Last updated: October 27, 2026

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is a private law school in White Plains, New York, that enrolled a first-year class of 324 students (247 full-time, 77 part-time) in Fall 2025 from 2,293 completed applications, with a median LSAT of 154 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.54. It is ranked #142 (tie) of 194 in the 2026 U.S. News rankings — #43 (tie) of 78 among part-time programs — and it is best known for the nation's #1-ranked environmental law program, a title it has held for five consecutive years, supported by the Pace Energy and Climate Center, the Land Use Law Center, and an Environmental Litigation Clinic that litigates cases for the Hudson River region. The central decision issue for admitted applicants is that Haub Law pairs the country's premier environmental-law brand, generous grants (median $29,000 against $58,700 tuition), and a 25 miles-from-Manhattan location with a first-time bar passage rate (65.18% in 2025) that trails the weighted state average by nearly 19 points, conditional scholarships that nearly half of conditional holders saw reduced or eliminated in 2024–25, and average debt of $109,585 with no loan repayment assistance program, at a 2026–27 cost of attendance of up to $93,790 for students living independently.

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Haub Law at a Glance

Category	Latest information
Founded	1976 (as Pace Law School; renamed for Elisabeth Haub in 2016)
Type	Private
ABA approval or accreditation	ABA approved — "Council Approved Since 1978" per the 2025 509 report
Location	78 North Broadway, White Plains, New York (Gerber Glass Law Center; campus houses the New York State Judicial Institute)
Latest U.S. News rank	#142 (tie) of 194; #43 (tie) of 78 in Part-time Law (2026 edition)
Latest completed applications	2,293 (Fall 2025, 2025 509 report)
Latest acceptance rate	44.13% (Fall 2025)
Latest LSAT median	154 (Fall 2025)
Latest GPA median	3.54 (Fall 2025)
Latest entering class	324 (247 full-time, 77 part-time) (Fall 2025)
Current tuition	$58,700 full-time day (2026–27 school rate; $59,918 with mandatory fees); $44,038 part-time ($44,894 all-in); U.S. News displays $57,756 FT / $43,324 PT for 2025–26
Current estimated cost of attendance	$87,798 on campus / $93,790 living independently / $73,502 with parents (2026–27, school figures)
Latest first-time bar passage	65.18% (2025 first-time takers, ABA report) vs. an 84.05% weighted state average; 68.6% (U.S. News basis); 82.7% ultimate (U.S. News)
Latest bar-required employment	80.8% of graduates in full-time, long-term bar-required positions (Class of 2025, ABA data)
Current dean	Horace E. Anderson Jr. (ninth dean, appointed December 2019, serving his second term)

The admissions figures are drawn from Haub Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (2,293 completed applications, 1,012 offers, 44.13% acceptance rate, 324 in the first-year class as of October 2025), and this profile uses the standardized 509 figures throughout. Tuition data are from the 509 report, the school's 2026–27 tuition page, and the U.S. News profile (whose $57,756 corresponds to the 2025–26 year). Horace E. Anderson Jr., previously the school's associate dean and a former partner at Phillips Lytle, has served as the ninth dean since December 2019 and is currently serving his second term.

Introduction

Founded in 1976 as Pace Law School — the first law school located between New York City and Albany — the school received ABA accreditation in 1978 and grew up alongside its environmental mission: the Pace Environmental Law Review was among the first journals of its kind, and the school's centers built national standing in energy and land-use law through the 1980s and 1990s. In 2016, following a $10 million-plus gift recognition, it was renamed the Elisabeth Haub School of Law for the philanthropist and environmental advocate Elisabeth Haub, whose family's foundation has supported the program for decades. The school occupies the Gerber Glass Law Center at 78 North Broadway in White Plains, and its campus is home to the New York State Judicial Institute, the statewide education and research center for all judges and justices of the New York Unified Court System.

The school's identity rests on three pillars: its environmental law program — ranked #1 in the country by U.S. News for five consecutive years, with the Pace Energy and Climate Center and Land Use Law Center shaping state and national policy — its clinical tradition (seven live-client clinics operated through the John Jay Legal Services non-profit), and its location in White Plains, the county seat of Westchester County, roughly 30 minutes by Metro-North from Grand Central.

