The average law school graduate has more than $140,000 in student loan debt by the time they earn their degree. So picking a program that offers a high salary and a good return on investment is critical. Online lender SoFi, a CNBC Disruptor, rated law schools based on verified salary and debt from more than 60,000 people who applied to refinance their student loans with the company from 2014 to 2016. While elite schools still dominate SoFi's rankings with high average salaries, lesser-known programs, such as Brigham Young University, offered graduates a better value when you consider salary-to-debt ratios.

Graduates of the top three law schools on SoFi's highest salary list — Columbia University, Cornell University and New York University — all earn starting salaries above $175,000. The median annual wage for lawyers was $115,820, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (See the list below.)

Trying to find the best bang for your buck, SoFi searched for schools that provided good value by comparing the average salary data to the average debt load. Harvard and Yale were top contenders on the list, but so were less prestigious law schools such as the University of Houston and the University of Georgia. (See list below.)