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Cost of attendance

In-depth analysis on law school costs including tuition, grants, debt, cost of living, and more.

Law School Conditional Scholarships

A conditional scholarship is any financial aid award that depends on the student maintaining a minimum grade point average or class standing, other than that ordinarily required to remain in good academic standing.

Fewer schools offer conditional scholarships compared to previous years, likely for a few reasons. First, the ABA forced schools beginning in 2013 to disclose the number of first-year students who received and who lost some or all of the scholarship's value after the first year. Second, prospective law students were increasingly advised that scholarship stipulations are negotiable. Third, conditional scholarships received bad publicity in the press, at academic conferences, and in legal scholarship. The chart below shows the change between 2011 and 2022. It also shows a decline in the percentage of students with conditional scholarships who lost scholarship value after their 1L year.

The number of students who lost scholarship value also declined substantially between 2011 and 2022, from 4,017 to 2,228. As a percentage of 1L enrollment, the decline was from 8.4% to 5.9%. Although a decline of only 2.5 points, the change amounts to a 29.8% decline in the total number. However, the number of students losing scholarship value did not decline as much as the percentage of law schools offering conditional scholarships.

Several notable patterns emerge when grouping law schools based on whether they offer conditional scholarships. On the front end, students who attend schools with conditional scholarships have significantly lower LSAT scores. The average median LSAT at schools with conditional scholarships is lower than the 25th percentile LSAT at schools without conditional scholarships. On the back end, graduates from schools with conditional scholarships find full-time, long-term legal jobs at a lower rate than their peers at schools that do not offer them. Potentially, both patterns reflect school reputation. Regardless, students at schools with conditional scholarships are more likely to fail the bar and less likely to obtain gainful employment.

Schools 2023 Legal Job Rate Fall 2023 LSAT
25th 50th
Conditional scholarships 74.2% 152 51.9 percentile 155 63.9 percentile
No conditional scholarships 82% 156 67.4 percentile 160 80.4 percentile

The table below provides school-specific data for the number of new students, the number (and percentage) of those students who received a conditional scholarship, and the percentage of conditional scholarship recipients that had their award either reduced or eliminated. This may understate the actual percentage. Students with conditional scholarships who (a) withdrew from law school voluntarily or (b) took a leave of absence prior to a determination of whether they would have met the renewal condition for their scholarships or (c) had their conditional scholarship reduced or eliminated after the first year are not deemed to have lost their scholarships and are treated as having retained their scholarships.

