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Drake University Law School
Last updated: September 30, 2026
Contents
- 1 Drake University Law School
- 1.1 Drake Law at a Glance
- 1.2 Introduction
- 1.3 Rankings and Reputation
- 1.4 Admissions: What It Takes to Get In
- 1.5 Cost, Scholarships, and Debt
- 1.6 Employment Outcomes
- 1.7 Academics and Programs
- 1.8 Student Life and Location
- 1.9 How Drake Compares
- 1.10 The TLS Verdict
- 1.11 Frequently Asked Questions
- 1.11.1 How hard is it to get into Drake Law?
- 1.11.2 What LSAT score is competitive for Drake Law?
- 1.11.3 What GPA do Drake applicants typically have?
- 1.11.4 Does Drake give scholarships?
- 1.11.5 Does Drake have conditional scholarships?
- 1.11.6 What is Drake's bar passage rate?
- 1.11.7 Is Drake good for BigLaw?
- 1.11.8 Does Drake offer a part-time J.D.?
- 1.11.9 What is Drake Law best known for?
- 1.11.10 Is there a loan repayment program?
- 1.12 Contact and Key Links
- 1.13 TLS Forum Links
- 1.14 Sources
Drake University Law School
Drake University Law School is a private law school in Des Moines, Iowa, that enrolled a first-year class of 141 students in Fall 2025 from 788 completed applications, with a median LSAT of 156 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.67. It is ranked #91 (tie) in the 2026 U.S. News rankings, its fourth consecutive year inside the top 100, and its graduates have posted 94% employment outcomes over the last three years. The central decision issue for admitted applicants is that Drake pairs an established clinic and trial-practice program at one of the nation's 25 oldest law schools with a deep tuition discount — 286 students receive grants with a $31,000 median award against $52,448 tuition — at a 2026–27 cost of attendance of $76,587.
Forum Links
Drake Law at a Glance
| Category | Latest information |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1865 (established by Iowa Supreme Court justices George Wright and Chester Cole; one of the nation's 25 oldest law schools) |
| Type | Private (Drake University) |
| ABA approval or accreditation | ABA approved (Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar); charter member of the Association of American Law Schools; Chapter of the Order of the Coif |
| Location | Des Moines, Iowa (Cartwright Hall, 2507 University Avenue) |
| Latest U.S. News rank | #91 tie of 194 (2026 edition), fourth consecutive year within the top 100 |
| Latest completed applications | 788 (Fall 2025, 2025 509 report); 875 reported for the Fall 2026 entering class |
| Latest acceptance rate | 54.82% (Fall 2025) |
| Latest LSAT median | 156 (Fall 2025 and Fall 2026) |
| Latest GPA median | 3.67 (Fall 2025, 509 report); 3.71 for the Fall 2026 entering class |
| Latest entering class | 141 (Fall 2025); 138 for Fall 2026 |
| Current tuition | $52,448 plus $520 fees (2026–27); $50,920 plus $470 fees (2025–26, 509 report) |
| Current estimated cost of attendance | $76,587 (2026–27, school figure, including living expenses, textbooks and loan fees) |
| Latest first-time bar passage | 85.7% on the 2024 administrations in Iowa, versus an 83.7% Iowa average (+2.0 points); 77.2% for 2025 graduates on the all-jurisdiction measure |
| Latest bar-required employment | 88% of the Class of 2024 in bar-required positions; 81.4% full-time, long-term bar-passage-required (most recent ILRG report); 94% overall employment for the Class of 2024 (school-reported) |
| Current dean | Jerry Anderson (interim dean effective August 8, 2026); Roscoe Jones, Jr. served as dean from July 1, 2024 through August 7, 2026 |
The admissions figures are drawn from Drake's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (788 completed applications, 432 offers, a 54.82% acceptance rate, 141 first-year students against a total J.D. enrollment of 369, and no transfers in). The school's own class-profile page reports the Fall 2026 entering class from a larger pool — 875 applicants and 138 enrolled, with a 156 LSAT median and a 3.71 GPA median. Tuition and cost data come from the school's Costs and Financial Aid page for 2026–27 and from the 509 report for 2025–26. Jerry Anderson, the Richard M. and Anita Calkins Distinguished Professor of Law who previously led the school as dean, returned as interim dean on August 8, 2026, following Roscoe Jones, Jr.'s departure; Drake has announced a national search for a permanent dean.
