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Brooklyn Law School

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Last updated: October 14, 2026

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Brooklyn Law School

Brooklyn Law School is a private, independent law school in Downtown Brooklyn, New York, that enrolled a first-year class of 414 students in Fall 2025 from 4,600 completed applications, with a median LSAT of 161 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.59. It is the only law school in Brooklyn, founded in 1901 and fully accredited by the American Bar Association in 1937, and it climbed 12 places in the 2026 U.S. News rankings. The central decision issue for admitted applicants is that Brooklyn pairs genuinely strong placement — 90.7% of the Class of 2025 in full-time, long-term legal jobs, with 84.8% in bar-required positions and a modeled median salary above $124,000 — with the highest sticker price in this profile series at $77,762 in 2026–27 tuition, a cost that only becomes manageable through a broad but conditional grant program in which 360 of 360 scholarship recipients in 2024–25 had awards subject to reduction, at a 2026–27 cost of attendance of $116,674 living independently.

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Brooklyn Law at a Glance

Category Latest information
Founded 1901 (first classes September 30, 1901)
Type Private, independent (unaffiliated with any university)
ABA approval or accreditation Fully accredited 1937
Location Downtown Brooklyn, New York City
Latest U.S. News rank 2025 edition: #117 tie; 2026: climbed 12 places (≈#105, inferred)
Latest completed applications 4,600 (Fall 2025, 2025 509 report)
Latest acceptance rate 44.00% (Fall 2025)
Latest LSAT median 161 (Fall 2025)
Latest GPA median 3.59 (Fall 2025)
Latest entering class 414 (380 full-time, 34 part-time; Fall 2025)
Current tuition $80,146 (2026–27 full-time, tuition plus general fees); $60,704 part-time
Current estimated cost of attendance $116,674 (2026–27, full-time, living independently); $91,909 living with parents
Latest first-time bar passage 85.5% (2025 first-time takers, 1.4 points below the jurisdictions' average)
Latest bar-required employment 84.8% of the Class of 2025 (302 of 356 graduates)
Current dean David D. Meyer

The admissions figures are drawn from Brooklyn Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (4,600 completed applications, 44.00% acceptance rate, 414 enrollees from the applicant pool, first-year class of 414, total J.D. enrollment 1,126). LSD.law's reading of the same filing puts offers of admission at 2,024, which is consistent with the 20.45% enrollment rate from offers that the 509 report states; the 509 report itself lists the acceptance rate and enrollment rates rather than an offers count. Tuition and fee lines for 2026–27 are from Brooklyn Law's own tuition page. The $116,674 and $91,909 totals are the school's published cost-of-attendance figures rather than arithmetic. David D. Meyer is dean; his appointment date was not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed. Brooklyn Law describes itself as one of the largest and oldest independent non-profit law schools in the United States, with a 125th-anniversary commemoration underway.

Introduction

Brooklyn.jpg


Brooklyn Law School, founded in 1901, is a private, independent law school in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City, and the only law school in the borough of Brooklyn. It held its first classes on September 30, 1901, was fully accredited by the American Bar Association in 1937, and has operated for its entire history as an independent institution unaffiliated with any university or college — a status it shares with only a handful of U.S. law schools and which gives it an unusual degree of curricular and financial autonomy. It is now marking its 125th anniversary.

The school's campus is concentrated in Downtown Brooklyn. Its main academic building at 250 Joralemon Street houses classrooms, faculty offices, student journals, a conference center, a dining hall and a four-story law library holding 586,000 volumes; a nearby office building at 111 Livingston Street houses many of the school's clinics, its legal writing centre and administrative offices; and Feil Hall at 205 State Street is the main student residence. The location — one subway stop from Manhattan's financial district, a short walk from Brooklyn's courts and the Eastern District of New York, and embedded in a borough of 2.7 million people — is the foundation of the school's placement network.

With a total J.D. enrollment of 1,126 and a first-year class of 414, Brooklyn Law is one of the larger independent law schools in the country. Its identity rests on three pillars: a placement record in New York City legal employment that outpaces its ranking; a deep alumni network in New York government, the judiciary and the media and entertainment bar, including a U.S. Attorney General, a New York City Mayor and two billionaires; and a distinctive cluster of business, entrepreneurship, technology and intellectual property programs, anchored by the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship.