School State 2022-2023 2021-2022 2020-2021
1Ls Had CS Lost CS 1Ls Had CS Lost CS 1Ls Had CS Lost CS
University of Akron OH 137 - - 164 - - 144 - -
University of Alabama AL 149 - - 152 - - 127 - -
Albany Law School NY 199 - - 215 34.4% 18.9% 188 - -
American University DC 396 - - 409 - - 355 1.7% 0%
Appalachian School of Law VA 56 - - 62 - - 73 - -
University of Arizona AZ 124 - - 124 - - 117 - -
University of Arkansas - Fayetteville AR 122 - - 130 - - 130 43.1% 35.7%
University of Arkansas - Little Rock AR 143 51.7% 45.9% 162 51.2% 32.5% 157 56.7% 89.9%
Arizona State University AZ 288 - - 307 - - 234 - -
Ave Maria School of Law FL 99 85.9% 28.2% 120 87.5% 40% 115 90.4% 38.5%
University of Baltimore MD 229 62.9% 13.2% 234 66.7% 27.6% 228 63.6% 26.2%
Barry University FL 267 94.8% 56.1% 319 98.7% 48.3% 256 100% 42.4%
Baylor University TX 127 86.6% 9.1% 213 81.7% 9.8% 141 95.7% 0%
Boston College MA 212 - - 353 - - 255 - -
Belmont University TN 124 40.3% 18% 144 33.3% 25% 130 34.6% 31.1%
University of California - Berkeley CA 278 - - 384 - - 352 - -
Brooklyn Law School NY 390 93.6% 16.7% 422 92.4% 18.7% 409 96.3% 18.8%
Boston University MA 216 - - 318 - - 253 - -
SUNY Buffalo NY 141 - - 156 - - 161 - -
Brigham Young University UT 121 2.5% 0% 137 - - 117 2.6% 33.3%
California Western School of Law CA 245 79.2% 63.9% 256 62.9% 66.5% 249 4.8% 8.3%
Campbell University NC 210 - - 203 - - 174 - -
Capital University OH 159 90.6% 29.2% 191 96.3% 30.4% 166 99.4% 23%
Cardozo-Yeshiva University NY 315 - - 322 - - 339 - -
Case Western Reserve University OH 152 - - 158 - - 112 - -
Catholic University of America DC 131 42.7% 33.9% 161 33.5% 29.6% 118 28% 36.4%
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico PR 157 51.6% 37% 173 57.8% 35% 151 68.2% 19.4%
Chapman University CA 139 79.1% 44.5% 150 74.7% 40.2% 153 - -
Charleston School of Law SC 224 - - 270 - - 198 - -
University of Chicago IL 203 - - 190 - - 188 - -
University of Cincinnati OH 130 - - 125 - - 133 - -
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law OH 135 - - 137 - - 140 - -
University of Colorado CO 165 - - 172 - - 184 - -
Columbia University NY 402 - - 479 - - 394 - -
Thomas M. Cooley Law School MI 191 - - 188 - - 167 91% 0%
Cornell University NY 210 - - 200 - - 175 - -
Creighton University NE 122 - - 154 - - 133 - -
CUNY NY 217 - - 219 - - 223 - -
University of California - Davis CA 206 - - 265 - - 196 - -
University of Dayton OH 133 66.9% 19.1% 131 71% 25.8% 167 73.7% 26%
University of Denver CO 280 62.1% 0% 251 61.8% 0% 262 62.2% 0%
DePaul University IL 177 - - 205 - - 171 - -
University of Detroit Mercy MI 210 - - 223 - - 203 - -
Pennsylvania State University - Dickinson Law PA 103 - - 96 - - 85 - -
Drake University IA 110 - - 120 16.7% 55% 100 26% 46.2%
Drexel University PA 137 27% 32.4% 147 20.4% 30% 170 37.1% 25.4%
Duke University NC 227 - - 282 - - 239 - -
Duquesne University PA 167 - - 160 - - 164 - -
Elon Law School NC 167 21% 0% 171 19.3% 0% 157 22.3% 0%
Emory University GA 236 - - 304 - - 252 - -
Florida A&M University FL 132 - - 130 0.8% 0% 112 1.8% 50%
Faulkner University AL 103 - - 108 - - 67 - -
Florida International University FL 142 73.2% 17.3% 168 67.9% 16.7% 159 58.5% 29%
University of Florida FL 196 - - 241 - - 208 - -
Fordham University NY 423 - - 453 - - 418 - -
Florida State University FL 113 - - 157 - - 166 - -
University of Georgia GA 169 - - 194 - - 174 - -
George Mason University VA 159 - - 262 - - 149 6% 66.7%
Golden Gate University CA 43 20.9% 55.6% 145 86.9% 54.8% 141 73% 67%
Gonzaga University WA 205 - - 193 - - 152 100% 23%
Georgia State University GA 201 34.8% 5.7% 222 41.4% 6.5% 214 - -
Georgetown University DC 593 - - 558 - - 606 - -
George Washington University DC 515 - - 506 - - 547 - -
Harvard University MA 564 - - 562 - - 501 - -
University of California College of Law, San Francisco CA 389 68.6% 15% 398 71.6% 14.4% 380 62.1% 16.1%
University of Hawaii HI 89 - - 101 - - 105 - -
