Home
Admissions
Schools
Students
Forums
| TLS Home | Law School Admissions | Law Schools | Law Students | TLS Forums |
| Rankings and Top 100 Profiles 3rd and 4th Tier Profiles Dean Interviews Discuss Your School TLS Stats TLS Programs International Profiles Law School Articles |
|
Home » Law Schools » 3rd and 4th Tier Profiles » Florida Coastal School of Law
Overview Florida Coastal School of Law, the only law school in Jacksonville, is one of 11 ABA-accredited schools in the state — an extremely high number for a state without an abundance of legal jobs. The law school has a student body of around 1,700 law students, hailing from about 46 states and 254 different colleges and universities. Admissions and tuition In 2011, Florida Coastal had a median incoming LSAT of 147 and a median GPA of 3.08, including both full-time and part-time students. The school received 5,283 full-time applications and 296 part-time applications. Of the 3,357 full-time acceptances and 131 part-time acceptances, 667 enrolled in the full-time program and 12 in the part-time program. Current Florida Coastal law students claim that the application process was easy, with scholarships awarded to people who were above a certain range. Students warned, however, that those scholarships could and would be revoked if a recipient fell beneath a certain class rank. These students claimed most recipients lost their scholarships after the first year. The school, however, reports that of 302 who matriculated last year with conditional scholarships, 105 lost them or had them reduced. Full-time tuition at Florida Coastal costs about $37,000 a year, while part-time tuition is almost $30,000. The school has not reported recently how many of its students receive grant money, but the average indebtedness of those in the class of 2011 who borrowed money (about 92% of the class) was around $134,000. Academics The typical 1L section size for students is 75. The school has 129 full- and part-time faculty members and a student-to-faculty ratio of about 22 to 1. Current students have mixed reviews about the school’s academic merits. The curriculum at Florida Coastal is rigorous, requiring first-year students to take the usual courses, including civil procedure, lawyering, torts, property, criminal law, and contracts. Current students say the grading curve is harsh and results in a whopping 22 percent of students dropping out after the first year, and 2 percent of those remaining after their second year. Students say professors are mostly friendly, helpful and have an open-door policy. Quality of Life Florida Coastal is located in Jacksonville, which offers the amenities of a warm Florida town, including bars, restaurants, sunny beaches and enviable weather. While the school itself has no on-campus housing, students don’t have much trouble finding adequate housing off-campus. Because the school is not associated with an undergraduate college, Florida Coastal students say they are more tightly knit than students at other law schools. The student bar association consistently hosts school-wide events, so it seems like there is always something to do at Florida Coastal. Employment prospects and bar passage According to Law School Transparency, about 37% of the class of 2011 found full-time, long-term legal jobs requiring bar admission nine months after graduation (165 out of 451). Eleven graduates were seeking further graduate degrees. Only five graduates were known to be in large firms (101-plus attorneys). Most employed graduates (231) found jobs in Florida, with another 21 in Georgia and two in other countries. For those who managed to find employment, the range of salaries is quite low, even in the private sector. For the private sector, the 25th and 75th percentiles were $40,000 and $49,000, with a median of $45,000. In the public sector, the percentiles were $40,000, $43,404, with a median of $41,100. For the July 2012 administration of the Florida bar exam, 75.2% of first-time takers from Coastal Law passed. Out of all the Florida law schools, that was higher than only St. Thomas and Florida A&M. The average for first-time takers from all Florida law schools was 82.0%. Contact Information Florida Coastal School of Law Quick Facts U.S. News & World Report ranking: unranked |
Mercer University Law School Stetson University School of Law Chapman University School of Law Cleveland State University, Marshall College of Law Creighton University School of Law UNH School of Law Quinnipiac University School of Law The University of St. Thomas School of Law University of Wyoming, College of Law William Mitchell College of Law Florida International University College of Law Florida Coastal School of Law CUNY School of Law Campbell University School of Law Barry University School of Law Oklahoma City University School of Law Regent University School of Law South Texas College of Law Touro College – Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law The University of Dayton School of Law University of the District of Columbia - David A. Clarke School of Law University of Detroit Mercy School of Law University of North Dakota School of Law Mississippi College School of Law John Marshall Law School (Chicago) Albany Law School Appalachian School of Law Ave Maria School of Law Southern University Law Center Southwestern Law School St. Mary's University School of Law St. Thomas University School of Law Texas Wesleyan University School of Law Thomas Jefferson School of Law Howard University Law School Texas Tech Law School New York Law School The University of Missouri – Kansas City Northern Kentucky University – Salmon P. Chase College of Law California Western School of Law Pace University School of Law University of Memphis – Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law University of Montana School of Law Drexel University North Carolina Central University University of South Dakota School of Law Thomas Cooley School of Law New England Law | Boston Drake University School of Law University of Akron School of Law Vermont Law School University of Mississippi School of Law Loyola University New Orleans College of Law University of Toledo (OH) Wayne State University Law School University of Idaho College of Law Samford University Gonzaga Law School The University of Maine School of Law Golden Gate Law School Pacific McGeorge School of Law UCI Law University of San Francisco School of Law St. Louis University School of Law Seattle University School of Law DePaul University College of Law Hofstra Law School |