Rankings and Reputation

Brooklyn Law's reputation rests less on its U.S. News position than on its New York City placement and its alumni network. The school reports that its Class of 2025 achieved record employment outcomes, with 90.7% securing full-time, long-term legal jobs, and it climbed 12 places in the 2026 U.S. News rankings — a movement the school has publicised, citing specialty strength in clinical education and business and corporate law. Its alumni include a sitting U.S. Attorney General, a former Mayor of New York City, a U.S. Senator, federal appellate and district judges, and two of the most prominent real estate developers in the country.

Overall ranking

U.S. News edition Brooklyn Law rank
2025 #117 (tie) of 197
2026 Climbed 12 places; approximately #105 (tie) (inferred, not directly confirmed)

The 2025 placement of #117 (tie) is the last directly documented edition in the sources reviewed; the school announced a 12-place climb in the 2026 edition, and the arithmetic implies a placement near #105, but the 2026 number itself was not confirmed against the U.S. News profile in the sources retrieved and is therefore marked as inferred rather than asserted. A competing Reddit discussion from the prior cycle described a steep drop in Brooklyn Law's ranking, which is inconsistent with the school's own announcement and with the 2025 figure — applicants should confirm the current edition directly. Editions prior to 2025 were not independently confirmed. As always in this profile series, movement within the 100–120 band is immaterial to practical outcomes at a school whose placement is driven by the New York City market and its alumni network rather than by rank position.

Specialty rankings

Specialty Brooklyn Law placement
Criminal Law #20 (tie), 2026–27 U.S. News specialty table
Clinical Education Recognised by the school as a specialty strength (rank number not confirmed)
Business & Corporate Law Recognised by the school as a specialty strength (rank number not confirmed)

The Criminal Law placement at #20 (tie) is drawn from the 2026–27 U.S. News specialty rankings, where Brooklyn is tied with Cornell, Fordham and George Washington. The clinical education and business/corporate strengths are school-announced and their specific rank numbers were not retrieved; U.S. News also lists dispute resolution, environmental law, health care law, intellectual property law, international law, constitutional law and contracts/commercial law among Brooklyn Law's program offerings.

Independent metric rankings

Metric Value National rank
Bar Passage Rate (first-time) 84.5% (−1.3 vs. New York's 85.7%) #84
Bar-required employment (FT, long-term) 82.8% #91
Federal clerkship rate 1.2% #103
Presence of minority faculty 16.5% #112
Overall employment at 10 months 91.8% #121
Acceptance rate (selectivity) 44.0% #132
Student-to-faculty ratio 15.9:1 #159 (tie)
Presence of female faculty 38.1% #166 (tie)
Highest tuition (full-time) $75,496 #49

Source: ILRG's 2026 Brooklyn Law profile, built on December 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. ILRG's bar passage and employment figures cover the 2024 cohort, while the school's own reported figures below cover 2025 — both are presented so the trend and any conflict can be read. Note the tension at the heart of Brooklyn Law's profile: it ranks #49 nationally on tuition but #121 on overall employment and #132 on selectivity, and its student-to-faculty ratio of 15.9:1 places it near the bottom of the national table even though it reports 71 full-time faculty.

Admissions: What It Takes to Get In

Entering class (Fall 2025)

Admissions metric Fall 2025
Completed applications 4,600
Offers of admission 2,024 (per LSD.law reading of the same 509 filing)
Acceptance rate 44.00%
Enrollees from applicant pool 414
Total in first-year class 414 (380 full-time, 34 part-time)
Yield (enrollees / offers) 20.45%

Twenty-four students transferred in and five transferred out in the reporting year. Total J.D. enrollment was 1,126, making Brooklyn Law the largest school in this profile series. The class is roughly 92% full-time and 8% part-time, reflecting the school's four-year part-time evening division alongside its three-year full-time program.