Hofstra University NY 263 83.3% 49.8% 284 79.9% 48.9% 276 81.9% 51.8%
University of Houston TX 256 - - 244 - - 233 - -
Howard University DC 160 54.4% 5.7% 165 73.9% 3.3% 154 51.9% 0%
University of Idaho ID 148 - - 125 - - 133 73.7% 2%
University of Illinois IL 163 - - 207 - - 157 - -
Indiana University - Bloomington IN 154 - - 191 - - 178 - -
Indiana University - Indianapolis IN 227 67.8% 0.6% 242 57.4% 20.9% 242 79.3% 20.3%
Inter American University PR 187 3.2% 50% 194 2.6% 0% 173 0.6% 0%
University of Iowa IA 141 - - 160 - - 167 - -
University of California - Irvine CA 172 - - 169 - - 147 - -
John Marshall Law School - Atlanta GA 131 100% 38.9% 130 99.2% 28.7% 116 - -
University of Illinois Chicago School of Law IL 343 42.9% 51% 354 40.1% 52.8% 337 44.5% 41.3%
University of Kansas KS 137 73.7% 23.8% 123 81.3% 23% 100 69% 21.7%
Chicago-Kent College of Law IL 230 - - 255 - - 237 - -
University of Kentucky KY 120 - - 141 - - 134 - -
Lewis and Clark College OR 149 - - 197 - - 189 - -
Liberty University VA 125 100% 0% 133 100% 0% 110 100% 0%
Lincoln Memorial University TN 126 - - 125 - - 118 - -
University of Louisville KY 120 - - 129 - - 108 - -
Loyola University Chicago IL 272 - - 381 - - 251 - -
Loyola Marymount University CA 307 72.3% 17.6% 350 68.6% 14.6% 324 67.3% 15.6%
Loyola University New Orleans LA 209 77.5% 4.9% 197 71.6% 8.5% 199 65.3% 0%
Louisiana State University LA 208 85.6% 33.1% 232 98.7% 24.9% 206 99% 28.9%
University of Maine ME 84 - - 91 - - 87 - -
Marquette University WI 183 - - 205 - - 191 - -
University of Maryland MD 205 - - 276 - - 205 - -
University of Memphis TN 101 43.6% 31.8% 115 60% 26.1% 116 83.6% 25.8%
Mercer University GA 150 - - 119 - - 141 - -
University of Miami FL 360 - - 392 - - 375 69.6% 5%
University of Michigan MI 334 - - 313 - - 309 - -
University of Minnesota MN 222 - - 231 - - 211 - -
University of Mississippi MS 176 - - 181 - - 167 - -
Mississippi College MS 126 53.2% 34.3% 140 57.1% 36.3% 150 58.7% 40.9%
University of Missouri - Columbia MO 128 21.9% 14.3% 138 15.9% 18.2% 118 11% 30.8%
University of Missouri - Kansas City MO 141 2.1% 0% 134 1.5% 0% 140 1.4% 0%
Mitchell Hamline School of Law MN 350 - - 394 - - 404 - -
University of Montana MT 91 73.6% 0% 81 82.7% 0% 89 69.7% 4.8%
Michigan State University MI 212 - - 234 - - 191 - -
North Carolina Central University NC 158 - - 173 - - 166 - -
University of Nebraska NE 147 - - 161 - - 129 - -
New England School of Law MA 360 78.6% 18.4% 392 48.2% 30.2% 382 50.8% 28.9%
University of New Mexico NM 99 31.3% 9.7% 110 30% 15.2% 103 48.5% 0%
New York Law School NY 358 91.3% 41.6% 413 74.8% 54.4% 332 95.2% 32.3%
University of New Hampshire NH 194 - - 219 - - 182 - -
Northern Illinois University IL 117 - - 121 - - 123 - -
Northern Kentucky University KY 93 - - 143 59.4% 16.5% 125 69.6% 16.1%
University of North Dakota ND 86 5.8% 0% 87 3.4% 0% 82 2.4% 0%
Northeastern University MA 234 - - 239 - - 209 - -
Northwestern University IL 238 - - 248 - - 249 - -
University of Notre Dame IN 166 - - 182 - - 155 - -
Nova Southeastern University FL 221 69.2% 1.3% 209 38.8% 12.3% 194 54.1% 30.5%
New York University NY 376 - - 484 - - 425 - -
Oklahoma City University OK 148 2% 0% 158 3.2% 20% 169 3% 0%
University of Oklahoma OK 172 6.4% 0% 211 4.3% 0% 173 5.2% 0%
Ohio Northern University OH 62 - - 67 - - 59 - -
University of Oregon OR 160 - - 174 80.5% 11.4% 158 78.5% 7.3%
Ohio State University OH 158 - - 179 - - 181 - -
Pace University NY 293 91.1% 40.1% 312 91.7% 43.4% 272 98.5% 38.8%
University of the Pacific - McGeorge CA 175 54.3% 30.5% 170 61.2% 30.8% 176 63.6% 35.7%
University of Pennsylvania PA 246 - - 309 - - 249 - -
Pepperdine University CA 192 66.1% 22% 217 61.8% 23.1% 185 65.9% 19.7%
University of Pittsburgh PA 121 72.7% 2.3% 152 57.9% 6.8% 123 60.2% 9.5%
Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Law PA 146 - - 139 - - 122 - -
University of Puerto Rico PR 137 - - 124 - - 149 - -
Quinnipiac University CT 123 62.6% 5.2% 127 51.2% 38.5% 136 73.5% 48%
