Last updated: September 2, 2026

Notre Dame Law School

Notre Dame Law School is the law school of the University of Notre Dame, a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana (near South Bend). Founded in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States and combines a distinctive faith-based identity with strong national outcomes — 91.4% full-time, long-term bar-required employment for the Class of 2025 and a growing BigLaw and federal-clerkship pipeline.

Notre Dame Law School at a Glance

Category	Latest information
Founded	1869 (oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the U.S.)
Type	Private (University of Notre Dame)
ABA approval or accreditation	ABA approved (Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar)
Location	Notre Dame, Indiana
Latest U.S. News rank	#20 (tie) (2026 edition, out of 194)
Latest completed applications	Not publicly confirmed in sources reviewed
Latest acceptance rate	16.07% (2025 ABA 509)
Latest LSAT median	170 (25th 164 – 75th 170)
Latest GPA median	3.89 (75th 3.92; 25th not publicly confirmed)
Latest entering class	182 (enrolled from applicant pool; total class not confirmed)
Current tuition	$75,816 (2026–27)
Current estimated cost of attendance	≈$102,626 (2026–27 school budget components)
Latest first-time bar passage	89.4% (2025, per LawHub)
Latest bar-required employment	91.4% full-time, long-term (Class of 2025)
Current dean	G. Marcus Cole (since 2019; reappointed to a further five-year term)

Introduction

Notre Dame Law School is one of the most distinctive institutions in American legal education — the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States, with a mission that explicitly integrates faith, ethics and the common good into the study of law. Under Dean G. Marcus Cole (a bankruptcy and commerce scholar, appointed in 2019 and reappointed to a second full term), the school has pushed steadily up the rankings — #20 (tie) in the 2026 U.S. News edition — and improved its employment profile markedly: federal clerkships nearly tripled as a share of recent classes, and 91.4% of the Class of 2025 landed full-time, long-term bar-required jobs. Its national alumni network, known for unusual loyalty, spans the judiciary, firms and public service.

Rankings and Reputation

Overall ranking

U.S. News (2026 edition) ranks Notre Dame Law #20 (tie) out of 194 (official U.S. News profile), with an overall score of 88. Its 2026–27 U.S. News peer-reputation score was 3.7 — #19 nationally on the TaxProf compilation. Official profile: U.S. News profile

Specialty rankings

U.S. News (2026) lists Notre Dame at #19 (tie) in Constitutional Law and #22 (tie) in Contracts/Commercial Law. The school's larger identity is its Catholic intellectual tradition — natural law, ethics and law-and-religion — which remains its signature strength nationally (additional specialty positions not re-verified this cycle are marked not confirmed).

Admissions: What It Takes to Get In

Entering class (Fall 2025)

Per the 2025 ABA Standard 509 Report, Notre Dame posted an 16.07% acceptance rate with 182 enrollees from the applicant pool (5.09% enrollment rate from completed applications). Exact application and offer counts were not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed; total first-year class size is not confirmed (the 182 figure is enrollees from the applicant pool).

LSAT and GPA

Official class profile: LSAT median 170 (75th 170 / 25th 164); UGPA median 3.89 (75th 3.92; the 25th percentile was not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed). LSATLab and ILRG corroborate the 170/3.89 medians.

Interpreting the numbers

Notre Dame's 16.07% acceptance rate with a 170 LSAT median places it in the same selectivity band as Vanderbilt and BU, but with a sharper identity filter: the school draws applicants who specifically want its mission, community and values, which produces unusually high yield and fit. The entering class is smaller than peer public flagships (~180–200), and the school's holistic review weighs service, character and mission alignment heavily.

Application timing

The J.D. application for the 2026–27 cycle opens in September with winter deadlines and rolling review; the application fee and exact 2027 dates were not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed — check the admissions portal directly: J.D. Admissions · Class Profile

Cost, Scholarships, and Debt

Tuition

$75,816 for the 2026–27 academic year ($37,908 per semester), plus mandatory fees of $520; the per-credit-hour tuition rate is $3,159 (Notre Dame Student Accounts). U.S. News lists $73,430 for an earlier reported year.

Cost of attendance

School-published 2026–27 student budget components: Tuition $75,816 · Fees $520 · Housing and Food $17,820 · Books and Supplies $1,750 · Personal Expenses $6,720, totaling approximately $102,626 (transportation was not shown in the retrieved excerpt; treat the total as a school-component sum). The figure is consistent with the financial-aid office's published law-program average budget.

Financial aid

Approximately 92% of students receive grant or scholarship funding (LSATLab, 2025 509 data); the median grant amount was not confirmed in sources reviewed. Aid is administered through Notre Dame's Office of Financial Aid, with merit and need-based awards plus loan programs.

Debt perspective

At ~$102,600 all-in, Notre Dame is priced like a private T14 without the T14 sticker premium of Columbia/NYU, and its South Bend location keeps living costs below coastal metros. The strong 91.4% bar-required placement and loyal alumni network support the debt; the school's mission-driven career path (including a meaningful public-interest and clerkship flow) also makes LRAP-style planning relevant.

