Law School

If you can stomach economics, you should take a look at this picture, and the blog there.

http://www.elsblog.org/the_empirical_legal_studi/2007/09/distribution-of.html

Basically, the legal job market in America is bimodal (plotting salaries versus number of people getting those salaries looks like a two-humped camel).

The problem is that the folks clumped in the lower hump (large # at the low salary peak) have trouble paying back their law school tuition loans. So it's not a great idea to go to a high-priced private school and then wind up in the lower hump. That's a vote for LSU all the way, unless one gets a lot of scholarship $$ at the private schools.

However, Tulane, alone of the 3 schools, gives you the best opportunity to be in the higher hump -- it's probably the best, but by no means sure, ticket to a national level paycheck at a well-known firm in Houston or Atlanta or DC, with the $160K to start that that carries. If that's what you might want, or might want 3 years from now after you hypothetically meet the Georgia Peach of your dreams, well, then the vote is for Tulane.

I'm not sure I see the case for Loyola based on a price/performance analysis.