2018: ABA Publishes Hot Tuition Garbage Instead of Usable Numbers [UPDATED]

It’s been two weeks since the ABA released its 509 information reports and accompanying spreadsheets. Lazy as I am I didn’t get to the tuition figures until last night, when to my astonishment I found that the tuition data were an excrementitious string of Arabic numerals. Seriously, the ABA has been doing this for five years, and while one or two law schools always fail to report their costs (because it’s, so, so hard to do the same thing once a year) I’ve never seen it publish numbers that were so clearly wrong.

I count seventeen law schools without any tuition numbers. I can understand why Valparaiso and Arizona Summit wouldn’t bother supplying them, but the rest is inexcusable. Even Stanford is on the list of shame.

The next seven reported bizarre three-digit numbers. A year of law school costs $35 at Washburn in Kansans. I have no idea where that came from, but a few public schools (Indiana-Indianapolis, Missouri-Columbia) look like they supplied their costs per credit hour rather than their annual charges.

Then I count 128 (!!) law schools that appeared to supply either semester or trimester tuition costs. There all off by 40-67 percent, clustering at 50 percent.

So more than half of the ABA law schools either supplied bad numbers to the ABA, which didn’t QC any of them, or the ABA messed up. Wow. RIP data transparency.

[Update: Per a reader comment, it appears in the 509 information reports themselves, the ABA now tracks tuition by semester, which will necessitate annualizing the numbers manually. Yes, I’d looked at these but didn’t see that change. However, instead of 128 law schools incorrectly sending semester numbers, that leaves 51 that misreported annual tuition instead of semester tuition. So while 128 law schools appeared to have reported correct numbers, 73 (less Arizona Summit and Valparaiso) did not. The ABA should still do a better job of QCing the data and ensuring law schools are completing forms correctly. I’ll try to come up with a new post that fixes all this.]

Here’s my table of proof:

STATE	SCHOOL	TYPE	2017	2018	% CHANGE
Arizona	Arizona Summit	Private	$45,284	$0	-100.0%
Arkansas	University of Arkansas	Public Res.	$16,117	$0	-100.0%
Arkansas	University of Arkansas (Little Rock)	Public Res.	$15,732	$0	-100.0%
California	Santa Clara University	Private	$48,916	$0	-100.0%
California	Stanford	Private	$60,270	$0	-100.0%
California	Whittier Law School	Private	$44,370	$0	-100.0%
Florida	Florida International University	Public Res.	$21,806	$0	-100.0%
Idaho	Concordia University School of Law	Private	$30,343	$0	-100.0%
Indiana	Valparaiso University	Private	$41,522	$0	-100.0%
Kansas	University of Kansas	Public Res.	$21,996	$0	-100.0%
Michigan	Cooley	Private	$51,370	$0	-100.0%
Missouri	University of Missouri (Kansas City)	Public Res.	$19,040	$0	-100.0%
Nebraska	University of Nebraska	Public Res.	$15,645	$0	-100.0%
New York	Brooklyn	Private	$50,706	$0	-100.0%
Oklahoma	University of Oklahoma	Public Res.	$20,903	$0	-100.0%
Pennsylvania	Drexel University	Private	$44,340	$0	-100.0%
Texas	University of Houston	Public Res.	$31,021	$0	-100.0%
Delaware	Widener University (Delaware)	Private	$48,920	$60	-99.9%
Pennsylvania	Widener University (Commonwealth)	Private	$44,548	$60	-99.9%
Kansas	Washburn University	Public Res.	$21,588	$35	-99.8%
Illinois	John Marshall (Chicago)	Private	$48,600	$275	-99.4%
Ohio	University of Dayton	Private	$33,739	$209	-99.4%
Indiana	Indiana Unversity (Indianapolis)	Public Res.	$28,631	$547	-98.1%
Missouri	University of Missouri (Columbia)	Public Res.	$21,407	$894	-95.8%
Illinois	University of Chicago	Private	$62,865	$21,766	-65.4%
Texas	Baylor University	Private	$60,050	$20,807	-65.4%
Ohio	University of Akron	Public Res.	$24,214	$11,323	-53.2%
Puerto Rico	Pontifical Catholic University of PR	Private	$16,418	$7,869	-52.1%
Hawaii	University of Hawaii	Public Res.	$23,142	$11,196	-51.6%
Florida	Florida A&M University	Public Res.	$14,132	$6,838	-51.6%
Minnesota	University of Minnesota	Public Res.	$44,066	$21,420	-51.4%
Kentucky	University of Louisville	Public Res.	$21,392	$10,598	-50.5%
Ohio	Cleveland State University	Public Res.	$27,360	$13,605	-50.3%
California	UC Los Angeles	Public Res.	$45,657	$22,800	-50.1%
California	UC Davis	Public Res.	$47,763	$23,861	-50.0%
California	Western State College	Private	$43,350	$21,675	-50.0%
Georgia	Georgia State University	Public Res.	$17,050	$8,525	-50.0%
Maine	University of Maine	Public Res.	$23,640	$11,820	-50.0%
Ohio	University of Cincinnati	Public Res.	$24,010	$12,005	-50.0%
Oklahoma	University of Tulsa	Private	$25,254	$12,627	-50.0%
Texas	Texas Southern University	Public Res.	$20,418	$10,209	-50.0%
Tennessee	University of Memphis	Public Res.	$19,197	$9,599	-50.0%
Illinois	Northern Illinois University	Public Res.	$22,178	$11,090	-50.0%
Virginia	George Mason University	Public Res.	$25,351	$12,677	-50.0%
New Hampshire	University of New Hampshire	Public Res.	$37,401	$18,703	-50.0%
Illinois	University of Illinois	Public Res.	$38,098	$19,059	-50.0%
Florida	Florida State University	Public Res.	$20,683	$10,347	-50.0%
Georgia	University of Georgia	Public Res.	$19,696	$9,854	-50.0%
Nevada	University of Nevada	Public Res.	$26,973	$13,511	-49.9%
Tennessee	University of Tennessee	Public Res.	$19,638	$9,837	-49.9%
Vermont	Vermont Law School	Private	$47,998	$24,127	-49.7%
North Carolina	Wake Forest University	Private	$45,110	$22,680	-49.7%
Louisiana	Loyola University New Orleans	Private	$44,330	$22,290	-49.7%
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City University	Private	$35,340	$17,815	-49.6%
Alabama	Univeristy of Alabama	Public Res.	$23,720	$11,960	-49.6%
Kentucky	University of Kentucky	Public Res.	$23,783	$12,023	-49.4%
North Carolina	North Carolina Central University	Public Res.	$18,533	$9,369	-49.4%
Illinois	Loyola University Chicago	Private	$48,406	$24,481	-49.4%
North Carolina	University of North Carolina	Public Res.	$23,889	$12,086	-49.4%
Florida	Ave Maria	Private	$41,706	$21,103	-49.4%
Virginia	Regent University	Private	$36,140	$18,310	-49.3%
California	University of San Francisco	Private	$49,130	$24,910	-49.3%
South Carolina	Charleston Law School	Private	$41,548	$21,067	-49.3%
New Mexico	University of New Mexico	Public Res.	$17,147	$8,699	-49.3%
Minnesota	Mitchell|Hamline	Private	$42,816	$21,730	-49.2%
District of Columbia	Howard University	Private	$33,630	$17,097	-49.2%
Illinois	Illinois Institute of Technology	Private	$46,822	$23,822	-49.1%
Michigan	Michigan State University	Private	$43,400	$22,100	-49.1%
Ohio	Ohio State Universtity	Public Res.	$30,264	$15,424	-49.0%
Illinois	DePaul University	Private	$47,230	$24,083	-49.0%