LSAT and GPA

Statistic 25th percentile Median 75th percentile
LSAT 158 161 163
Undergraduate GPA 3.37 3.59 3.75

The 509 report aggregates UGPA across the entire first-year class regardless of admission test. No GRE policy was confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Interpreting the numbers

Brooklyn Law's 44.00% acceptance rate places it #132 nationally on selectivity — one of the more accessible profiles in this series, and consistent with a school that admitted 47.2% in 2019. The volume tells the real story: 4,600 applications for 414 seats means Brooklyn admits roughly 2,000 applicants to fill its class, and with only 20.45% of admitted applicants enrolling, the school depends heavily on yield management — nearly eight in ten admitted applicants choose another school. The band is wide: a 25th-percentile LSAT of 158 and a 25th-percentile GPA of 3.37 mean Brooklyn admits a substantial group below its medians, and because it enrolls the largest class in this series it has the most seats to fill. For an applicant with numbers below Brooklyn's medians, this is among the most realistic New York City options; for an applicant above them, the question is whether the school's grant aid justifies the price.

The trend since 2019 is a genuine improvement in credentials:

Metric 2019 2025
Acceptance rate 47.2% 44.0%
LSAT median 157 161
LSAT 25th–75th 155–159 158–163
GPA median 3.40 3.59
GPA 25th–75th 3.20–3.60 3.37–3.75

A four-point rise in median LSAT and a 0.19-point rise in median GPA over six years is a meaningful strengthening of the class, though the acceptance rate barely moved — Brooklyn is admitting better students without becoming much harder to get into, which is a function of its very large applicant pool.

Application timing

Brooklyn Law does not charge an application fee. The 509 report states that applications received by February 1 will receive priority review, and lists a financial-aid deadline of June 30. The school admits both a three-year full-time J.D. and a four-year part-time J.D. All J.D. students must earn a minimum of 85 credits to graduate, and standard tuition covers those 85 credits plus an additional three free credits, for a total of 88 credits at no extra cost — a small but real benefit worth noting, since it allows a student to take one extra course without additional tuition. The financial-aid office operates a dedicated applicant email address, [email protected], and a withdrawal and leave-of-absence refund policy is published.

Cost, Scholarships, and Debt

Tuition

Brooklyn Law's 2026–27 tuition is $77,762 for the three-year full-time program, plus general fees of $2,332 and a one-time registration fee of $52, for a total of $80,146. The four-year part-time program is $58,320 in tuition plus the same fees, for $60,704.

Item 3-Year Full-Time (2026–27) 4-Year Part-Time (2026–27)
Tuition $77,762 $58,320
General Fees $2,332 $2,332
Registration Fee (one-time, entering students) $52 $52
Total tuition and fees $80,146 $60,704

The 509 report's own lines for 2025–26 list $75,496 in tuition plus $1,450 in fees, and U.S. News reports the same $76,946 full-time figure with $58,072 part-time. One discrepancy requires flagging: the 509 extraction returned a part-time tuition figure identical to the full-time figure ($75,496), which is inconsistent with both the school's own 2026–27 published part-time rate of $58,320 and U.S. News's $58,072 — the identical figure appears to be a parsing artifact, and the school's published part-time rate is used in the table above. Tuition growth has been steep and consistent: from $55,038 in 2019 to $75,496 in 2025, a 37% increase, with U.S. News reporting a further 9.3% rise from 2023 to 2025. Brooklyn's tuition is ranked #49 highest among 196 law schools — the single most expensive school in this profile series.

Cost of attendance

Expense 3-Year FT, living independently 3-Year FT, living with parents
Total tuition and fees $80,146 $80,146
Books $2,000 $2,000
Housing $24,765 $0
Living expenses $7,000 $7,000
Utilities $1,575 $1,575
Transportation $1,188 $1,188
Total living expenses $36,528 $11,763
Cost of attendance $116,674 $91,909

The part-time program's cost of attendance is $96,732 living independently and $71,967 living with parents, with the same $24,765 housing figure and a lower books allowance of $1,500. The 509 report's own living-expense lines are $36,528 on campus and $36,528 off campus — identical, because the school treats the two the same in the most expensive market in this series — and $11,763 living at home. The single most consequential number in this profile is the $24,765 housing allowance: living with parents removes it entirely and cuts the cost of attendance by $24,765, roughly 21% of the total. Cost of living has grown even faster than tuition: ILRG records room and board rising from $18,650 in 2019 to $36,528 in 2025, a 96% increase. Health insurance is an additional cost for students not covered by their own policy, and the budget can be adjusted for that cost. The LL.M. program for internationally trained lawyers carries a total cost of attendance of $104,778 full-time and $82,324 part-time.

