7 of India’s top law schools placed less than 30% graduates

Legal Jobs: Here’s what data submitted for NIRF rankings says about job placement records of Indian law schools.

Law minister Kiren Rijiju in December 2022 said that the government does not maintain the number of unemployed law graduates in the country. (Picture Source: Shutterstock)

Sanjay | January 12, 2023 | 10:58 AM IST

New Delhi : Seven out of the top 30 law colleges in India recorded less than 30% placement of students who completed their LLB in the academic year 2020-21, according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022 data. Of the seven, two are private institutions. Of the top 30 law institutes, the median salary of placed graduates at 12 law schools – seven private, two public – was less than Rs 6 lakh per annum.

An analysis of data submitted for ranking further shows dismal placement records among even the top law schools in the country in 2020-21. This was the last year for which data was available. One college in the top 30 was able to place just one student. That said, 2020-21 placements across disciplines were affected by the pandemic.

In India, the undergraduate law degree is awarded at the end of two types of programmes. A three-year LLB programme, such as the one offered by Delhi University, comes after a full-fledged three-year undergraduate course. The five-year integrated programmes offered by the National Law Universities (NLUs) and others, combining a bachelor’s in any stream with law leading to BA-LLB, BCom-LLB, BSc-LLB and other variations of these degrees. Admission to these programmes is right after school.

Participation in NIRF was made mandatory in 2018 and the same year, law schools were ranked for the first time.

Twenty-eight of the top 30 law schools offer the five-year integrated degree programme. According to NIRF law school rankings , Indian Law Institute, New Delhi, ranked at 29, is the only institute among the top 30 which does not offer a LLB but only a one-year postgraduate programme. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur offers only a three-year LLB. Two government institutions – Panjab University and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) – and three private institutions – Lovely Professional University, Symbiosis Law School and Siksha 'O' Anusandhan – offer both three and five-year courses.

Top 10 law colleges

Ten out of the top 30 law institutes are private. Two – Symbiosis Law School, Pune (at rank 3) and Siksha `O` Anusandhan Bhubaneswar (at 9) – are in the top 10 law colleges in the NIRF ranking. In 2022, the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru again secured the first position.

Among the top 10 law colleges in India, IIT Kharagpur has the highest placement rate – 97.7 % – and NLU Delhi, the lowest – 52.5%. The maximum median salary in the top 10 was Rs 18 lakh per annum at NLU Delhi and minimum, Rs 4.8 lakh at Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Placements in the top 10 (2020-21)

Rank

Institute

% Placed

Median salary (In Rs)

Selected for higher studies

2

National Law University (NLU), Delhi

52.5

18,00,000

2

9

Siksha `O` Anusandhan, Bhubaneswar

53

5,40,000

41

8

Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar

60

14,00,000

54

10

National Law University, Jodhpur

60.6

14,50,000

7

5

West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata



62.9

15,50,000

6

7

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi


70

4,80,000

18

1

National Law School of India University (NLSIU),Bengaluru

76.25

15,00,000

7

4

Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad


83

16,00,000

9

3

Symbiosis Law School, Pune

96.06

8,27,916 (3 yrs) and 11,00,000 (5 yrs)

13


6

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur


97.7

7,00,000

1


Fifty-four students of Gujarat National Law University, Ahmedabad went for higher education in 2020-21. This was the highest number.

Also Read | IIM Rohtak introduces BBA-LLB integrated programme; Know eligibility criteria

Lowest salaries in the top 30

A total of 12 of the top 30 law colleges recorded median salaries lower than Rs 6 lakh per annum in 2020-21. This included two institutions in the top 10 ranks in NIRF. Panjab University, Chandigarh has recorded the lowest median salary of placed graduates at Rs 50,000 per annum; it is followed by Amity University, Gurugram and Sikkim Government Law College, Gangtok, both at Rs 2.40 lakh.

Low median salaries

Rank

Institute

Median salary (in Rs)

30

Panjab University, Chandigarh


50,000


27

Amity University Haryana, Gurugram

2,40,000

28

Sikkim Government Law College, Gangtok

2,40,000

21

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun

3,60,000

19

Shanmugha Arts Science Technology & Research Academy, Thanjavur

4,00,000

7

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

4,80,000

16

Christ University, Bengaluru

4,93,000

11

Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar

5,00,000

17

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow

5,00,000

23

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi

5,00,000

9

Siksha 'O' Anusandhan, Bhubaneswar

5,40,000

14

Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai

5,80,000


Low placement rates

According to NIRF 2022 data, Assam government-run National Law University and Judicial Academy, Kamrup could place just one out of 57 students graduating in 2020-21. BHU, which offers both three-year and five-year programmes, recorded 7.8% placement after placing 27 out of 345 students, while 180 students were selected for higher studies.

Amity University, Gurugram managed to place just eight out of 96 five-year programme students and recorded 8.3% placement of its UG students. Only nine out of 98 students were placed at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi in the academic session 2020-21.

Lowest placements (2020-21)

Rank

Institute

Graduated

Placed

% Placed

Selected for higher studies

25

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Kamrup

57

1

1.75

16

20

Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

345

27

7.8

180

27

Amity University Haryana, Gurugram

96

8

8.3

12

23

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi

98

9

9.1

29

22

National University of Study & Research in Law, Ranchi



104

16

15.38

22

25

National Law University, Cuttack

179

34

18.9

3

26

Army Institute of Law, Mohali



79

23

29.1

14


In the winter session of parliament in December 2022, law minister Kiren Rijiju said that the government does not maintain the number of unemployed law graduates in the country.

Also Read | MH CET LLB 2023 exam dates announced; Know eligibility, exam details, registration fee

“Once a law graduate enrolls as an advocate he or she is deemed to have entered into the profession of advocacy. Advocates are professionals who enter the profession of legal practice and learn the skilled advocacy in the process of gaining requisite experience. Further, it is the discretion of a party to engage any advocate as per its choice,” Rijiju told Rajya Sabha. He was responding to questions asked by YSR Congress MP Ryaga Krishnaiah regarding measures taken by the government to reduce increasing unemployment amongst law graduates and to tackle instances of junior advocates working without any pay or remuneration.

Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..

To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.