| Oklahoma | 6 |
3.8% |
| Texas | 6 |
3.8% |
| California | 3 |
1.9% |
| Florida | 3 |
1.9% |
| Washington, D.C. | 3 |
1.9% |
| Colorado | 2 |
1.3% |
| Illinois | 2 |
1.3% |
| New Mexico | 2 |
1.3% |
| New York | 2 |
1.3% |
| Washington | 2 |
1.3% |
| Delaware | 1 |
0.6% |
| Hawaii | 1 |
0.6% |
| Idaho | 1 |
0.6% |
| Kentucky | 1 |
0.6% |
| Michigan | 1 |
0.6% |
| Minnesota | 1 |
0.6% |
| Nebraska | 1 |
0.6% |
| Nevada | 1 |
0.6% |
| Oregon | 1 |
0.6% |
| Utah | 1 |
0.6% |
STATE |
# EMPLOYED |
% |
Kansas |
70 |
44.3% |
Missouri |
42 |
26.6% |
Other States |
46 |
29.1% |
Region |
2006 |
2005 |
2004 |
| New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) | 0% |
0% |
0% |
| Middle Atlantic (NJ, NY, PA) | 1.3% |
1.8% |
1.3% |
| East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) | 1.9% |
3.6% |
1.9% |
| West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) | 71.3% |
76.5% |
78.1% |
| South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) | 4.4% |
4.8% |
5.2% |
| East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) | 0.6% |
0.6% |
0.6% |
| West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) | 6.9% |
4.2% |
3.2% |
| Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) | 8.1% |
6.0% |
6.5% |
| Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) | 4.4% |
1.2% |
1.9% |
| Foreign | 1.3% |
1.6% |
1.3% |
Job Type |
# Reporting Salary |
Median |
Mean |
All Reported |
99 |
$52,000 |
$61,321 |
Bar Passage Required |
83 |
$52,000 |
$63,329 |
| # Reporting Salary | Median | Mean | |
| 2006 | |||
All Reported |
99 |
$52,000 |
$61,321 |
Bar Passage Required |
83 |
$52,000 |
$63,329 |
| 2005 | |||
All Reported |
104 |
$51,196 |
$60,077 |
Bar Passage Required |
95 |
$51,831 |
$58,769 |
| 2004 | |||
All Reported |
104 |
$50,000 |
$55,785 |
Bar Passage Required |
98 |
$50,000 |
$56,972 |
Kansas is the primary jurisdiction for the bar exam. The School's pass rate for first-time takers of the July 2006 Kansas bar was 90.4%, compared to the overall statewide pass rate of 82.3%. In February 2007, the pass rate for KU first-time test takers was 95.8%, compared to the statewide first-time taker pass rate of 85.0%.
KU students who choose to take the Missouri bar also perform well. The School's pass rate for first-time takers of the July 2006 Missouri bar was 82.8%, and in February 2006, the pass rate for KU first-time takers of the Missouri bar was 88.8%.
February 2007 |
First Time KU Takers |
All KU Takers |
Overall Pass Rate |
Kansas Bar Exam |
95.8% |
83.8% |
85.0% |
Missouri Bar exam |
88.8% |
86.8% |
74.2% |
July 2006 |
First Time KU Takers |
All KU Takers |
Overall Pass Rate |
Kansas Bar Exam |
90.4% |
82.9% |
82.3% |
Missouri Bar exam |
82.8% |
86.4% |
83.5% |
While many of our students and graduates chose to work in communities throughout Kansas or in the Kansas City metropolitan area, our students and graduates go all over the country. A considerable number of graduates accept judicial clerkships. Recent graduates have been law clerks at all levels, including the Supreme Court of the United States. Over the last five years our students and graduates have accepted summer and/or permanent employment with firms, government agencies, public interest organizations and judges all over the country. The following is a representative list.