Regent University VA 114 - - 124 - - 102 - -
University of Richmond VA 121 - - 145 - - 153 - -
Roger Williams University RI 181 74% 20.1% 185 84.3% 26.3% 183 51.9% 27.4%
Rutgers University NJ 396 79% 0% 474 91.1% 14.8% 434 73.3% 13.5%
Samford University AL 146 98.6% 11.1% 159 98.7% 21% 150 99.3% 0%
University of San Diego CA 254 100% 15.2% 257 93% 20.9% 250 87.2% 21.6%
University of San Francisco CA 135 51.1% 40.6% 148 57.4% 40% 106 39.6% 35.7%
Santa Clara University CA 203 35% 32.4% 226 44.2% 26% 253 60.9% 35.7%
Seattle University WA 221 63.3% 21.4% 228 80.3% 18% 217 80.2% 25.9%
Seton Hall University NJ 215 49.8% 29.9% 354 41% 23.4% 253 71.5% 14.4%
Southern Illinois University IL 89 - - 89 - - 91 - -
St. Louis University MO 184 - - 211 - - 194 - -
Southern Methodist University TX 226 2.7% 0% 226 2.2% 0% 207 3.9% 0%
University of South Carolina SC 206 - - 213 - - 215 - -
University of South Dakota SD 87 1.1% 0% 79 1.3% 0% 65 1.5% 0%
Southern University Law Center LA 292 45.2% 58.3% 340 33.2% 47.8% 336 46.1% 18.1%
South Texas College of Law Houston TX 366 68.9% 51.2% 342 59.6% 40.2% 359 60.2% 0%
Southwestern Law School CA 343 56.6% 51.5% 373 59.5% 46.4% 332 61.4% 52.5%
Stanford University CA 178 - - 184 - - 173 - -
Stetson University FL 306 3.9% 0% 333 4.8% 0% 322 3.4% 0%
St. John's University NY 235 83.8% 6.1% 263 80.6% 8% 243 81.5% 13.6%
St. Mary's University TX 277 - - 259 - - 250 - -
University of St. Thomas - Minneapolis MN 157 - - 162 - - 158 - -
St. Thomas University - Florida FL 227 45.8% 50% 302 49.7% 52% 240 43.3% 45.2%
Suffolk University MA 445 - - 448 - - 409 - -
Syracuse University NY 238 - - 236 - - 229 - -
Temple University PA 201 80.6% 0% 219 84.9% 5.4% 217 76.5% 2.4%
University of Tennessee TN 136 - - 124 - - 117 - -
University of Texas TX 292 - - 417 - - 295 - -
Texas A&M TX 125 - - 179 - - 161 - -
Texas Southern University TX 195 - - 213 - - 168 - -
Texas Tech University TX 157 - - 157 26.8% 31% 154 33.1% 54.9%
University of Toledo OH 94 - - 159 - - 124 - -
Touro College NY 202 91.1% 53.3% 241 81.3% 49% 208 87.5% 48.9%
Tulane University LA 219 - - 223 - - 219 83.6% 20.8%
University of Tulsa OK 129 - - 139 - - 126 - -
University of California - Los Angeles CA 308 - - 366 - - 311 - -
University of Connecticut CT 153 - - 153 - - 168 - -
University of The District of Columbia DC 80 37.5% 30% 74 94.6% 45.7% 65 66.2% 30.2%
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth MA 113 - - 126 - - 143 - -
University of North Carolina NC 188 - - 209 - - 182 - -
University of Nevada - Las Vegas NV 124 - - 155 - - 121 - -
University of North Texas Dallas College of Law TX 139 - - 144 - - 125 - -
University of Southern California CA 223 - - 212 - - 187 - -
University of Utah UT 96 - - 95 1.1% 0% 89 - -
University of Virginia VA 315 - - 299 - - 299 - -
Vanderbilt University TN 155 - - 154 - - 180 - -
Vermont Law School VT 170 - - 174 - - 134 - -
Villanova University PA 181 - - 219 - - 178 - -
Wake Forest University NC 158 - - 167 - - 88 - -
Washburn University KS 92 42.4% 33.3% 101 22.8% 47.8% 110 31.8% 48.6%
University of Washington WA 181 - - 172 - - 173 - -
Washington University in St Louis MO 260 - - 266 - - 238 - -
Wayne State University MI 126 - - 123 - - 122 - -
Western New England University School of Law MA 95 - - 124 - - 131 - -
Western State College of Law at Westcliff University CA 131 100% 71.9% 110 96.4% 69.8% 86 - -
Widener University - Delaware DE 234 - - 261 - - 246 - -
Widener University - Pennsylvania PA 142 - - 125 - - 117 - -
Willamette University OR 113 - - 127 - - 115 100% 37.8%
University of Wisconsin WI 242 - - 274 - - 241 - -
Washington and Lee University VA 123 - - 151 - - 119 - -
William and Mary VA 212 - - 176 - - 230 - -
West Virginia University WV 103 11.7% 0% 117 74.4% 8% 111 69.4% 5.2%
University of Wyoming WY 68 85.3% 15.5% 91 63.7% 0% 76 100% 0%
Yale University CT 197 - - 201 - - 208 - -

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