Employment Statistics
Facts and Figures
83%—Iowa bar passage rate, which is higher than the national average.*
87.4%—Class of 2017 overall employment rate/enrollment in graduate school.
83.2%—Percentage of 2017 graduates with positions requiring bar passage or preferring a J.D.
6.3%—Percentage of 2017 graduates who reported they were unemployed and seeking a position.
*First-time takers in July 2017
Employment Data
See also:
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Reporting Rate | 98.3% | 97.2% | 100% |
| Total Students | 117 | 108 | 95 |
| Employed | 108 (92.3%) | 91 (84.3%) | 82 (86.3%) |
| ♦ Bar Required | 83 (70.9%) | 67 (62%) | 65 (68.4%) |
| ♦ J.D. Preferred | 18 (15.4%) | 20 (18.5%) | 14 (14.7%) |
| ♦ Professional | 5 (4.3%) | 2 (1.9%) | 2 (2.1%) |
| ♦ Non-professional | 2 (1.7%) | 2 (1.9%) | 1 (1.1%) |
| ♦ Type Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Enrolled in Full-time Degree Program | 1 (0.9%) | 2 (1.9%) | 1 (1.1%) |
| Not Seeking - Start Date Deferred/Unemployed | 2 (1.7%)* | 4 (3.8%) | 6 (6.3%) |
| Seeking - Unemployed | 4 (3.4%) | 8 (7.4%) | 6 (6.3%) |
All employment data is as of ten months post-graduation.
* One graduate secured a position prior to the March 15 cut-off date, however the start date for the position fell after March 15. Therefore, according to ABA requirements, the graduate is listed under the "start date deferred" category.
Employment Breakdown
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Number Employed |
108 | 91 | 82 |
| Private Practice |
66(61.1%) | 53 (58.2%) | 52 (63.4%) |
| Government | 17 (15.7%) | 11 (12.1%) | 9 (11%) |
| Judicial Clerkship | 6 (5.6%) | 3 (3.3%) | 6 (7.3%) |
| Business | 12 (11.1%) | 20 (22%) | 11 (13.4%) |
| Public Interest | 5 (4.6%) | 3 (3.3%) | 3 (3.7%) |
| Education | 2 (1.9%) | 1 (1.1%) | 1 (1.2%) |
Percentages in the above chart are based on number of students employed, not total number of graduates.
Geographic Distribution of Graduates
| Region | States | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| W. North Central | IA, KS, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD | 83.6% | 81.6% | 85.1% |
| E. North Central | IL, IN, MI, OH, WI | 2.5% | 7% | 6.5% |
| Mountain | AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, WY | 4.9% | 4.4% | 3.7% |
| South Atlantic | DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV | 2.5% | 1.8% | 0.9% |
| Mid-Atlantic | NY, NJ, PA | 0.8% | 0% | 0% |
| Pacific | AK, CA, HI, OR, WA | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.9% |
| E. South Central | KY, MS, TN, AL | 0.8% | 0% | 0% |
| W. South Central | TX, AR, LA, OK | 2.5% | 2.6% | 1.9% |
| New England | CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT | 0% | 0.9% | 0% |
| International | Worldwide | 1.6% | 0.9% | 0% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Percentages in the above chart are of total students employed, not total number of graduates.
Additional Information
- Drake's overall employment was 36th out of the 204 law schools that reported data to the ABA for the Class of 2015, placing it in the 82nd percentile nationally, with employment numbers almost 8 percentage points above the national average.
- For students in a position that required bar passage or where a J.D. was preferred, Drake was 6th out of 24 schools in the region (includes Iowa and six contiguous states) and above the regional average. In those same two categories, Drake was in the 86th percentile nationally (10 percent above the national average).
NALP Employment Data
In addition to the ABA Employment Reports and information noted above, Drake also provides employment data to NALP, an association of over 2,500 legal career professionals advising law students, lawyers, law offices, and law schools across North America and beyond. NALP provides a more detailed data set than the ABA, and we have provided copies of our recent reports below. Some data is redacted, including most salary data and any other identifying information. We typically only receive salary data from approximately 50% of our graduates, and the information we receive can sometimes not be representative of all graduates. In other cases, the salary information based on job type or firm size may make it possible to identify the graduates that reported that data. In order to provide consistent information from year to year and protect the confidentiality of our graduates' salary information, we redact the majority of this data.
Our Career Development Office is happy to answer questions you have and provide current information to you, please contact our office if you would like to discuss any of this data further.
Questions? Contact the Drake Law School Career Development Office at 515-271-2988 or law-career@drake.edu.