Rankings and Reputation

Haub Law is ranked #142 (tie) of 194 in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings and #43 (tie) of 78 in the Part-time Law category. Its reputation is built almost entirely on specialization: the environmental law program's #1 national rank (fifth consecutive year) makes it one of the few non-elite schools whose single program outranks virtually every peer's, and preLaw magazine has ranked the school #2 among the top 20 law schools sending the most students into public-interest careers.

Overall ranking

U.S. News edition	Haub Law rank
2026	142 (tie) of 194; #43 (tie) of 78 part-time
2025	Not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed

Ranks earlier than 2026 were not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed. Applicants should treat single-digit movement in this band as immaterial to Haub Law's practical outcomes, which are driven by its environmental specialty, bar results, and New York regional placement rather than overall rank.

Specialty rankings

Environmental Law: #1 nationally (2026 — fifth consecutive year)
Trial Advocacy: #21 (tie) (2026)
Dispute Resolution: #36 (tie) (2026)
International Law: #56 (tie) (2026)

Sources: Pace news announcement; Wikipedia

Admissions: What It Takes to Get In

Entering class (Fall 2025)

Admissions metric	Fall 2025
Completed applications	2,293
Offers of admission	1,012
Acceptance rate	44.13%
Enrollees from applicant pool	323
Total in first-year class	324 (247 full-time, 77 part-time)
Yield (enrollees / offers)	31.82%

Total J.D. enrollment stood at 873 as of October 2025, with 2 transfer students in and 5 out. The 77-student part-time cohort reflects the school's flexible-entry division, which runs a parallel admissions track with slightly wider credentials.

LSAT and GPA

Statistic	25th percentile	Median	75th percentile
LSAT	151	154	157
Undergraduate GPA	3.31	3.54	3.74

Full-time entrants (LSAT 151/154/157; GPA 3.37/3.59/3.77) and part-time entrants (LSAT 151/152/155; GPA 3.01/3.37/3.57) are reported separately in the 509 data; the part-time 25th-percentile GPA of 3.01 shows the evening/flexible track's wider admissions band. The general J.D. policy accepts the LSAT, GRE, or JD-Next, taken within five years of projected enrollment; where an applicant has both, the LSAT takes priority.

Interpreting the numbers

A 44.13% acceptance rate with a 154/3.54 median places Haub Law in the moderately selective tier — fewer than half of applicants receive an offer, but the admitted band is wide. The 31.82% yield reflects the school's position as a backup-and-specialist school: many offers go to applicants holding admissions from higher-ranked New York schools, while environmental-law-focused applicants frequently choose Pace over better-ranked alternatives. Applicants at or above the medians are strong candidates; the part-time track (25th-percentile GPA 3.01) keeps the door open to applicants with weaker transcripts. No LSAT or GPA guarantees admission.

Application timing

The application fee is $70. The 2025 509 report lists application deadlines of December 1 and June 1 — reflecting the school's spring (January) and fall (August) entry points — while the U.S. News profile lists June 1 as the full-time deadline and the school's own cycle guidance has Fall 2027 applications opening September 7, 2026, with rolling review beginning in November and a priority filing date of June 1, 2027. The financial aid application deadline is November 15. Applicants submit two letters of recommendation through CAS, a resume, and a personal statement of 500 words or fewer.

Cost, Scholarships, and Debt

Tuition

Tuition for the 2026–27 academic year is $58,700 for full-time day J.D. students (the same for residents and non-residents, as Pace is private), or $59,918 with mandatory fees ($200 Student Activity, $658 Institutional, $210 Technology, $150 University Health Service). Part-time J.D. tuition is $44,038 ($44,894 all-in). The 509 report's 2025–26 lines were $56,648 tuition plus $1,108 fees full-time and $42,508 plus $816 part-time — the basis for U.S. News's $57,756/$43,324 figures. Summer per-credit tuition is $2,020, and the LL.M. runs $46,800 full-time.

