Last updated: September 7, 2026

University of North Carolina School of Law

University of North Carolina School of Law (Carolina Law) is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, located in Van Hecke-Wettach Hall on the university's historic main campus in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Founded in 1845, Carolina Law is the oldest law school and the oldest professional school in the state of North Carolina, and one of the oldest continuously operating law schools in the United States. The school has been ABA-approved since 1928 and is a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools.

The school's defining attributes are its small-class, public-school academic culture, its top-20 U.S. News rank, and the consistency of its employment outcomes — particularly in North Carolina and the broader Southeast. Carolina Law operates from a single law-school complex on the UNC campus and enrolls a J.D. class of approximately 180 students each year.

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UNC School of Law at a Glance

Category	Latest information
Founded	1845
Type	Public (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
ABA approval or accreditation	Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (continuously since 1928)
Location	Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Latest U.S. News rank	#18 (tie, 2026), out of 194
Latest completed applications	Approximately 3,460 (Fall 2025 entering class)
Latest acceptance rate	11.19% (387 offers of admission; Fall 2025 ABA Standard 509)
Latest LSAT median	168 (Class of 2028; verified by 2025 509)
Latest GPA median	3.89 (Class of 2028)
Latest entering class	181 (1L enrollment, Class of 2028)
Current tuition	$62,496 (NC resident) / $87,234 (non-resident), 2026–27
Current estimated cost of attendance	Published via UNC Office of Scholarships and Student Aid
Latest first-time bar passage	94.50% (Class of 2025, North Carolina July 2025 examination)
Latest bar-required employment	90.2% full-time employment 10 months after graduation (Class of 2025, LawHub)
Current dean	Andy Hessick (interim dean, effective September 2, 2025)

Introduction

UNC School of Law opened its doors in 1845 as part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the oldest public university in the nation. Law was the first professional school added at the university. The school is housed in Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, a self-contained law-school complex on the western edge of the historic UNC campus, surrounded by Carolina's signature lawn-and-garden quadrangle. Carolina Law's over-11,000 alumni practice in every U.S. legal market and in many foreign legal systems.

Two statistics frame Carolina Law's present-day profile. First, the school reported that 94.50% of first-time North Carolina Bar examinees from Carolina Law passed the July 2025 North Carolina Bar Examination — outpacing the state average of 87.00% by 7.5 percentage points. Second, the school reported a 99.5% full-time legal employment rate for the Class of 2024 within ten months of graduation, anchoring its second consecutive #18 ranking in the 2026 U.S. News survey.

Rankings and Reputation

Overall ranking

Ranked #18 (tie) in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report law-school rankings, out of 194 ranked schools, for the second consecutive year. The school ranks among the top 10% of all ABA-accredited law schools in the nation. Carolina Law ranks among the top public law schools in the United States and the top-ranked law school in North Carolina by U.S. News.

Specialty rankings

#7 nationally in bar passage rates (U.S. News, 2026)
#7 in employment success (U.S. News, 2026)
#10 in the U.S. News ranking modelized indicators
Top-25 in Business/Corporate Law**
Top-25 in Constitutional Law**
Top-25 in Criminal Law**
Top-25 in Dispute Resolution**
Top-25 in Environmental Law**
Top-25 in Health Law**
Top-25 in International Law**
Top-25 in Intellectual Property Law**
Top-25 in Trial Advocacy**

Admissions: What It Takes to Get In

Entering class (Fall 2025)

For the Class of 2028 (Fall 2025 entering cohort), the 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report records:

Approximately 3,460 completed applications (based on 387 offers and 11.19% acceptance rate)
387 offers of admission
11.19% acceptance rate
Approximately 180 students enrolled from the applicant pool
181 students in the first-year class total (LawHub, public employment-summary data)

The school reads from a national applicant pool, with a meaningful in-state North Carolina preference. The Class of 2028 represented a record-breaking entering cohort in UNC law-school history per the school's official announcement.

LSAT and GPA

Median LSAT among enrolled students: 168 (verified by both the 2025 ABA Standard 509 and UNC's official Class of 2028 announcement). Median undergraduate GPA: 3.89 (also confirmed by UNC's official Class of 2028 announcement). Both figures represent year-over-year increases from the Class of 2027 (LSAT 167, GPA 3.85).

Interpreting the numbers

Carolina Law's LSAT and GPA medians place the school squarely in the lower T14–upper T20 band. The school's 11.19% acceptance rate, while among the lowest in the country, is consistent with the school's rank, scale, and the high yield produced by North Carolina's status as a destination state for southern applicants. The record-breaking Class of 2028 numbers reflect the school's increased competitiveness in the applicant market.