Financial aid

Per the 2025 Standard 509 report, 1,017 students — 91% — received grants, with a median grant of $34,000, a 25th percentile of $25,000 and a 75th percentile of $48,000.

Metric Value
Students receiving grants 1,017
Percentage receiving grants 91%
75th percentile grant $48,000
50th percentile (median) grant $34,000
25th percentile grant $25,000
Estimated net cost, three years (HeyFutureLawyer) $242,511

The median grant of $34,000 covers 44% of the 2026–27 tuition line, and the 25th-percentile award of $25,000 covers 32%. This is the crux of Brooklyn Law's financial picture: the grant programme is broad and the awards are large in absolute terms, but they are being applied against the highest tuition in this profile series, so even a median-award recipient faces roughly $43,762 in annual tuition and fees plus $36,528 in living expenses — and a third-year total near $242,500 by one independent estimate. The school also states that its financial-aid team advises students who take loans to borrow the minimum amount necessary.

Conditional scholarships: this is where Brooklyn Law differs sharply from the other New York schools in this profile series, and it is the most important risk finding in the profile. The 509 report shows that Brooklyn awards conditional scholarships and that a meaningful share are reduced or eliminated each year:

Academic year Conditional scholarships offered Reduced or eliminated Loss rate
2024–25 360 69 19.2%
2023–24 361 74 20.5%
2022–23 365 61 16.7%

Roughly one in five conditional awards is cut in a typical year, and because 360 of Brooklyn's scholarship recipients in 2024–25 held conditional awards, the school's exposure to this risk is larger than at any other school in this series — for context, Albany Law and Arkansas award none at all, and most schools in the series eliminate between 3% and 15%. An applicant should treat the advertised grant as a starting position rather than a guaranteed four-year number, read the retention terms in the award letter carefully, and model the cost of a year at full price.

Debt perspective

Average indebtedness and the proportion of graduates borrowing were not retrieved for this profile. Given the cost structure, both figures are likely to be high: a student paying full price for three years faces roughly $240,400 in tuition and fees alone, and even a median-award recipient faces roughly $131,300 in net tuition and fees before living expenses. The school's borrowing advice — to borrow the minimum necessary — reflects the reality that the New York City living allowance of $36,528 is itself a substantial loan burden. Whether Brooklyn Law operates a loan repayment assistance program, and on what terms, was not confirmed in the sources reviewed and should be verified with the school before relying on one. Applicants should also weigh the employment data below against the price: a modeled median salary above $124,000 supports a debt load far better than a government-sector salary would, which makes the placement mix and the salary distribution the decisive variables in the financial calculation.

Employment Outcomes

Employment (Class of 2025)

Brooklyn Law reports that its Class of 2025 achieved record employment outcomes, with 90.7% securing full-time, long-term legal jobs ten months after graduation. Independent tabulations of the same class give the following:

Employment metric Class of 2025
Graduates 356
Full-time, long-term legal jobs 90.7% (school-reported, record for the school)
Employed — any job type 91.8% (327 of 356)
In jobs requiring bar admission 84.8% (302 of 356)
Modeled median salary $124,207

For comparison, ILRG's 509-based tabulation of the Class of 2024 gives 82.8% full-time, long-term bar-required employment (national rank #91), 91.8% overall employment at ten months (rank #121), and a 1.2% federal clerkship rate (rank #103). Note that ILRG's overall employment figure of 91.8% for the 2024 cohort is identical to HeyFutureLawyer's 91.8% figure for the 2025 cohort, which suggests the two sources may be reporting the same underlying class or that the rate has held steady across the two years — the school's own 90.7% full-time long-term legal jobs figure is the cleaner measure of the 2025 class specifically.

The sector-by-sector breakdown, clerkship counts, and the full geographic distribution for the Class of 2025 were not retrieved in machine-readable form; the school publishes three years of employment outcome data and its ABA Employment Summary reports on its employment profiles page, and those line items should be pulled from the source documents rather than estimated. ILRG's salary statistics for its report are drawn from the Class of 2023 and exclude JD-advantage positions.

