Tuition at U.S. law schools continues to increase even as demand for law degrees declines. And the increases are particularly pronounced at the elite schools that send the most graduates into the nation's largest law firms.

Columbia last year set annual tuition at $60,274 and Cornell Law School was not far behind. Altogether, 10 law schools charge more than $55,000 a year. It was just five years ago that Columbia, Cornell and Yale first crossed the $50,000 tuition mark.

Average tuition among all American Bar Association-accredited law schools rose from $32,227 in 2011 to $35,312 in 2014 — a nearly 10 percent increase. (That figure is based on data released by the ABA.) Tuition rose even faster among the elite schools. The National Law Journal's annual Go-To Law Schools identified 10 schools that sent the highest percentage of 2014 graduates to the largest 250 firms in the country. These schools increased tuition on average from $49,907 in 2011 to $56,292 — almost 13 percent. A small number of schools have announced freezes or reductions, but they are outliers.