Introduction
Drake University Law School, founded in 1865 and the law school of Drake University, is a private institution in Des Moines, Iowa, and one of the 25 oldest law schools in the United States. It is located in Cartwright Hall on the Drake University campus, and it is the only law school in Iowa's capital city — a position that gives students direct access to the Iowa Supreme Court, the Iowa Legislature, the state agencies headquartered in Des Moines, and the local bench and bar. With a J.D. enrollment of 369 and a first-year class of 141, it is small by national standards and has produced more than 7,000 alumni.
Drake's identity rests on three pillars: a clinical program that has led in clinical legal education for more than 50 years and offers enough placements for every student; the nation's only First-Year Trial Practicum, which puts first-year students into a courtroom in their first year; and a curriculum built around centers in agricultural law, legislative practice, constitutional law and children's rights that map directly onto Iowa's economy and institutions. Its graduates practice overwhelmingly in the upper Midwest.
Rankings and Reputation
Drake Law is ranked #91 (tie) of 194 in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, the fourth consecutive year the school has placed within the top 100. Its standing is notably stronger on outcomes than on the composite: ILRG's 2026 analysis, built on the December 2025 ABA disclosures, ranks Drake tied at #21 nationally for female faculty representation (53.3%), #71 for bar passage rate (85.7%, a 2.0-point advantage over Iowa's 83.7% average), and #71 for overall employment at ten months (94.3%), while placing it #75 for student-faculty ratio, #102 for bar-required employment, #115 for federal clerkships and #129 for LSAT composite. The school has also been recognized for value, ranking 9th among best-value private law schools and drawing on a scholarship fund that helps more than 85% of its students.
Overall ranking
| U.S. News edition | Drake Law rank |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 91 (tie) of 194 |
| 2023–2025 | Within the top 100 for three consecutive years per the school's own reporting; individual positions not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed |
Drake's composite rank sits in the low 90s while its employment and bar-outcome placements sit in the low 70s nationally. For applicants, the outcome figures are the more decision-relevant signal, because they reflect what happens to graduates in a market where the school has no in-state competitor for state government, judicial and legislative work.
Specialty rankings and outcome placements
| Metric (2026 reporting cycle) | Drake Law placement |
|---|---|
| Female faculty representation | Tied #21 nationally (53.3%) |
| Bar passage rate, first-time takers | #71 nationally (85.7%), +2.0 points over Iowa |
| Overall employment, 10 months after graduation | #71 nationally (94.3%) |
| Student-faculty ratio | Tied #75 nationally (10.9:1) |
| GPA composite | #92 nationally (3.65) |
| Bar-required employment (full-time, long-term) | #102 nationally (81.4%) |
| Federal clerkship rate | #115 nationally (1.0%) |
| LSAT composite | #129 nationally (156.0) |
| Minority faculty representation | #161 nationally (13.0%) |
| Acceptance rate (selectivity) | #166 nationally (54.8%) |
| Tuition among full-time students | #269 of 275 tuition rates ($50,920) |
Drake's faculty totals 92 members, of whom 53.3% are women and 13.0% are racial or ethnic minorities. U.S. News specialty rank numbers for individual practice areas in the 2026 edition were not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed and are therefore not listed here; the school is widely described, including by its own students, as one of the strongest programs for juvenile law and children's rights, which is supported by the Middleton Center for Children's Rights.
Admissions: What It Takes to Get In
Entering class (Fall 2025)
| Admissions metric | Fall 2025 |
|---|---|
| Completed applications | 788 |
| Offers of admission | 432 |
| Acceptance rate | 54.82% |
| Total in first-year class | 141 |
| Total J.D. enrollment | 369 |
| Transfers in | 0 |
| Yield (enrollees / offers) | 32.6% |
The school's own Fall 2026 entering class profile, as of the first day of classes, reports 875 applicants and 138 enrolled students, with 61% women and 12% students of color, drawn from 25 states — Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
LSAT and GPA
| Statistic | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSAT (Fall 2025, 509 report) | 153 | 156 | 159 |
| Undergraduate GPA (Fall 2025, 509 report) | 3.38 | 3.67 | 3.89 |
| LSAT (Fall 2026 class, school profile) | 154 | 156 | 160 |
| Undergraduate GPA (Fall 2026 class, school profile) | 3.56 | 3.71 | 3.88 |
Drake accepts the LSAT as well as the GRE and JD-Next, and its application fee is $0.