What these numbers mean

Read together, the verified figures describe a school whose placement is strong and improving, with one significant caveat about how the bar-required rate compares to the total. On the school's own headline measure, 90.7% of the Class of 2025 held full-time, long-term legal jobs — a record for Brooklyn, and a genuinely good outcome for a school ranked in the 100–120 band. Of 356 graduates, 302 — 84.8% — took positions requiring bar admission, with a further seven percentage points or so in JD-advantage or other employment to reach the 91.8% total. The modeled median salary of $124,207 is the strongest salary figure in this profile series and is consistent with a New York City placement mix weighted toward private practice, which is what makes Brooklyn's economics work despite the highest tuition in the series: a $124,000 median salary can service a $130,000–$240,000 debt load in a way that a $72,000 government salary cannot. The federal clerkship rate of 1.2% (#103) is modest, and the missing pieces are the salary distribution rather than the median — the 25th percentile matters enormously at this price point — along with the sector mix and the share of graduates placed in the 250-plus-attorney firms that pay the salaries the median implies. Applicants should treat the employment rate and median salary as verified, and should obtain the salary percentiles and firm-size distribution before committing to the price.

Bar passage

Bar statistic Value
First-time passage, 2025 graduates 85.5% (1.4 points below the average of the jurisdictions where they sat)
First-time passage, 2024 administrations (ILRG) 84.5% (−1.3 points vs. New York's 85.7%)
First-time passage, 2019 administrations (ILRG) 78.7% (+3.0 points vs. New York's 75.7%)
Primary bar state New York
National rank on first-time bar passage #84

The trend here is more informative than any single figure. In 2019, Brooklyn's first-time takers passed at 78.7%, three points *above* the New York average; by the 2024 and 2025 administrations the school's rate had risen substantially — to 84.5% and 85.5% respectively — but the New York average rose faster, so Brooklyn now sits about 1.3 to 1.4 points *below* the state average rather than above it. In absolute terms the school has improved by roughly seven percentage points in six years; relative to the state it has slipped. The practical reading is that Brooklyn's bar preparation is solid and improving, that a first-time pass is likely but not assured for a median student, and that the school no longer offers the relative cushion over the New York average it once did. The two-year ultimate pass rate was not retrieved.

Where graduates go

The verified geographic and sectoral detail for the most recent class was not retrievable in machine-readable form, and the school's employment profiles page returns only its copyright notice to automated retrieval. What the retrieved data establishes is that the placement is heavily weighted toward private practice: a modeled median salary of $124,207 and an 84.8% bar-required rate are the signature of a law-firm-oriented pipeline, and the school's position in Downtown Brooklyn — one subway stop from Manhattan's financial district and a short walk from the Eastern District of New York and the Kings County courts — puts both large-firm and local-practice employers within reach. Prospective applicants aiming at New York City private practice, entertainment and media law, intellectual property, or Brooklyn and Manhattan litigation boutiques should read these numbers as strong. Applicants aiming at government, public interest or federal clerkships should weigh the 1.2% federal clerkship rate and the sector mix, which the retrieved sources do not break out. The school publishes three years of employment outcome data and its ABA Employment Summary reports, which should be consulted for the firm-size distribution, sector breakdown and geographic placement before publication.

Academics and Programs

Brooklyn Law operates a three-year full-time J.D. and a four-year part-time J.D., both requiring a minimum of 85 credits to graduate, with standard tuition covering those 85 credits plus three additional free credits — 88 credits in total — at no extra cost. The school also offers an LL.M. for internationally trained lawyers and five joint degree programs: J.D./M.B.A., J.D./Master in City and Regional Planning, J.D./Master in Urban Planning, J.D./Master in Library and Information Science, and LL.M./Master in Library and Information Science. The 2025 509 report lists 71 full-time faculty, 159 non-full-time faculty and 10 librarians; ILRG computes a 15.9:1 student-to-faculty ratio across 231 total faculty, ranked #159 nationally, while Wikipedia reports 60 full-time professors and 15 emeriti faculty. The faculty is 38.1% female (#166 nationally) and 16.5% racial or ethnic minority (#112 nationally) — both below the levels of the diversity-strong schools in this profile series.

