Legal Support Services at Clayton State University

Clayton State's legal support services program leaves graduates carrying significantly more debt than they can comfortably handle in the short term. With $40,792 in median debt against first-year earnings of just $36,407, the 1.12 debt-to-earnings ratio means new graduates face more than a year's salary in student loans—a burden that will strain most budgets. While Georgia programs in this field typically come with high debt loads (state median: $48,729), this doesn't make the tradeoff more palatable when starting salaries barely break $36,000.

The earnings trajectory offers some relief, growing 25% to reach $45,339 by year four—a pace that outpaces many similar programs. However, even with this growth, graduates still earn below the state median and sit in just the 40th percentile among Georgia's legal support programs. For context, other Georgia schools produce similar or slightly better outcomes with comparable debt burdens.

Given the small sample size (under 30 graduates), these numbers might not represent every student's experience. But the core challenge remains: this is an expensive path to modest earnings in a field where bachelor's degrees don't command strong premiums. Unless your child has clear paralegal career goals and exhausts lower-cost alternatives, the debt burden here outweighs the credential's value.