Employment Outcomes

Employment (Class of 2025)

91.4% of the Class of 2025 secured full-time, long-term bar-required positions (ILRG, #20 nationally); LawHub reports 93.3% full-time, long-term legal employment overall for the school. The official ABA Employment Summaries for 2023–2025 are published at Professional Life – Employment Data; category-level detail (firm-size splits, sector counts) was not machine-readable in the sources reviewed and is marked not fully verified.

What these numbers mean

National context: across all 36,206 ABA graduates in the Class of 2025, 82.7% landed long-term, full-time legal jobs — Notre Dame runs roughly 9 points above that baseline. The trend is the story: BigLaw placement grew from 22.7% to 30.5% and federal clerkships from 5.2% to 16.5% across recent classes (HeyFutureLawyer), a faster climb than most schools in its band.

Bar passage

89.4% first-time bar passage for 2025 graduates (LawHub, 2025 cycle). Graduates sit for the bar across the Midwest and nationally, with strong multi-state results; the school's official bar-passage disclosures are posted at its ABA Required Disclosures page.

Where graduates go

Chicago, the Midwest and national markets lead placement, with a distinctive and growing federal-clerkship pipeline (16.5% of recent classes) and a strong public-interest flow consistent with the school's mission. Geographic splits for the Class of 2025 were not confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Academics and Programs

Curriculum and special strengths

The curriculum is anchored by the Catholic intellectual tradition: natural law, ethics, constitutional law (#19) and contracts/commercial law (#22) are signature strengths, with law-and-religion a defining feature. The Program of Study in Law and Humanities and the Natural Law Scholars program are distinctive offerings; the faculty includes scholars across national security, bankruptcy, constitutional theory and theology-and-law.

Clinics and experiential learning

Notre Dame operates an established clinical and externship program serving the South Bend and greater Chicago region, including the Economic Justice Clinic and others (current roster not independently re-verified this cycle — see Academic Programs). Degrees: the full-time J.D. plus LL.M. (with a London program) and other graduate offerings; there is no part-time or evening J.D. division.

Student Life and Location

Living in Notre Dame, Indiana

The campus sits in Notre Dame, Indiana, a self-contained college town adjacent to South Bend, 90 miles from Chicago. The community is defined by the university's Catholic character — the Basilica, the Grotto, and a campus culture built around faith, tradition and the Fighting Irish — and the London Law Program gives students a built-in study-abroad option.

Student body

The student body is deliberately communal and mission-aligned: smaller classes (~180–200), an unusual sense of shared identity, and an alumni network famous for loyalty to each other and the school. The culture is both rigorous and collegial, with a strong service ethos and a notably supportive relationship between students and faculty.

How Notre Dame Compares

Choose Notre Dame if

You want the Catholic intellectual tradition and a values-driven legal education; you want a tight-knit, mission-aligned community with a loyal national alumni network; you value a school whose employment trends (BigLaw 30.5%, federal clerkships 16.5%) are climbing; or you plan a Midwest/Chicago practice or a federal clerkship path.

Consider alternatives if

You want a secular or more diverse-in-outlook environment, the largest coastal BigLaw percentages of the T14, a larger class, or the lower sticker of a public flagship (Minnesota, Texas in-state). Notre Dame's 89.4% first-time bar passage is solid but below the 94–97% band of Stanford, Chicago and their peers, and its brand, while strong, is inseparable from its religious identity.

The TLS Verdict

Notre Dame Law is a school whose identity is its product: no other top-20 institution offers the Catholic intellectual tradition, natural-law curriculum and communal culture it does — and the employment numbers now back the brand (#20 ranking, 91.4% bar-required placement, near-tripled federal-clerkship share). Dean Cole's tenure has been a straight upward line. The trade-offs are fit-based: the mission is not for everyone, and the South Bend location and Midwest pull limit coastal placement intensity. For applicants who want their faith and values integrated with elite legal training, Notre Dame is effectively without peer; for everyone else, it is simply a very good school in a cold corner of Indiana.

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is it to get into Notre Dame Law?

Selective: a 16.07% acceptance rate for Fall 2025 (2025 ABA 509).

What LSAT score is competitive for Notre Dame?

The Fall 2025 median was 170, with a 25th–75th range of 164–170.

What GPA do Notre Dame applicants typically have?

The Fall 2025 median UGPA was 3.89, with a 75th percentile of 3.92; the 25th percentile was not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Does Notre Dame give scholarships?

Yes — approximately 92% of students receive grant or scholarship funding per 2025 509 data; the median grant amount was not confirmed in sources reviewed.

What is Notre Dame's bar passage rate?

89.4% first-time for 2025 graduates (LawHub, 2025 cycle).

Is Notre Dame good for BigLaw?

Yes and improving — 91.4% of the Class of 2025 landed full-time, long-term bar-required jobs, and BigLaw placement grew from 22.7% to 30.5% across recent classes.

Does Notre Dame offer a part-time J.D.?

No. Notre Dame Law is full-time only; there is no part-time or evening division.

What is Notre Dame Law best known for?

The Catholic intellectual tradition: natural law, ethics and law-and-religion, a mission-driven community, an unusually loyal national alumni network, and a fast-climbing federal-clerkship and BigLaw record.

Contact and Key Links

Official links

TLS Forum Links

Sources

Notre Dame Law School

Contents

Notre Dame Law School