Curriculum and special strengths

Brooklyn Law's distinctive academic cluster is business, entrepreneurship and technology law. The Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) is the anchor: it explores legal issues surrounding entrepreneurship and provides legal representation and support for new commercial and not-for-profit businesses while training business-oriented students to advise in those sectors. Supporting centres include the Center for the Study of Business Law and Regulation, the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law, the Center for Law, Language and Cognition, and the Center for Health, Science and Public Policy. Criminal law is a documented national strength, with Brooklyn tied at #20 in the 2026–27 U.S. News specialty table, and clinical education and business/corporate law are the two specialties the school itself highlights in its rankings announcement. The school publishes four student-edited journals: the Brooklyn Law Review, the Brooklyn Journal of International Law, the Journal of Law and Policy, and the Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial and Commercial Law — the last of which is a direct expression of the school's corporate and business orientation, and the presence of a dedicated law-and-policy journal reflects its proximity to New York government and the courts.

Clinics and experiential learning

Brooklyn Law's clinical program is housed largely at 111 Livingston Street and specialises in bankruptcy, securities arbitration, immigration, entrepreneurship, technology, criminal law, real estate practice, intellectual property, and mediation. Named clinics include the Community Development Clinic, the Capital Defender and Federal Habeas Clinic, the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) — the technology and entrepreneurship clinic that pairs with CUBE — and an AAIDD clinic. The combination of a securities-arbitration clinic, a bankruptcy clinic and a real-estate practice clinic is unusual and well matched to New York practice: securities arbitration and bankruptcy are two of the highest-volume specialty practices in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and a real-estate practice clinic reflects the borough's development market. The specific clinic roster beyond these named programs, client populations, externship structure and semester-in-practice options were not retrieved in machine-readable form and should be filled from the school's clinics pages before publication.

Student Life and Location

Living in Brooklyn

Brooklyn Law School is located at 250 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201, in Downtown Brooklyn, with its clinics and administrative offices at 111 Livingston Street and student housing at Feil Hall, 205 State Street. The location is the school's defining practical asset and its defining cost: Downtown Brooklyn puts students one subway stop from Manhattan's financial district, within walking distance of the Eastern District of New York and the Kings County courts, and at the centre of a borough of 2.7 million people with its own substantial legal market — district attorneys' offices, legal aid, public defenders, real-estate and development practices, and a growing technology and entrepreneurship sector. The trade-off is that Brooklyn Law's living-expense allowance of $36,528 is by far the highest in this profile series, driven by a $24,765 housing line and a $1,575 utilities line, with $7,000 in other living expenses, $1,188 in transportation and $2,000 in books. The single largest cost lever available to a Brooklyn Law student is housing: living with parents removes the $24,765 entirely and cuts the cost of attendance from $116,674 to $91,909, a saving of nearly 21%. ILRG records room and board rising from $18,650 in 2019 to $36,528 in 2025 — a 96% increase that has outpaced even the school's steep tuition growth. Feil Hall offers on-campus housing, but the 509 report lists the on-campus and off-campus allowances at the same $36,528, so the school does not treat residence as a discount.

Student body

Metric Value
Total J.D. enrollment 1,126
Entering class 414 (380 full-time, 34 part-time)
Women 60.6%
Men 37.1%
Non-binary / other 2.3%
Full-time faculty 71 (plus 159 non-full-time, 10 librarians)

With 1,126 J.D. students and a 414-person entering class, Brooklyn Law is the largest school in this profile series — roughly twice the size of Albany Law and three times the size of UNM — which produces a broad organisations and competition slate and a large alumni network but also a 15.9:1 student-to-faculty ratio ranked #159 nationally, far less favourable than the small-cohort schools in the series. The student body is 60.6% women, 37.1% men and 2.3% non-binary, making it one of the more female-weighted cohorts in the series. Twenty-four students transferred in during the reporting year, a notably high inflow that suggests the school is a common destination for students transferring from other law schools. The alumni network is exceptionally prominent in New York and national public life: Todd Blanche, U.S. Attorney General; David Dinkins, former Mayor of New York City; Norm Coleman, former U.S. Senator from Minnesota; judges Frank Altimari and Edward R. Korman; attorneys Stephen Dannhauser, Myron Trepper, Allen Grubman and Bruce Cutler; and executives and developers Barry Salzberg, Marty Bandier, Leon Charney and Larry Silverstein.

