Although many organizations, like USNEWS and PublicLegal, have their ranking systems and publish law school rankings, there is no official law school rankings. ABA states that
No ranking or rating system of law schools is attempted or advocated by the ABA. Rather, the ABA provides only a statement of the accreditation status of a school.Here, we provide top ranked schools in important statistics, instead of overall rankings.
Highest LSAT Scores
LSAT (Law School Admission Test) is an important factor in selection process in most law schools. Law schools generally do not have a minimum score to apply for, but an LSAT score of 150 is considered acceptable. The average LSAT score over enrolled students last year is 158.
15 schools have their average LSAT score on or higher than 170 and additional 64 schools have LSAT score of 160 or higher. Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, and Columbia Law School have the highest LSAT score among ABA-accredited law schools. Below table list top 10 law schools having highest LSAT scores.
| First-Year Enrolled | LSAT Score Submitted | 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile | 75th Percentile | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale Law School | 201 | 186 | 171 | 174 | 177 |
| Harvard Law School | 562 | 519 | 170 | 174 | 176 |
| Columbia Law School | 479 | 458 | 172 | 174 | 176 |
| University of Chicago Law School | 190 | 182 | 169 | 172 | 175 |
| New York University School of Law | 484 | 464 | 170 | 172 | 174 |
| Stanford Law School | 189 | 176 | 170 | 172 | 175 |
| Georgetown University Law Center | 558 | 519 | 167 | 171 | 173 |
| Northwestern University School of Law | 248 | 222 | 167 | 171 | 172 |
| University of Michigan Law School | 313 | 310 | 166 | 171 | 172 |
| Cornell Law School | 200 | 182 | 169 | 171 | 173 |
Highest Grants/Scholarships Amount
The tuition & fees at law schools is generally more expensive than typical college programs, even in public schools. Therefore, financial help such as grants and scholarships is important for preparing to college admission. The 2022 average tuition & fees of ABA-accredited law schools is $48,679. 79.82% of enrolled students received grants and/or scholarships, and the average amount is $21,012 which is 43.16% of tuition & fees.
Penn State Dickinson Law has the highest ratio of financial aid amount to the tuition & fees. 99.18% of students received the aid and the average amount is $51,840, 94.92% of tuition & fees ($54,614) at the school. Penn State Law and St. John's University School of Law also have the highest amount of grants and scholarships of $49,896 and $63,290 respectively.
The following table lists the top 10 schools with the highest ratio of financial aid amount to their tuition & fees. The numbers in the table are based on full-time students only.
| Tuition & Fees | % Grants/Scholarship Received | Average Amount Grants/Scholarship Received | Covered % of Tuition & Fees | % less than half tuition | % more than half but less than full tuition | % Full or more than tuition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State Dickinson Law | $54,614 | 99.18% | $51,840 | 94.92% | 9.05% | 27.57% | 62.55% |
| Penn State Law | $53,580 | 99.74% | $49,896 | 93.12% | 5.82% | 39.42% | 54.50% |
| St. John's University School of Law | $68,992 | 71.99% | $63,290 | 91.74% | 15.83% | 17.09% | 39.08% |
| University of Dayton School of Law | $37,364 | 69.21% | $32,000 | 85.64% | 16.08% | 51.77% | 1.36% |
| James E. Rogers College of Law | $30,354 | 91.62% | $23,525 | 77.50% | 7.87% | 30.71% | 53.05% |
| Chapman University School of Law | $59,568 | 64.49% | $45,300 | 76.05% | 19.55% | 22.92% | 22.02% |
| Ave Maria School of Law | $48,156 | 72.08% | $36,000 | 74.76% | 21.75% | 29.22% | 21.10% |
| New England School of Law | $54,624 | 87.37% | $40,000 | 73.23% | 26.54% | 20.09% | 40.75% |
| Wake Forest University School of Law | $52,028 | 95.27% | $36,000 | 69.19% | 26.24% | 61.94% | 7.10% |
| Belmont University College of Law | $51,700 | 55.59% | $35,160 | 68.01% | 5.73% | 26.07% | 23.78% |
Lowest Acceptance Rate
The acceptance rate, percentage of applicants who get offered, is one criterion for selecting schools to apply. The top ranked schools tend to have lower acceptance rate in general. The law school acceptance rate is lower than typical college admission because of limited sits for many applications
The 2022 average acceptance rate of ABA-accredited law schools is 40.11%. Total 475,703 students applied and 135,643 got offered to admit. Of the accepted applicants, 40,338 finally enrolled to one of law schools, and the enrollment rate (yield) is 32.70%.
At 5 law schools, the acceptance rate is less than 10% and 23 schools' rates sit between 10% and 20%.
Yale Law School has the lowest acceptance of 4.12% - 5,194 applied and 214 accepted. Stanford Law School and Harvard Law School follow it with 6.28% and 6.90% respectively.
The schools in the next table have the lowest acceptance rates in 2022 law school admission.
| Applied | Admitted | Enrolled | Acceptance Rate | Enrollment Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale Law School | 5,194 | 214 | 150 | 4.12% | 70.09% |
| Stanford Law School | 5,685 | 357 | 161 | 6.28% | 45.10% |
| Harvard Law School | 9,933 | 685 | 370 | 6.90% | 54.01% |
| University of Pennsylvania Law School | 8,383 | 787 | 283 | 9.39% | 35.96% |
| University of Virginia School of Law | 7,047 | 681 | 286 | 9.66% | 42.00% |
| University of Michigan Law School | 7,693 | 819 | 272 | 10.65% | 33.21% |
| Columbia Law School | 9,612 | 1,098 | 433 | 11.42% | 39.44% |
| University of Chicago Law School | 6,514 | 776 | 175 | 11.91% | 22.55% |
| Georgetown University Law Center | 14,049 | 1,809 | 517 | 12.88% | 28.58% |
| Gould School of Law | 6,839 | 886 | 203 | 12.96% | 22.91% |
Most Law School Students Enrolled
The size of law schools is not that big, and the average number of enrolled students is 707 over 196 ABA-accredited law schools. The number of first-year students newly enrolled this year is 40,342 - 15,438 in public and 24,904 in private law schools.
Georgetown University Law Center has the most law school students of 2,712 with 558 first-year students. New York University School of Law and James E. Rogers College of Law also have a large number of students of 2,430 and 2,384 respectively.
The following table shows the top 10 law schools with most students. The number for first-year students includes pre-admitted students as well as the enrolled students in regular admission.
| Total | In JD Program | Not in JD Program | First-year Students | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown University Law Center | 2,712 | 2,017 | 695 | 558 |
| New York University School of Law | 2,430 | 1,413 | 1,017 | 484 |
| James E. Rogers College of Law | 2,384 | 395 | 1,989 | 124 |
| Harvard Law School | 1,907 | 1,747 | 160 | 562 |
| The George Washington University Law School | 1,898 | 1,678 | 220 | 505 |
| Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law | 1,759 | 850 | 909 | 307 |
| Fordham University School of Law | 1,754 | 1,332 | 422 | 454 |
| Rutgers Law School - Camden campus | 1,541 | 1,345 | 0 | 462 |
| Columbia Law School | 1,520 | 1,293 | 227 | 479 |
| Washington University School of Law | 1,511 | 744 | 767 | 266 |
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