Washington University School of Law
The Washington University School of Law[1][2][3][4][5] (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri.[6] Founded in 1867, the law school was originally located in downtown St. Louis, and relocated in 1904 to the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.
For other uses, see Washington School of Law.Washington University School of Law
Per Veritatem Vis
(Through the Truth you will)
1867
$341 million
718
96 (full-time), 73 (part-time)
16th (tie) (2024)
91.93% (2023 first-time takers)
Admissions[edit]
For the class entering in fall 2022, there were 260 matriculants. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2022 entering class were 164 and 173, respectively, with a median of 172. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.43 and 4.00, respectively, with a median of 3.94. Eight students were not included in the LSAT calculations and nine were not included in the GPA calculations. The acceptance rate for JD candidates in 2022 was 18.02% and 25.18% of accepted applicants enrolled. Ten enrollees were not included in the acceptance rate.[9]
Employment[edit]
According to WashULaw's official 2018 ABA-required disclosures, 87.1% of 2018 graduates had secured full-time, long-term, JD-required employment within nine months of graduation. A total of 52.1% had found employment in firms of more than 100 lawyers or had secured federal judicial clerkships.[10] WashU Law's Law School Transparency under-employment score was 5.7%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2018 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[10]
For new graduates, the self-reported median starting salary for the class of 2018 was $162,500 in the private sector, and $57,000 in the public sector.[11] WashU Law placed 55 graduates from the class of 2013 at NLJ 350 firms, ranking it 25th on the National Law Journal "Go-To Schools" for large law firm employment.[12]
The Washington University School of Law sponsors four student-run scholarly legal journals.
The 2024 edition of U.S. News & World Report Best Grad Schools ranked WashULaw:
Law School Specialty Rankings:
The 2022 edition of The Princeton Review Best Law Schools ranked WashULaw:
Leiter's Law School Rankings placed the law school:
The Above the Law 2022 law school rankings ranked WashULaw:
Degree programs[edit]
Juris doctor program[edit]
JD students are required to take 86 semester hours of credit in order to graduate. In the first year of law school all students are required to take one semester each of Contracts, Property, Torts, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, and Criminal Law. Additionally, in fall of their first year all students are required to take Legal Practice I and Legal Research Methodologies I, and in spring of their first year students are required to take Legal Practice II and Legal Research Methodologies II. The second and third year offer more flexibility in planning the student's curriculum as there are only two mandatory classes (a class from the ethics curriculum and one seminar).
Joint degree programs[edit]
The School of Law offers five joint degree programs (usually completed in four years):