How Brooklyn Law Compares

Choose Brooklyn Law if

  • You want New York City private practice. The Class of 2025 posted a record 90.7% full-time, long-term legal employment with 84.8% in bar-required jobs and a modeled median salary of $124,207 — the strongest salary figure in this profile series.
  • You want a large alumni network in New York government, the judiciary, media and entertainment, and real estate: a U.S. Attorney General, a former New York City Mayor, a U.S. Senator, federal judges, and major firm and entertainment attorneys are all Brooklyn Law graduates.
  • You want business, entrepreneurship or technology law. CUBE, the Center for the Study of Business Law and Regulation, the Dennis J. Block Center for International Business Law and the BLIP technology clinic form a coherent cluster, and the school publishes a dedicated corporate, financial and commercial law journal.
  • You want criminal law: Brooklyn is tied at #20 nationally in the 2026–27 U.S. News criminal law specialty table.
  • You want specialty clinical work in bankruptcy, securities arbitration, real estate practice, immigration, mediation or federal habeas, in the courts and markets where those practices are largest.
  • You want a part-time evening J.D. at a materially lower price than the full-time program: $58,320 in 2026–27 tuition versus $77,762, with a four-year cost of attendance of $96,732.
  • You can live with parents in the New York area: the housing line of $24,765 disappears and the cost of attendance falls from $116,674 to $91,909.
  • You want a large class and a broad network — 1,126 J.D. students, a 414-person entering class, and a high rate of transfer-student inflow.

Consider alternatives if

  • You are sensitive to cost. Brooklyn's 2026–27 tuition of $77,762 is the highest in this profile series and ranked #49 nationally, with a cost of attendance of $116,674 living independently and an estimated three-year net cost above $242,000.
  • You need certainty about your scholarship. Brooklyn awards conditional scholarships and roughly one in five is reduced or eliminated each year — 69 of 360 in 2024–25, 74 of 361 in 2023–24 and 61 of 365 in 2022–23. Schools in this series such as Albany Law, Arkansas, MSU Law and UNM award no conditional scholarships at all.
  • You want a small cohort and close faculty contact. Brooklyn's 15.9:1 student-to-faculty ratio ranks #159 nationally and its student body of 1,126 is the largest in this series.
  • You want a federal judicial clerkship. A 1.2% federal clerkship rate (#103) is modest for a school with Brooklyn's placement strength.
  • You want a bar-passage cushion over your state. Brooklyn's first-time rate of 85.5% for 2025 sat 1.4 points *below* the average of the jurisdictions where its graduates sat, and 84.5% in 2024 was 1.3 points below New York's 85.7% — a reversal from 2019, when the school was three points above the state average.
  • You want a government, public-interest or legal-aid career as your primary path: a $116,674 annual cost of attendance is a hard fit against a public-sector salary, and Brooklyn's salary median reflects a private-practice placement mix.
  • You want faculty diversity metrics near the top of the national table: 38.1% female faculty (#166) and 16.5% minority faculty (#112) both sit below the strongest schools in this series.

The TLS Verdict

Brooklyn Law School is the clearest example in this profile series of a school whose outcomes justify more than its ranking, at a price that is very hard to defend without a large scholarship. On the outcomes side, the case is strong and improving: a record 90.7% of the Class of 2025 in full-time, long-term legal jobs, 84.8% in bar-required positions, a modeled median salary of $124,207, a criminal law specialty rank tied at #20 nationally, a coherent business, entrepreneurship and technology cluster anchored by CUBE and the BLIP clinic, a genuine part-time evening division, a first-time bar rate that has risen seven points in six years, and an alumni network that includes a sitting U.S. Attorney General, a former Mayor of New York City, a U.S. Senator and federal judges. Its Downtown Brooklyn location is one subway stop from the largest legal market in the country, which is why a school ranked in the 100–120 band places graduates into $124,000-median jobs. On the cost side, the case is much harder: $77,762 in tuition and an $116,674 cost of attendance are the highest in this series, and the school's grant programme — broad at 91% coverage with a $34,000 median — is delivered through conditional scholarships that cut roughly one in five awards each year, which means the advertised number is not a four-year guarantee. A median-award recipient still faces about $131,300 in net tuition and fees over three years plus $109,600 in living expenses, and an applicant who loses a conditional award mid-program faces a materially worse arithmetic. The decisive variables are the size of the award, its retention terms, the ability to live at home or cheaply, and the salary percentile the graduate actually lands rather than the median. For an applicant who receives a large non-conditionally-structured award, intends to practise in New York City private practice, and can contain living costs, Brooklyn Law is a well-positioned and arguably underrated choice. For an applicant paying near sticker price with a conditional award, or targeting government or public-interest work, the same money buys a materially safer financial position elsewhere — including at Albany Law, Arkansas, MSU Law and UNM, none of which award conditional scholarships at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is it to get into Brooklyn Law?

