Villanova Law School

Published October 2006, last updated April 2013.

Villanova School of Law, founded in 1953, is a Catholic law school near Philadelphia. Although the school is accredited, the ABA censured it in 2011 for falsifying several years' worth of the admissions data it reported to U.S. News. The magazine currently ranks Villanova 98th, down from 61st in 2009.

Employment and bar passage

Villanova's employment statistics are about in the middle of the pack among schools that place significantly in Pennsylvania (below Penn State and Temple but comparable to Pitt). Law School Transparency gives VLS a 51.5% employment score, which means that in 2012, only about half of VLS graduates obtained full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar passage (excluding solos) as of nine months after graduation. This means that a Villanova J.D. gives you about a coin flip's chance of getting a job as a lawyer.

Out of all the 2012 graduates, around 8.6% found full-time jobs in the public sector, which includes government and public interest. About 13.3% found their way into large law firms (more than 100 lawyers) or federal judicial clerkships.

Villanova has refused to release its NALP data, including all information about graduates' starting salaries. If you're a prospective student thinking about applying to VLS, we it may be a good idea to call the admissions office at (610) 519-7010 and request that Villanova make this information public.

Of the class of 2012, 94 graduates ended up in Pennsylvania, 19 in New Jersey, and 16 in New York. VLS grads sitting for the Pennsylvania bar exam for the first time in July 2012 passed at a rate of about 89%, better than the statewide average of 83%.

Tuition and admissions

Because practically anyone can get a huge government-guaranteed loan to go to law school, tuition, especially at private schools such as Villanova, has shot through the roof. Annual tuition there is approaching an astounding $40,000 a year. Estimated costs for the first year total about $63,000. (Keep in mind that this figure includes only nine months of living expenses.) Law School Transparency estimates the current total debt-financed cost of a Villanova law degree to be $225,810. On a ten-year loan repayment plan, that's $2,687 a month.

For the VLS class entering in 2012, the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile LSAT was 155, 158, and 161. The 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile GPA was 3.29, 3.51, and 3.69. Two hundred and twenty students enrolled in the class of 2015. The law school assures prospective students that these numbers are correct.

Curriculum

Villanova’s first year courses follow the standard for law schools, requiring civil procedure, contracts, criminal law, property, torts, legal writing, and legal research. Second and third year students are given more freedom in selection of their classes with only a few requisites. A moot court program is required during the later years of study. Villanova also offers the Sentencing Workshop, a class in which students study real cases with the judges and lawyers who tried them, and discuss how to sentence criminals.

Five clinical programs are offered, focusing on immigration, civil justice, farm workers’ legal aid, federal tax, and juvenile justice. The clinical programs allow students to handle actual cases pro bono with faculty supervision.

In 2012, 6% of the 1L class did not return for the second year.

Student life

Villanova University is located in the Mainline, a suburb of Philadelphia. Fifteen minutes from the city center, Villanova has a beautiful, calm campus only minutes from the bustling life of a major city. With its own train stop, city access is easy, quickly delivering students to museums, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping; all that Philadelphia has to offer.

In addition to the lure of Philadelphia, Villanova attempts to provide its own student life on campus. A variety of journals and organizations are present at Villanova Law, in addition to a weekly gazette and moot court teams. The school hosts the Barristers Ball in addition to other social events for entertaining evenings. The Public Interest Auction is held yearly, with proceeds funding public interest summer fellowships. Academic lectures are also presented on a wide variety of topics. Villanova offers the Lawyering Together program, in which current students work with alumni on pro bono representation.

Conclusion

In this historically depressed legal market, it would be foolish to evaluate an investment of three years and tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars based on anything other than job prospects and overall costs. A third-tier law school is no longer the easy ticket to a well-paying job that it once was. If you are considering Villanova, keep in mind its employment score of around 50% and total debt-financed cost of more than $225,000.

Contact information

Villanova University School of Law
299 North Spring Mill Road
Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085
(610) 519-7010
admissions@law.villanova.edu

Quick reference

U.S. News ranking (2013–2014): 98
Application fee: $75
Application feadline: April 1
LSAT 25th–75th percentile (2012): 155–161
LSAT median (2012): 158
GPA 25th–75th percentile (2012): 3.29–3.69
GPA median (2012): 3.51
Annual tuition (2012–2013): $38,910
Percentage of 2011 graduates who obtained long-term, full-time legal jobs nine months after graduation: 51.2%
Estimated debt-financed cost of attendance: $225,810