Class of 2011
J.D. Class of 2011 Employment Statistics – 9 Months after Graduation1
287 Graduates
| Total percentage of employed graduates | 96.6%2 |
For graduates known to be employed, rounded percentage working in the following types of employment:
| Law Firms | 34% |
| Business and Industry | 23% |
| Public Interest | 12% |
| Government | 11% |
| Academia | 11% |
| Judicial Clerkship | 9% |
| Employer Type Unknown | <1% |
Salary Information 3
(Based on full time salaries that were reported or publicly available)
All Reported Full Time Salaries (Our salary statistics are based on obtaining full time salaries from 39% of the class, which were reported or publicly available. Equation: 112 known salaries divided by 287 JD graduates in the class = 39% of the class):
| Mean | $70,922 |
| Median | $57,500 |
| 75th Percentile | $88,625 |
| 25th Percentile | $49,000 |
| Range | $30,000 – $350,0004 |
Private Sector: including positions in law firms, business and industry (based on the 73 salaries reported or publicly available for graduates employed in the private sector, which represents 25% of the class. Equation: 73 known private sector salaries divided by 287 JD graduates in the class = 25% of the class):
| Mean | $81,466 |
| Median | $75,000 |
| 75th Percentile | $105,000 |
| 25th Percentile | $51,000 |
| Range | $30,000 – $350,000 |
Public Service: including government positions, judicial clerkships, academic posts, or positions with non-profit advocacy or cause-oriented organizations (based on the 39 salaries reported or publicly available for graduates employed in public service, which represents 14% of the class. Equation: 39 known public sector salaries divided by 287 JD graduates in the class = 14% of the class):
| Mean | $51,185 |
| Median | $50,000 |
| 75th Percentile | $53,000 |
| 25th Percentile | $47,000 |
| Range | $36,000 – $120,000 |
Geographic Location of Employed Graduates
(Regional Information calculated by dividing the total number of jobs in each geographic category by the total number of employed graduates. Total exceeds 100% due to rounding.)
Interested in more detailed employment data? See our report from the National Association for Law Placement for the class of 2011.
| International/Other | <1% |
| New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) |
<1% |
| Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) |
1% |
| E. North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) |
1% |
| W. North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) |
<1% |
| South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) |
2% |
| E. South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) |
<1% |
| W. South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) |
1% |
| Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) |
88% |
| Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) |
3% |
| Location Unknown | 1% |
Employment Summary for 2011 Graduates 5
| Employment Status | Full Time Long Term | Full Time Short Term | Part Time Long Term | Part Time Short Term | Total Number | Percentage |
| Employed – Bar Passage Required | 140 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 175 | 61% |
| Employed – JD Advantage | 23 | 16 | 5 | 10 | 54 | 18.8% |
| Employed – Professional Position | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 7.3% |
| Employed – Non-Professional Position | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2.4% |
| Employed – Undeterminable 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time | 5 | 1.7% | ||||
| Unemployed – Start Date Deferred | 3 | 1% | ||||
| Unemployed – Not Seeking | 10 | 3.5% | ||||
| Unemployed – Seeking | 9 | 3.1% | ||||
| Employment Status Unknown | 3 | 1% | ||||
| Total Graduates | 287 | 100% | ||||
| Law School/University Funded Position | Full Time Long Term | Full Time Short Term | Part Time Long Term | Part Time Short Term | Total Number |
| Of Employed – Law School/University Funded 7 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 28 |
| Employment Type |
Full Time Long Term | Full Time Short Term | Part Time Long Term | Part Time Short Term | Number |
| Law Firms | 71 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 87 |
| Solo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2-10 attorneys | 33 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 45 |
| 11-25 attorneys | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 26-50 attorneys | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 51-100 attorneys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 101-250 attorneys | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 251-500 attorneys | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 501+ attorneys | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Unknown | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Business & Industry | 36 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 60 |
| Government | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27 |
| Public Interest (including Public Defenders) | 27 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 32 |
| Federal Judicial Clerkships | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| State & Local Judicial Clerkships | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Academia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 28 |
| Employer Type Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 184 | 21 | 18 | 34 | 257 |
| Employment Location | State | Number |
| State/# – Largest employment | Colorado | 227 |
| State/# – 2nd Largest employment | California | 5 |
| State/# – 3rd Largest employment | Texas | 3 |
| Number employed in foreign countries | 1 |
(1): At our initiative, these statistics have been audited on a sample basis by the University of Denver’s Office of Institutional Compliance & Internal Audit, an independent office reporting directly to the Audit Committee of the University of Denver’s Board of Trustees.
(2): Note: We calculate the percentage of graduates employed 9 months after graduation by dividing the total number of graduates employed in any capacity (legal, nonlegal, full time and part time) by the total number of graduates whose employment status is known. Graduates not seeking employment (including those with deferred offers) and those pursuing full time degrees are not included in the calculation. We recognize that other organizations use different formulas to determine law school employment rates; however, we believe our formula most accurately reflects the employment rate of our graduates known to be in the workforce.
(3): While we ask all graduates who are employed in full time positions to provide their salaries, salary information is more difficult to obtain than employment status.
(4): $350,000 is not a typical salary for a new law graduate.
(5): Please note that some figures in the “Employment Summary for 2011 Graduates” differ slightly from the information provided in the same document available to the public by the American Bar Association at: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/statistics.html. The differences reflect newly discovered information relevant to the Sturm College of Law Class of 2011. We have asked the ABA to make these changes to our Class of 2011 Employment Summary on their website.
(6): A graduate in undeterminable category may or may not have a term defined
(7): Due to recent changes in American Bar Association (ABA) reporting requirements, our figures for law school/university funded positions differ from those reported by the ABA. The ABA is in the process of updating its figures to match ours.