Home » Law Schools » 3rd and 4th Tier Profiles »

St. Mary's University School of Law

Overview

St. Mary’s School of Law, the oldest Catholic law school in the Southwest, was established in 1927 as the San Antonio School of Law in Texas by the local bar association and transferred to St. Mary’s University in 1934. Its distinguished alumni include U.S. Senator and former Texas State Supreme Court Justice John Cornyn and Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett.

Admissions and Tuition

Matriculating full-time students in 2009 had a median GPA of 3.21 and a median LSAT of 154 for the full-time program. For the part-time program, numbers were slightly lower, at 3.00 and 153. St. Mary’s accepted about 42 percent of its 1,900 applicants, and from these, 231 enrolled as full-time students and 61 as part-time students. Students at St. Mary’s describe the application process as straightforward, with an emphasis on the candidate’s LSAT score and GPA.

In 2009, full-time tuition and fees at St. Mary’s cost $27,904. Part-time tuition cost $18,864. The law school offered about 31 percent of its full-time students some form of grant aid in that year. Part-time students, however, did not receive aid. The median amount of grant aid provided per full-time recipient was $1,824. Because of this low amount of aid and the relatively high cost of living in San Antonio, the Class of 2009 graduated with an average of $91,518 in law school-related debt per student. The law school does not offer a loan repayment assistance program.

Academics

St. Mary’s has a typical first-year lecture size of 80 students. The school has 71 faculty members and a high student-to-faculty ratio of 20.9 to 1. All first-year students at St. Mary’s take the same schedule of courses, which includes civil procedure, contracts, legal research and writing, property, and torts. Current students say the curve is harsh and the workload difficult, which may explain why 8 percent of students dropped out after the first year and 5 after the second. However, students also say the professors are accessible, friendly and intelligent.

Quality of Life

The law school is located in the heart of the historical San Antonio Sunbelt. The city is a vibrant tourist destination full of restaurants, shops, and bars. Students looking for a thrill can easily head to Six Flags Fiesta Texas (in San Antonio) and ride the new Superman: Krypton Coaster. Those who want to remember a piece of history can take a day trip to the Alamo.

Off-campus housing is cheap and prevalent. While San Antonio’s cost of living is higher than other Texas cities, it is inexpensive when compared to New York, Boston and Chicago. Students seem happy with San Antonio and say the student bar association does a great job of putting together activities for the school’s legal community.

Employment Prospects and Bar Passage

In 2008, 91.3 percent of St. Mary’s graduates were known to be employed within nine months of graduation. Of those, 89 percent worked in Texas, underscoring the regional value of the law school’s degree. Like other Tier 4 schools, graduates received a slightly low median salary of $55,000 in the private sector. In the public sector, the median salary is $54,250. Students at St. Mary’s stress that while the school’s reputation is rising in Texas, particularly in San Antonio, finding a job outside of the state can be arduous.

In 2009, graduates of St. Mary’s passed the state bar at a rate of 84.6 percent, which placed the law school in 8th place out of nine ABA-accredited Texas law schools. This poor showing indicates that other law schools in the state do a better job of preparing their students for the bar exam.

Conclusion

Prospective students can do well by choosing St. Mary’s for their legal education. The average debt, at about $91,500, is high, and the likelihood of obtaining a nice private-sector salary is not, so prospective students should think long and hard about their decision. While the law school cannot offer much aid while students are in school, it can offer a degree with high regional value that will get students a job in Texas. The relatively low bar passage rate is another concern, but overall, St. Mary’s can be good choice for those who want to live in San Antonio and work in the state.

Contact Information

St. Mary’s University School of Law
Office of JD Admissions
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, TX 728228
(210) 436-3523
lawadmissions@stmarytx.edu
http://www.law.stmarytx.edu

Quick Facts

U.S. News & World Report ranking: Tier 4
LSAT Median: 154 (FT), 153 (PT)
GPA Median: 3.21 (FT), 3.00 (PT)
Application Deadline: March 1
Application fee: $55
Entering class size: 231 (FT), 61 (PT)
2009-2010 Tuition: $27,904 (FT), $18,864 (PT)
Bar passage rate in Texas: 84.6%
Percent of graduates employed 9 months after graduation: 91.3%
Median private sector salary: $55,000