New York	Touro College	Private	$48,830	$24,900	-49.0%
Texas	University of Texas	Public Res.	$35,015	$17,857	-49.0%
New York	Cardozo	Private	$58,764	$29,970	-49.0%
Virginia	Washington and Lee University	Private	$48,375	$24,678	-49.0%
Tennessee	Belmont University	Private	$43,480	$22,235	-48.9%
Massachusetts	Suffolk University	Private	$46,932	$24,045	-48.8%
South Carolina	University of South Carolina	Public Res.	$28,858	$14,804	-48.7%
Missouri	Saint Louis University	Private	$41,025	$21,077	-48.6%
Ohio	Case Western Reserve University	Private	$50,666	$26,035	-48.6%
Maryland	University of Baltimore	Public Res.	$31,084	$15,977	-48.6%
Texas	South Texas-Houston	Private	$31,500	$16,200	-48.6%
Texas	Southern Methodist University	Private	$52,586	$27,047	-48.6%
California	Pepperdine University	Private	$54,260	$27,915	-48.6%
Michigan	Wayne State University	Public Res.	$31,956	$16,441	-48.6%
New York	Syracuse University	Private	$49,966	$25,711	-48.5%
New York	Hofstra University	Private	$57,510	$29,607	-48.5%
Pennsylvania	Villanova University	Private	$45,195	$23,268	-48.5%
Minnesota	University of St. Thomas	Private	$40,247	$20,721	-48.5%
New York	City University of New York	Public Res.	$15,113	$7,782	-48.5%
Wisconsin	Marquette University	Private	$44,830	$23,085	-48.5%
New York	Albany Law School	Private	$46,072	$23,725	-48.5%
Utah	Brigham Young University	Private	$25,360	$18,506	-48.5%
Massachusetts	Northeastern University	Private	$49,224	$25,350	-48.5%
Oregon	Lewis & Clark College	Private	$45,020	$23,185	-48.5%
Texas	St. Mary’s University	Private	$36,310	$18,705	-48.5%
North Carolina	Campbell University	Private	$39,900	$20,565	-48.5%
California	Golden Gate University	Private	$48,500	$25,000	-48.5%
Alabama	Faulkner University	Private	$38,000	$19,592	-48.4%
Massachusetts	New England Law | Boston	Private	$47,992	$24,744	-48.4%
Virginia	College of William & Mary	Public Res.	$32,964	$17,000	-48.4%
New Jersey	Rutgers University	Public Res.	$27,492	$14,179	-48.4%
Connecticut	University of Connecticut	Public Res.	$29,410	$15,169	-48.4%
Georgia	John Marshall (Atlanta)	Private	$42,628	$21,993	-48.4%
California	University of the Pacific	Private	$49,720	$25,656	-48.4%
Iowa	University of Iowa	Public Res.	$26,456	$13,671	-48.3%
Washington	Seattle University	Private	$45,054	$23,293	-48.3%
District of Columbia	American University	Private	$54,832	$28,362	-48.3%
Massachusetts	Boston University	Private	$53,236	$27,538	-48.3%
New York	St. John’s University	Private	$57,480	$29,740	-48.3%
Massachusetts	Harvard	Private	$62,792	$32,489	-48.3%
Nebraska	Creighton University	Private	$38,744	$20,048	-48.3%
District of Columbia	Catholic University of America	Private	$49,800	$25,780	-48.2%
Florida	University of Miami	Private	$50,578	$26,195	-48.2%
Massachusetts	Boston College	Private	$52,850	$27,375	-48.2%
Georgia	Emory University	Private	$55,336	$28,674	-48.2%
Louisiana	Tulane University	Private	$54,568	$28,286	-48.2%
Illinois	Southern Illinois University	Public Res.	$21,754	$11,282	-48.1%
Illinois	Northwestern University	Private	$62,084	$32,201	-48.1%
New York	Fordham University	Private	$58,196	$30,203	-48.1%
California	Loyola Law School	Private	$55,110	$28,615	-48.1%
Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania	Private	$63,364	$32,902	-48.1%
District of Columbia	George Washington University	Private	$58,520	$30,395	-48.1%
Pennsylvania	Penn State University (Dickinson)	Public Res.	$48,686	$25,291	-48.1%
Pennsylvania	Penn State University (Penn State Law)	Public Res.	$49,070	$25,492	-48.0%
Colorado	University of Denver	Private	$49,022	$25,471	-48.0%
California	University of La Verne	Private	$30,024	$15,604	-48.0%
North Carolina	Duke University	Private	$62,247	$32,361	-48.0%
Oregon	Willamette University	Private	$42,680	$22,190	-48.0%
Ohio	Ohio Northern University	Private	$28,010	$14,580	-47.9%
Mississippi	University of Mississippi	Public Res.	$15,882	$8,275	-47.9%
Tennessee	Lincoln Memorial University	Private	$35,340	$18,420	-47.9%
Michigan	University of Michigan	Public Res.	$57,262	$29,881	-47.8%
Oregon	University of Oregon	Public Res.	$33,922	$17,709	-47.8%
Florida	Barry University	Private	$35,845	$18,715	-47.8%
Alabama	Samford University	Private	$38,448	$20,075	-47.8%
Indiana	Indiana University (Bloomington)	Public Res.	$34,073	$17,794	-47.8%
Massachusetts	Massachusetts-Dartmouth	Public Res.	$27,291	$14,263	-47.7%
Wisconsin	University of Wisconsin	Public Res.	$22,496	$11,759	-47.7%
Florida	St. Thomas University	Private	$40,282	$21,095	-47.6%
Pennsylvania	Duquesne University	Private	$42,844	$22,472	-47.5%
Michigan	University of Detroit	Private	$42,140	$22,110	-47.5%