Application timing

J.D. applications open early September for Fall 2027 entry. Priority deadline: March 1, 2027. Final deadline: May 1, 2027 (rolling decisions from January through April). Application fee: $70 (fee waivers broadly available for applicants with demonstrated financial need). UNC encourages applicants from underrepresented backgrounds to apply through Duke Law's Partnership Program, NCCU Law's dual-degree pathway, and other reach-out initiatives administered jointly by the three North Carolina law schools.

Cost, Scholarships, and Debt

Tuition

2026–27 tuition rates (per the official UNC Law tuition-and-fees page):

NC Resident: $62,496 per year
Non-Resident: $87,234 per year
Additional Cost of Attendance Adjustment for Professional Licensure Materials: approximately $1,000–$2,500

The NC-Resident rate includes a meaningful in-state benefit relative to the Out-of-State rate (the discount is approximately $24,738 per year). Resident status is determined by North Carolina residency law, including applicants who are dependents of NC residents, applicants who have lived in NC for the qualifying period, and applicants who meet certain military or public-service residency exceptions.

Beginning with students entering in 2026, nonresident tuition is set at $3,500 per semester above the published resident rate, applied to the graduate professional rate.

Cost of attendance

The published 2026–27 standard student expense budget totals approximately:

NC Resident: approximately $90,000–$95,000
Non-Resident: approximately $114,000–$120,000

The breakdown is approximately:

Tuition and fees: $62,496 (resident) / $87,234 (non-resident)
Room and board: $14,000–$16,000 (on-campus); $13,000–$15,000 (off-campus)
Books and supplies: $1,800–$2,200
Personal/transportation: $5,500–$7,000
Loan fees: $1,000–$2,200 (estimated)

UNC's Office of Scholarships and Student Aid publishes the official 26–27 in-state budget at approximately $28,840–$29,162 (which reflects different categorical accounting for room-and-board only, tuition $7,020 per semester, housing $9,168–$9,490, etc.).

Financial aid

Carolina Law's grant figures are not separately confirmed in a single published statistic; based on prior cycles and the official UNC law-school financial-aid reports:

Approximately 70–80% of students receive grant aid
Median grant amount: approximately $20,000–$25,000
Conditional scholarships: published at zero reductions/eliminations in recent years
In-state residents with significant financial need may qualify for additional subsidies through the UNC Need-Based Grant Program

The flagship awards include the Kellogg Scholarships, Andrews Family Scholarships, and various merit and need-based grants administered jointly by UNC Law and the university's central aid office. The school also distributes need-based aid derived from endowed funds named for prominent North Carolina legal figures.

Debt perspective

UNC Law's average debt for the Class of 2025 (per U.S. News public-source data): approximately $95,000–$100,000 for borrowers, reflecting a debt profile common to public top-30 law schools. The school's location in a state capital (Raleigh is ~30 minutes from Chapel Hill; Charlotte is ~2 hours) places graduates in close proximity to the North Carolina Supreme Court, the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the federal courts for the Middle District of North Carolina, and a deep state-government practice ecosystem.

Employment Outcomes

Employment (Class of 2025)

The Class of 2025 ABA employment summary discloses the following for graduates from the J.D. program (data as of 10 months after graduation per LawHub):

90.2% full-time employment rate (LawHub Employment Score for Class of 2025)
0.0% underemployment rate
94.1% first-time bar passage rate (LawHub)
97.3% overall employment rate, 10-month figure (LSD.Law)
Approximately 5% federal clerkship rate; 7–9% total clerkship rate, including state and local**
Employed in North Carolina: 56%
Employed out-of-state: 43% (Class of 2025)
Employed in 19 states, the District of Columbia, Germany, and the UAE (Class of 2025)

By employer category (Class of 2025, partial data verified):

Law firms, 501+ lawyers: ~25%
Law firms, 251–500 lawyers: ~7%
Law firms, 101–250 lawyers: ~7%
Law firms, 51–100 lawyers: ~6%
Law firms, 26–50 lawyers: ~6%
Law firms, 11–25 lawyers: ~7%
Law firms, 1–10 lawyers: ~10%
Business & Industry: ~6%
Government: ~9%
Public Interest: ~7%
Judicial Clerkships: ~7–9%

What these numbers mean

Carolina Law's signature employment profile is a top-20 rank with a BigLaw placement rate of approximately 35% (firms of 100+ lawyers) and a 99.5%+ reported full-time legal-employment rate for the Class of 2024 — a leading employment profile among public top-25 law schools. The school's Charlotte and Raleigh placement partners dominate: King & Spalding (Charlotte and Raleigh offices), Moore & Van Allen, Robinson Bradshaw, Womble Bond Dickinson, Smith Anderson, Brooks Pierce, and Parker Poe. New York placement is meaningful (Cleary Gottlieb, Cravath, Sullivan & Cromwell, Debevoise & Plimpton among partners), and Washington, D.C. federal clerkship and government placement (DOJ, EPA) are strong.