Interpreting the numbers
Drake's credentials have climbed meaningfully over the past several cycles but from a lower base than most schools in its rank band. Between the 2019 and 2025 entering classes, the acceptance rate fell from 59.2% to 54.8%, the median LSAT rose from 153 to 156, the LSAT middle-50% band moved from 151–156 to 153–159, the median GPA rose from 3.46 to 3.67, and the GPA band moved from 3.18–3.75 to 3.38–3.89. The Fall 2026 cohort continued the trend, with the GPA middle-50% moving up to 3.56–3.88 while the LSAT median held at 156 — a profile that indicates a school improving its incoming quality through the GPA side of the equation while its LSAT median remains in the mid-150s. Unlike most schools at this rank, Drake is not highly selective on paper: at a 54.82% acceptance rate with 432 offers producing 141 enrollees, the school admits a majority of applicants and enrolls about a third of those it admits. No LSAT or GPA guarantees admission.
Application timing
- Applications accepted on a rolling basis through the cycle
- April 1 — J.D. application deadline
- April 1 — financial aid deadline
- Application fee: $0
Applicants submit through LSAC's Credential Assembly Service. Drake also operates 3+3 programs in partnership with Drake University, Iowa State University, Des Moines University and the University of Iowa, and articulates transfer credit policies through those agreements.
Cost, Scholarships, and Debt
Tuition
Drake is private, so there is no resident/non-resident differential. Tuition for the 2026–27 academic year is $52,448 with $520 in fees, a total of $52,968, or $26,224 per semester. Part-time students taking fewer than 10 credits pay $1,809 per credit hour. The 2025–26 figures per the 509 report were $50,920 in tuition with $470 in fees. The 509 report lists part-time tuition as $0 because Drake does not enroll a separately tracked part-time cohort; reduced-load students are charged per credit. The application fee is $0.
| Category | 2025–26 (ABA 509) | 2026–27 (school page) |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time tuition | $50,920 | $52,448 |
| Mandatory fees | $470 | $520 |
| Total | $51,390 | $52,968 |
| Per-semester tuition | Not stated separately | $26,224 |
| Per-credit rate (part-time, under 10 credits) | Not stated separately | $1,809 |
| Application fee | $0 | $0 |
The same rates apply to Drake's LL.M. programs, which are 24 credit hours. The Master of Jurisprudence programs — Individualized Legal Studies (in person) and Compliance and Risk Management (online) — are 24 credit hours each and cost $882 per credit, or approximately $21,160 in tuition plus $520 in fees.
Cost of attendance
| Expense | 2026–27 |
|---|---|
| Tuition | $52,448 |
| Fees | $520 |
| Estimated living expenses | $20,475 |
| Estimated textbook cost | $2,000 |
| Estimated loan fees | $1,144 |
| Total estimated annual JD student budget | $76,587 |
The $76,587 figure is the school's own published budget; students are directed to the university's full Cost of Attendance Budget for the detailed components behind the living-expense line.
Financial aid
Drake's aid program is broad and unusually deep for the tuition it charges. Per the 2025 Standard 509 report, 286 students received grants, with a 25th-percentile award of $24,000, a median of $31,000 and a 75th-percentile award of $37,080. Because tuition is $52,448, the median award covers roughly 59% of tuition, bringing median net tuition to about $21,448 a year; the school states that its scholarship fund helps provide awards and gift aid to more than 85% of its students, and that its graduates leave with less debt than the national average. Drake also offers an Alumni Referral Scholarship, a Public Service Scholarship Program through the Career Development Office, and post-graduate public-interest fellowships.