Kentucky	Northern Kentucky University	Public Res.	$19,370	$10,166	-47.5%
West Virginia	West Virginia University	Public Res.	$22,878	$12,042	-47.4%
Ohio	Capital University	Private	$36,112	$19,145	-47.0%
Idaho	University of Idaho	Public Res.	$19,748	$10,493	-46.9%
Utah	University of Utah	Public Res.	$26,641	$14,177	-46.8%
South Dakota	University of South Dakota	Public Res.	$15,668	$8,472	-45.9%
Texas	Texas A&M University	Public Res.	$28,504	$15,500	-45.6%
Ohio	University of Toledo	Public Res.	$20,004	$10,948	-45.3%
Virginia	Appalachian	Private	$31,700	$17,750	-44.0%
Texas	Texas Tech University	Public Res.	$22,996	$13,420	-41.6%
North Carolina	Elon University	Private	$36,667	$22,275	-39.3%
Florida	University of Florida	Public Res.	$22,299	$21,803	-2.2%
Colorado	University of Colorado	Public Res.	$31,989	$31,898	-0.3%
Florida	Florida Coastal	Private	$46,171	$46,068	-0.2%
California	UC Irvine	Public Res.	$45,155	$45,099	-0.1%
California	UC Berkeley	Public Res.	$49,364	$49,325	-0.1%
Arizona	Univeristy of Arizona	Public Res.	$25,826	$25,826	0.0%
California	UC Hastings	Public Res.	$44,326	$44,326	0.0%
California	Thomas Jefferson	Private	$49,500	$49,500	0.0%
Wyoming	University of Wyoming	Public Res.	$16,350	$16,350	0.0%
Mississippi	Mississippi College	Private	$35,500	$35,510	0.0%
New York	SUNY Buffalo	Public Res.	$28,016	$28,075	0.2%
Puerto Rico	Interamerican University of PR	Private	$16,603	$16,645	0.3%
Arizona	Arizona State University	Public Res.	$27,388	$27,584	0.7%
Connecticut	Quinnipiac University	Private	$48,805	$49,540	1.5%
New Jersey	Seton Hall University	Private	$53,046	$54,090	2.0%
Georgia	Mercer University	Private	$37,962	$38,716	2.0%
California	Chapman University	Private	$52,086	$53,124	2.0%
New York	New York Law School	Private	$50,718	$51,732	2.0%
Iowa	Drake University	Private	$40,612	$41,512	2.2%
Pennsylvania	University of Pittsburgh	Public Res.	$34,008	$34,834	2.4%
Louisiana	Louisiana State University	Public Res.	$23,083	$23,660	2.5%
District of Columbia	University of D.C.	Public Res.	$12,516	$12,838	2.6%
Florida	Stetson University	Private	$42,646	$43,880	2.9%
New York	Pace University	Private	$47,210	$48,614	3.0%
Virginia	Liberty University	Private	$35,782	$36,862	3.0%
Massachusetts	Western New England University	Private	$40,954	$42,218	3.1%
California	University of San Diego	Private	$52,571	$54,280	3.3%
Connecticut	Yale	Private	$62,170	$64,267	3.4%
Florida	Nova Southeastern University	Private	$39,830	$41,200	3.4%
New York	Columbia University	Private	$67,564	$69,916	3.5%
New York	Cornell	Private	$63,327	$65,541	3.5%
California	University of Southern California	Private	$62,711	$64,908	3.5%
California	California Western	Private	$50,670	$52,470	3.6%
Maryland	University of Maryland	Public Res.	$32,492	$33,651	3.6%
Missouri	Washington University	Private	$55,423	$57,445	3.6%
Indiana	Notre Dame	Private	$56,292	$58,358	3.7%
New York	New York University	Private	$63,986	$66,422	3.8%
Pennsylvania	Temple University	Public Res.	$26,103	$27,103	3.8%
Virginia	University of Richmond	Private	$43,000	$44,700	4.0%
District of Columbia	Georgetown	Private	$59,850	$62,244	4.0%
Texas	North Texas-Dallas	Public Res.	$8,748	$9,107	4.1%
Virginia	University of Virginia	Public Res.	$58,300	$60,700	4.1%
Louisiana	Southern University Law Center	Public Res.	$15,802	$16,490	4.4%
California	Southwestern University	Private	$51,890	$54,166	4.4%
Tennessee	Vanderbilt University	Private	$55,083	$57,558	4.5%
Washington	University of Washington	Public Res.	$34,311	$35,988	4.9%
Montana	University of Montana	Public Res.	$12,562	$13,177	4.9%
Washington	Gonzaga University	Private	$38,715	$40,665	5.0%
Rhode Island	Roger Williams University	Private	$34,833	$36,815	5.7%
Puerto Rico	University of Puerto Rico	Public Res.	$7,383	$7,852	6.4%
North Dakota	University of North Dakota	Public Res.	$12,232	$13,023	6.5%

Ugh. Disgusting. Makes me feel bad for the schools that clearly did everything right, like they’re supposed to each year. [Commented retracted for meanness. Apologies to the 128 law schools that correctly reported semester tuition, raspberries to the rest and the ABA for not ensuring consistency.]

Information on this topic from prior years:

• “2017: Full-Time Private Law School Tuition Up 3.2 Percent” (December 29, 2017)
• “2016: Full-Time Private Law School Tuition Up 2.7 Percent” (December 27, 2016)
• “Full-Time Law School Tuition Still (Slowly) Rising” (December 22, 2015)
• “Law School Cuts Its Tuition to Zero (and Other 509 Report Errata)” (December 15, 2014)
• “The Official Guide is Dead, Long Live the Official Guide!” (March 31, 2014)