Bar passage

94.50% first-time pass rate for the Class of 2025 in North Carolina (July 2025 examination) — UNC's official announcement
94.1% first-time pass rate for the Class of 2025 overall (LawHub)
Outperforming the North Carolina state average (87.00%) by 7.5 percentage points
92.27% first-time pass rate, all jurisdictions, Class of 2025 (LSD.Law)
#7 nationally for bar passage rates in the U.S. News ranking model'

Where graduates go

The Class of 2025 employment-location breakdown (verified from Carolina Law's official employment-data page):

North Carolina: 56% (the school's primary placement market)
District of Columbia: ~9%
New York: ~7%
South Carolina: ~4%
Florida: ~4%
California: ~3%
Virginia: ~3%
Georgia: ~3%
Texas: ~2%
Tennessee: ~2%

The school's Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham placement partners absorb the bulk of in-state graduates; Atlanta, Nashville, and DC absorb the second-tier. Coastal BigLaw placement (especially New York and California) is solid but smaller in absolute terms than the T14 share at comparable rank.

Academics and Programs

Curriculum and special strengths

The J.D. is a six-semester, 90-credit course of study. Required first-year courses anchor the program in constitutional law, contracts, civil procedure, criminal law, property, torts, and legal writing. Upper-division concentrations include:

Business and Corporate Law (signature concentration)
Constitutional Law
Criminal Law and Procedure
Environmental Law
Health Law
Intellectual Property
International and Comparative Law
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Public Interest Law
Tax Law

Carolina Law's curriculum is supported by:

12 Centers and Programs
100+ Externship Opportunities
An award-winning Pro Bono Program with 100% participation from recent graduating classes
Partnerships with Duke Law School and North Carolina Central University School of Law that allow Carolina Law students to cross-register

Joint degrees

Carolina Law offers 10 dual-degree (joint) programs with other UNC graduate divisions, including:

JD/MBA (Kenan-Flagler Business School)
JD/MPH (School of Global Public Health)
JD/MA in Public Policy (Public Policy Program)
JD/MA in Economics (College of Arts & Sciences)
JD/MC in City and Regional Planning (College of Arts & Sciences)
JD/MS in Library Science (School of Information and Library Science)
JD/MA in History, Philosophy, Political Science, and other liberal-arts masters programs

The school also offers LL.M. and M.S.L. (Master of Studies in Law) graduate programs with concentrations in several of the school's specialty areas.

Clinics and experiential learning

Carolina Law operates 12 in-house clinics (and supports 100+ externship placements), including:

Civil Litigation Clinic
Criminal Defense and Prosecution Clinics
Community Development Law Clinic
Consumer Financial Protection Clinic
Environmental Law Project
Family Law and Domestic Violence Clinic
Federal Tax Clinic
Human Rights Policy Lab
Innocence Project
Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic
International Human Rights Clinic
Military and Veterans Law Clinic
Pro Bono Program
Reasonable Doubt Project
Youth Justice Project

Each second- and third-year Carolina Law student is required to complete substantial clinical and field-placement credits. The school's Pro Bono Program with 100% participation reflects Carolina Law's commitment to experiential learning.

Journals

Carolina Law students publish on several student-edited journals, including:

North Carolina Law Review
North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology
North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation
First Amendment Law Review
American Indian Law Journal

Journals feed the school's clerkship and academic pipeline through supervised student writing.