Conditional scholarships: Drake's current policy is that it awards none — its disclosures state that it does not award scholarships that may be reduced or eliminated based on academic performance other than failure to maintain good academic standing, and it publishes no conditional-scholarship retention chart. Its own retention table, however, shows a mixed history that applicants should understand:
| Academic year | Students entering with conditional scholarships | Scholarships since reduced or eliminated |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022–23 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | 20 | 11 |
| 2020–21 | 26 | 12 |
If the current no-conditional-award policy continues, awards renew on good academic standing alone — a materially better structure than the schools that still issue conditional aid. Applicants holding an older scholarship agreement should confirm its terms in writing. Loan repayment assistance for public-interest graduates was not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Debt perspective
U.S. News does not publish an average indebtedness figure for Drake's 2025 J.D. graduates in the sources reviewed, so no debt figure is reproduced here; the school states that its graduates carry less debt than the national average, and ILRG ranks Drake #269 of 275 tuition rates at $50,920, which places it below the private-school median. The combination of a $31,000 median grant, a $52,448 tuition, and a Des Moines cost of living budgeted at $20,475 a year makes Drake one of the more affordable private legal educations in the region. The school provides a student loan calculator through AccessLex and maintains a dedicated loans page.
Employment Outcomes
Employment (Class of 2024 and Class of 2025)
Drake reports that 94% of its Class of 2024 graduates were employed in positions requiring a law license or offering a significant J.D. advantage within ten months of graduation, a figure it notes represents an increase from the 91% reported in the ABA summary because three graduates began full-time firm jobs by April 1, two weeks after the ABA collection period closed, and several graduates logged as "employed – start date deferred" in the ABA report were in fact employed. Over the last three years, the school reports 94% employment outcomes.
| Employment metric | Class of 2024 |
|---|---|
| Total graduates | 100 (100% reporting rate) |
| Employed, ABA summary basis | 91 (91%) |
| Employed, school-reported basis (adjusted for start dates) | 94% |
| Bar required | 88 (88%) |
| J.D. preferred | 3 (3%) |
| Employed – start date after March 17, 2025 | 3 (3%) |
| Not seeking or start date deferred | 1 (1%) |
| Seeking, unemployed | 5 (5%) |
| Overall employment at 10 months (ILRG, 2024 outcomes) | 94.3% (#71 nationally) |
| Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required (ILRG, 2024 outcomes) | 81.4% (#102 nationally) |
| Federal clerkship rate (ILRG) | 1.0% (#115 nationally) |
| Employment setting (of employed graduates) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number employed | 104 | 98 | 91 |
| Private practice | 73 (70%) | 61 (62%) | 51 (56%) |
| Government | 11 (11%) | 12 (12%) | 16 (18%) |
| Judicial clerkship | 2 (2%) | 7 (7%) | 14 (15%) |
| Business | 9 (9%) | 7 (7%) | 4 (4%) |
| Public interest | 8 (8%) | 9 (9%) | 6 (6%) |
| Education | 1 (1%) | 2 (2%) | 0 (0%) |
The trend across those three columns is the most important thing in the table: judicial clerkship placement rose from 2% to 15% of employed graduates in two years, while private practice fell from 70% to 56% and government rose from 11% to 18%. Drake's career office is building a stronger pipeline into the bench and state service than the school's overall rank would suggest.
What these numbers mean
Drake's placement profile is regional, stable and weighted toward public-sector and judicial work. Roughly 89% of employed graduates stay in the West North Central region — Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota — which reflects a school that supplies the Iowa bench and bar and the state government in Des Moines. About 5% of each class remains unemployed and seeking at ten months, in line with the national rate. Salary statistics by setting were published through Drake's NALP reports — the 2025 NALP Data Report is available on the school's disclosures page and contains salary detail the ABA summaries do not — but those figures were not machine-readable in the sources reviewed and are therefore not reproduced here.