Moderately selective: for Fall 2025, Brooklyn accepted 44.00% of applicants from 4,600 completed applications, with 414 enrolling — a 20.45% yield on offers. In 2019 the acceptance rate was 47.2%.

What LSAT score is competitive for Brooklyn Law?

The median LSAT for the Fall 2025 entering class was 161, with a middle-50% range of 158 to 163. Scores at or above 161 are competitive, and because the 25th percentile is 158 the school admits a real band of applicants below its median.

What GPA do Brooklyn Law applicants typically have?

The median undergraduate GPA for the Fall 2025 entering class was 3.59, with a middle-50% range of 3.37 to 3.75. The 509 report aggregates GPA across the whole first-year class regardless of admission test.

Does Brooklyn Law give scholarships?

Yes, broadly: per the 2025 ABA 509 report, 1,017 students (91%) received grants, with a median grant of $34,000, a 25th percentile of $25,000 and a 75th percentile of $48,000. The median award covers 44% of the 2026–27 tuition line.

Does Brooklyn Law offer conditional scholarships?

Yes, and this is the school's most significant financial risk. The 509 report shows 360 conditional scholarships offered in 2024–25 with 69 reduced or eliminated (19.2%), 361 offered in 2023–24 with 74 reduced (20.5%), and 365 offered in 2022–23 with 61 reduced (16.7%). Applicants should read the retention terms in their award letter carefully.

What is Brooklyn Law's bar passage rate?

First-time takers from the Class of 2025 passed at 85.5%, 1.4 points below the average of the jurisdictions where they sat. ILRG's tabulation of the 2024 administrations gives 84.5%, 1.3 points below New York's 85.7% statewide rate, ranked #84 nationally. In 2019 the school's first-time rate was 78.7%, three points above the New York average.

How many Brooklyn Law graduates get jobs?

The school reports that 90.7% of the Class of 2025 secured full-time, long-term legal jobs — a record for the school. Independent tabulations of the 356 graduates show 91.8% employed in any job type (327 of 356), 84.8% in jobs requiring bar admission (302 of 356), and a modeled median salary of $124,207. ILRG's tabulation of the prior cohort gives 82.8% full-time long-term bar-required employment (ranked #91 nationally), 91.8% overall employment at ten months, and a 1.2% federal clerkship rate.

What does Brooklyn Law cost?

Tuition for 2026–27 is $77,762 plus $2,332 in general fees and a $52 one-time registration fee, for $80,146 total in the full-time program; the part-time program is $60,704. The cost of attendance is $116,674 living independently and $91,909 living with parents. The LL.M. programme totals $104,778 full-time.

How much does housing cost, and can I reduce it?

The 2026–27 housing allowance is $24,765 with $1,575 in utilities, and the 509 report lists the same $36,528 living allowance for on-campus and off-campus students alike. Living with parents removes the housing line entirely, cutting the cost of attendance from $116,674 to $91,909 — a saving of nearly 21%.

Is there an application fee?

No. Brooklyn Law School does not charge an application fee. Applications received by February 1 receive priority review, and the financial-aid deadline is June 30.

Does Brooklyn Law have a part-time J.D.?

Yes. Brooklyn offers a four-year part-time evening J.D. alongside its three-year full-time programme; the Fall 2025 entering class included 34 part-time students. Part-time tuition is $58,320 for 2026–27, and the part-time cost of attendance is $96,732 living independently.

How many credits are required to graduate?

All J.D. students must earn a minimum of 85 credits. Standard tuition covers those 85 credits plus an additional three free credits, for a total of 88 credits at no extra cost.

What is Brooklyn Law best known for?

Its New York City placement and alumni network — including U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, former Mayor David Dinkins and former Senator Norm Coleman — along with its business, entrepreneurship and technology programs anchored by CUBE and the BLIP clinic, its #20-ranked criminal law specialty, and its position as the only law school in Brooklyn, founded in 1901 and independent since.

Contact and Key Links

Brooklyn Law School
250 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Admissions Phone: (718) 780-0315

Financial Aid Email: [email protected]

Official links

TLS Forum Links

Sources

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