Centers and institutes

Major centers and institutes housed at Carolina Law include:

Center for Banking and Finance
Center for Civil Rights
Center for Climate, Energy, Environment and Economics (CEEE)
UNC Center for Intellectual Property Law and Innovation
Center for International and Comparative Law
Institute of Government (state-government research arm)

Student Life and Location

Living in Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill is a small, mid-Southern university town in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, sharing the Triangle research corridor with Raleigh (the state capital, ~30 minutes east) and Durham. The law school is housed in Van Hecke-Wettach Hall on the southern edge of UNC's historic campus, adjacent to Kenan Stadium, Wilson Library, and the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower. The location offers easy access to:

Raleigh (state government, state courts, state regulators)
Charlotte (major banking and BigLaw market, ~2 hours west)
Durham and the Research Triangle Park (tech and biotech)
Federal courts in the Middle District of North Carolina

Student body

Carolina Law's student body comprises approximately 600 J.D. students and a small, collegial alumni community that runs deep across North Carolina, the broader Southeast, and the secondary federal clerkship market. The student body is mid-size enough to provide curricular breadth, small enough to maintain a tight alumni network, and demographically tied to UNC's broader public-university student profile. Active student organizations include the Moot Court and Mock Trial teams (a multi-year national competitor in the National Moot Court Competition), the North Carolina Law Review Board, and a wide range of identity-based and practice-area groups.

How UNC Compares

Choose UNC if

You want a top-20 law-school credential from a public school at substantially lower tuition than private peers.
You want to take the North Carolina Bar with the highest first-time pass rate in the state.
You want to access 12 specialized centers and programs within a top-7 employment-success ranking.
You want to take advantage of in-state tuition (if you qualify) for approximately $25,000 annual savings.
You prefer a major-college town with a state-capital externship ecosystem.

Consider alternatives if

You want a T14 credential with widely-discussed placements to NYC firms (consider Duke, Penn, or Northwestern).
You want a different Southeast market — Emory (Atlanta), Vanderbilt (Nashville), Wake Forest (Winston-Salem), or UVA (Charlottesville) are common alternatives.
You want a larger class with broader peer-cohort diversity — Georgetown, NYU, or UCLA offer that.
You want a different climate — Chapel Hill's Piedmont winters are mild, but the school sits squarely in the Southeast.

The TLS Verdict

Carolina Law combines a top-18 U.S. News rank (#7 nationally for bar passage, #7 nationally for employment success), the highest North Carolina bar-passage rate among the state's law schools (94.50% Class of 2025, outperforming the state average by 7.5 points), 10 dual-degree programs across the broader UNC campus, and an in-state Public School tuition that produces a debt profile below private peer schools at the same rank. Carolina Law is an outstanding value choice for students committed to the North Carolina bar and the Charlotte, Raleigh, or Triangle markets, especially those interested in public-interest, environmental, or business-law job placement. For applicants seeking immediate coastal BigLaw placement at large NYC firms or widely-discussed federal clerkships, the regional employment gravity and the school's top-18 (rather than top-14) rank are real considerations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is UNC School of Law's acceptance rate?

11.19% — approximately 3,460 completed applications and 387 offers of admission (Fall 2025, ABA Standard 509), with 181 students in the first-year class total.

What LSAT score do I need?

Median 168 (verified by both the 2025 ABA 509 and UNC's Class of 2028 announcement). Scores at or above 168 place you at the median.

What GPA do I need?

Median 3.89 (verified by UNC's Class of 2028 announcement).

How much is tuition?

$62,496 per year (NC resident), $87,234 (non-resident), 2026–27. In-state applicants should confirm residency qualification under North Carolina residency law before applying.

Does Carolina Law give scholarships?

Yes — approximately 70–80% of students receive grant aid. Median grant amount approximately $20,000–$25,000. Conditional scholarships: published at zero reductions/eliminations in recent years.

What is Carolina Law's bar passage rate?

94.50% first-time in North Carolina (July 2025 examination; outperforming the state average of 87.00% by 7.5 points). 94.1% first-time overall (LawHub). 92.27% first-time, all jurisdictions (LSD.Law). Among the highest bar-passage rates in the nation.

Is Carolina Law good for BigLaw?

Yes — approximately 35% of graduates enter BigLaw firms of 100+ lawyers. The Charlotte, Raleigh, and Triangle placement partners are particularly strong (King & Spalding, Robinson Bradshaw, Womble Bond Dickinson, Smith Anderson, Brooks Pierce, Parker Poe), with additional placement in New York and Washington, D.C.

Does Carolina Law offer a part-time J.D.?

No — Carolina Law offers a full-time J.D. only. Part-time evening enrollment is not available.

Contact and Key Links

University of North Carolina School of Law

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall

160 Ridge Road, CB #3380

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380

Admissions Phone: 919-962-6357

Admissions Email: <[email protected]>

Main Office: 919-962-5100

Official links

TLS Forum Links

Sources

UNC School of Law

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