Bar passage
| Bar statistic | Figure |
|---|---|
| First-time bar passage, 2024 administrations (ILRG, primary state Iowa) | 85.7%, versus an 83.7% Iowa average (+2.0 points) |
| First-time bar passage, 2025 graduates (all jurisdictions) | 77.2% (88 of 114 first-time takers) |
| First-time bar passage, 2019 administrations (ILRG) | 81.5%, versus an 85.8% Iowa average (-4.3 points) |
| Iowa bar passage, most recent reported administration | Among the strongest performances in the state per the school's own bar passage report |
Drake has moved from behind the Iowa average in 2019 (-4.3 points) to ahead of it in 2024 (+2.0 points), which is the direction that matters for a school supplying one state's bench and bar. The gap between the 85.7% Iowa-focused figure and the 77.2% all-jurisdiction figure for 2025 graduates reflects both the different administrations and the fact that the all-jurisdiction number includes states where Drake graduates sit in smaller numbers; neither should be read as a single stable rate. The school publishes a full Bar Passage Report, linked from its ABA disclosures page.
Where graduates go
Drake graduates practice across Iowa and the upper Midwest, in firms of every size, state and local government, judicial chambers, business and public-interest organizations. The regional concentration is heavy: 89% of employed graduates from the Class of 2024 work in the West North Central region, 3% in the East North Central states, 3% in the Mountain states, 2% in the South Atlantic states, 2% in the Mid-Atlantic, and 1% each in New England and internationally. Exact firm-size and salary counts for the Class of 2025 were not published in machine-readable form in the sources reviewed.
Academics and Programs
The J.D. requires 90 credit hours and is an in-person track that most students complete in three years. Drake also offers a Master of Jurisprudence (24 credits, in person or online, completable in as few as 1.5 years), a Master of Laws (24 credits, also in as few as 1.5 years, with students building their own program around individual career goals), joint degrees, and 3+3 programs that allow qualified undergraduates to earn the bachelor's and J.D. in six years.
Curriculum and special strengths
Drake's academic identity is practical training with a strong public-service orientation. The school's centers map directly onto Iowa's institutions and economy: the Legislative Practice Center places students in the Iowa Legislature during session; the Agricultural Law Center draws on Iowa's farm economy and is one of the oldest programs of its kind; the Constitutional Law Center supports scholarship and programming in constitutional law; the Middleton Center for Children's Rights anchors the school's nationally recognized work in juvenile and children's law; and the Institute for Justice Reform and Innovation (IJRI) promotes justice in courts and the legal profession through scholarship and action connecting law to the humanities and social sciences, working from the premise that the norm of justice, not the rule of law alone, should guide the profession. The school's faculty totals 92 members, with 34 full-time and 58 non-full-time, and the school states that a large share of its faculty have practiced law.
Clinics and experiential learning
Clinical education is Drake's signature strength and its oldest tradition of innovation. For more than 50 years the Drake Legal Clinic has given students direct responsibility for real clients and real matters, and the clinic offers enough placements to provide every student with a clinical placement. Students take the lead on all aspects of a case — client counseling, negotiation, courtroom advocacy and trial work — under close faculty supervision in small, intensive sections. Alongside the clinic, Drake offers the First-Year Trial Practicum, the only program of its kind in the country, which brings first-year students into courtroom practice during their first year rather than reserving advocacy training for upper-level students. The school also supports internships, competition teams, public service placements, publications, and study abroad.
Journals and scholarly output
Drake's experiential program publishes through its Publications program, and students participate in competition teams across advocacy disciplines. The Institute for Justice Reform and Innovation supports faculty and student scholarship at the intersection of law and the social sciences.
Student Life and Location
Living in Des Moines
Drake Law sits in Cartwright Hall on the Drake University campus in Des Moines, the state capital and Iowa's largest city. The location is the school's most concrete structural advantage: as the only law school in the capital city, Drake students extern with the Iowa Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the Iowa Legislature through the Legislative Practice Center, state agencies, and the local bench and bar, and they do so during the academic year rather than only in summer. The trade-offs are scale and cost — Des Moines is a mid-sized market, so graduates who want coastal or large-metro practice must build that network independently, and the school's tuition ranks #269 of 275 rates nationally while remaining below the private-school median.
Student body
With 369 total J.D. students and a first-year class of 141, Drake is small by national standards, which the school describes as a collaborative and collegial culture. The student body is 54.5% women, 45.3% men and 0.3% non-binary or other; the Fall 2026 entering class is 61% women with 12% students of color, drawn from 25 states. Students run more than 25 active organizations and competition teams, covering advocacy, public service, diversity, wellness and a full range of practice interests. Drake's alumni network exceeds 7,000 graduates worldwide.
How Drake Compares
Choose Drake if
- You want clinical experience guaranteed: the Drake Legal Clinic has operated for more than 50 years, offers enough placements for every student, and the First-Year Trial Practicum is the only program of its kind nationally.
- You want a specific public-law specialty — juvenile and children's rights (Middleton Center), agricultural law, legislative practice, or constitutional law.
- You want a scholarship discount with predictable renewal: a $31,000 median grant against $52,448 tuition, with 286 grant recipients and no conditional awards under current policy.
- You want to practice in Iowa or the upper Midwest, where 89% of employed graduates work and where the school is the only one in the state capital.
- You want judicial or government work: clerkship placement rose from 2% to 15% of employed graduates in two years, and government rose from 11% to 18%.
Consider alternatives if
- You want a top-tier composite ranking or national BigLaw placement — Drake is ranked #91 (tie), 56% of its employed graduates enter private practice (mostly small and mid-sized firms), and its federal clerkship rate is 1.0%.
- You want high selectivity or a high-LSAT peer group — the acceptance rate is 54.82% and the median LSAT is 156.
- You need a formal part-time or evening program — the 509 report lists no separately enrolled part-time cohort, though reduced-load students pay $1,809 per credit.
- You want to practice on the coasts — placement is concentrated in the West North Central region.
- You are targeting a large firm — 56% of employed graduates enter private practice across firms of all sizes, with no large-firm concentration reported.
The TLS Verdict
Drake University Law School is a well-established, regionally dominant law school and one of the better value propositions among private schools in the Midwest. Founded in 1865, it is one of the nation's 25 oldest law schools, and its clinical tradition is genuinely distinctive: more than 50 years of clinical legal education, enough placements to guarantee every student a clinic spot, and the nation's only First-Year Trial Practicum. Its outcomes hold up on the measures that matter most: 94% employment outcomes over three years and 94.3% employment at ten months (ranked #71 nationally), a 15% judicial clerkship share that has risen sharply, government placement at 18% and climbing, and a bar passage rate that has moved from 4.3 points behind Iowa to 2.0 points ahead. Its aid structure is strong for a private school — 286 grant recipients, a $31,000 median award against $52,448 tuition, no conditional scholarships under current policy — producing a $76,587 all-in budget. The principal trade-offs are selectivity and reach: a 54.82% acceptance rate, a 156 median LSAT, a #91 (tie) composite, a 1.0% federal clerkship rate, and 89% of graduates staying in the upper Midwest. A deanship in transition adds a governance question worth watching. For applicants who intend to practice in Iowa and the upper Midwest, want hands-on training from the first year, or are targeting juvenile, agricultural or public law, Drake is among the best choices in the region; for those seeking national placement or a highly selective peer group, it is not the right fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How hard is it to get into Drake Law?
Moderately selective and accessible relative to most private law schools: for Fall 2025, Drake accepted 54.82% of applicants — 432 offers from 788 completed applications — and enrolled 141 students, a yield of 32.6%. The Fall 2026 cycle drew 875 applicants and enrolled 138.
What LSAT score is competitive for Drake Law?
The median LSAT for both the Fall 2025 and Fall 2026 entering classes was 156. The Fall 2025 middle-50% band was 153–159; the Fall 2026 band widened slightly to 154–160. Scores at or above 156 are competitive, and no score guarantees admission.
What GPA do Drake applicants typically have?
The median undergraduate GPA was 3.67 for the Fall 2025 entering class, with a middle-50% range of 3.38 to 3.89. The Fall 2026 class posted a median of 3.71 with a range of 3.56 to 3.88 — a notable upward shift in the lower bound.
Does Drake give scholarships?
Yes, broadly. Per the 2025 ABA 509 report, 286 students received grants, with a median award of $31,000, a 25th-percentile award of $24,000 and a 75th-percentile award of $37,080. The school states that scholarship and gift aid reaches more than 85% of its students.
Does Drake have conditional scholarships?
Not under current policy. Drake states that it does not award scholarships that may be reduced or eliminated based on academic performance other than failure to maintain good academic standing, and it reported zero conditional scholarships for the 2022–23 and 2023–24 entering classes. Its own retention table shows 20 conditional awards with 11 reduced or eliminated for 2021–22, and 26 with 12 reduced or eliminated for 2020–21, so holders of older agreements should confirm their terms in writing.
What is Drake's bar passage rate?
On the 2024 administrations, Drake's first-time pass rate was 85.7% against an 83.7% Iowa average, a 2.0-point advantage. For 2025 graduates across all jurisdictions, 88 of 114 first-time takers passed, a rate of 77.2%. In 2019 the school trailed Iowa by 4.3 points, so the trend is favorable.
Is Drake good for BigLaw?
Not primarily. About 56% of employed graduates enter private practice across firms of all sizes, 18% enter government and 15% take judicial clerkships. Large-firm placement is not a reported concentration, and 89% of employed graduates work in the upper Midwest.
Does Drake offer a part-time J.D.?
Not as a separate cohort. The 509 report lists part-time tuition as $0, indicating no separately tracked part-time enrollment, but students taking fewer than 10 credits pay $1,809 per credit hour, and the school offers in-person and online Master of Jurisprudence programs that suit working professionals.
What is Drake Law best known for?
Clinical legal education and trial practice: more than 50 years of clinical teaching with enough placements for every student, the nation's only First-Year Trial Practicum, and centers in juvenile and children's rights, agricultural law, legislative practice and constitutional law.
Is there a loan repayment program?
Loan repayment assistance for public-interest graduates was not confirmed in the sources reviewed. Drake does offer a Public Service Scholarship Program, post-graduate fellowships through the Career Development Office, and public-interest and pro bono programming, and it directs students to a student loan calculator through AccessLex.
Contact and Key Links
Drake University Law School
Cartwright Hall
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50311
Admission and Financial Aid Phone: 515-271-2782
Admission and Financial Aid Email: [email protected]
Career Development Phone: 515-271-2988
Career Development Email: [email protected]
Interim Dean: Jerry Anderson, Richard M. and Anita Calkins Distinguished Professor of Law
Official links
- Drake University Law School — Official Website
- Future Students and J.D. Admissions
- Class Profile
- Latest ABA Standard 509 Report
- 2025 Standard 509 Information Report (PDF)
- Latest Employment Data
- ABA Employment Summary Report, Class of 2025 (PDF)
- Latest Bar Passage Report (PDF)
- Tuition and Cost of Attendance
- Financial Aid and Scholarships
- Academic Programs — J.D.
- Experiential Learning
- First-Year Trial Practicum
- Clinics and Centers
- Drake Legal Clinic
- Collaborative Culture
- Meet the Dean
TLS Forum Links
Sources
- Drake University Law School — Official Website
- ABA — Drake University Law School 2025 Standard 509 Information Report
- Drake Law — ABA Required Disclosures (509 Report, Bar Passage Report, Retention Table, Employment and NALP Data)
- Drake Law — 2025 Standard 509 Information Report (PDF)
- Drake Law — Bar Passage Report 2026 (PDF)
- Drake Law — Class Profile, Fall 2026 Entering Class
- Drake Law — Costs and Financial Aid, 2026–27 Tuition and JD Student Budget
- Drake Law — Scholarships
- Drake Law — Employment Statistics and Employment Breakdown
- Drake Law — ABA Summary Report, Class of 2025 (PDF)
- Drake Law — ABA Summary Report, Class of 2024 (PDF)
- Drake Law — ABA Summary Report, Class of 2023 (PDF)
- Drake Law — 2025 NALP Data Report (PDF)
- Drake Law — Meet the Dean
- Drake University News — Jerry Anderson Named Interim Dean of Drake University Law School
- Iowa Capital Dispatch — Searches Underway for Drake Law Dean and Director Positions
- LawDeans — Drake University Law School Deans
- Drake University News — Drake Programs Ranked Among Best Graduate Schools by U.S. News
- U.S. News — Drake University Law School Profile