Cost of attendance

Expense	2026–27 (full-time day, independent living)
Tuition	$58,700
Standard fees (Institutional, Technology, Health)	$1,218
Housing allowance	$22,192
Food	$4,394
Books and supplies	$4,000
Personal expenses	$1,906
Transportation	$1,164
Loan fees	$216
Total	$93,790

Students in university housing carry an $87,798 total (room $15,040, meal plan $5,300), and commuters living with parents carry $73,502. The 509 report's living allowances run slightly different — $27,826 on campus and $33,422 off campus — so applicants should treat the school's published budgets as the operative figures. The 2026–27 total is up from a $57,756 tuition basis in 2025–26, a roughly 3.7% annual increase per third-party tabulation.

Financial aid

Per the 2025 Standard 509 report, 808 of 873 students received grants — roughly 93% of the student body — with a median grant of $29,000, a 25th percentile of $20,000, and a 75th percentile of $38,500, against tuition of $56,648. Merit awards for admitted students range from $5,000 to full tuition. The catch is conditionality, and it is severe: renewal requires a 3.0 GPA to keep the full award, 2.80–2.99 keeps half, and below 2.80 loses it — and in the 2024–25 academic year, 119 of 285 matriculating students (41.8%) had conditional scholarships reduced or eliminated, one of the highest reduction rates among New York schools. The financial aid director is Adriana Pace, (914) 422-4050, with a November 15 aid application deadline.

Debt perspective

Average law-school debt, Class of 2025: $109,585
Proportion who borrowed: 74.7%
LRAP: None (U.S. News reports no loan repayment assistance program for 2025 J.D. graduates)

Average debt of $109,585 on a 74.7% borrowing rate is high for a school at this rank, and the combination of no LRAP, aggressive conditional-scholarship reductions, and a $93,790 top-end cost of attendance makes financing discipline unusually important at Haub Law. Third-party tabulation pegs the three-year sticker cost at roughly $281,610 and the estimated net cost at about $236,401 (computed from published figures; not independently confirmed). The counterweight is the public-interest and government pipeline — 26.8% of the Class of 2025 entered public-service work including government — where the absence of an LRAP hits hardest; applicants targeting those roles should negotiate scholarships at deposit and confirm all aid terms in writing before borrowing.

Employment Outcomes

Employment (Class of 2025)

Per ABA data as tabulated from the school's Class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (measured 10 months after graduation), the class of 261 graduates broke down as follows:

Employment metric	Class of 2025
Total graduates	261
Full-time, long-term bar-required employment	80.8%
Legal jobs, full-time long-term (LawHub)	81.6%
Public service, including government	26.8%
BigLaw (firms of 101+ attorneys)	12.6%
Federal clerkships	0.4% (roughly 1 graduate)

The detailed ABA category table (exact bar-required counts, firm-size distribution, unemployment figures, salary data, and state-by-state placement) was not machine-readable in the sources reviewed; the figures above are the ABA-data percentages reported by Sharper Statements and LawHub, and applicants should consult the school's official Class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary for the line items.

What these numbers mean

An 80.8% bar-required rate is respectable but not elite, and the class's shape is bimodal: a meaningful BigLaw contingent (12.6% at firms of 101+ — unusually strong for a school at this rank, driven partly by the environmental program's New York City network) coexists with a heavy public-service quarter and a long tail of small-firm and government placements. Federal clerkships are effectively absent (0.4%). The bar-passage problem — see below — is the outcome factor applicants should weight most heavily, because it gates everything else.

Bar passage

Bar statistic	Rate
2025 first-time takers, all jurisdictions (school ABA report)	65.18% (161 of 247) vs. 84.05% weighted average (−18.87)
New York bar, 2025 first-time (school report)	68.04% (132 of 194) vs. 87.27% state average (−19.23)
New Jersey bar, 2025 first-time (school report)	55.56% (20 of 36) vs. 71.10% state average (−15.54)
2024 first-time takers (school report)	68.55% vs. 84.39% (−15.84)
2023 first-time takers (school report)	65.15% vs. 80.59% (−15.44)
First-time bar passage (U.S. News basis)	68.6% vs. 84.4% state average
Ultimate bar passage, 2-year (U.S. News)	82.7%
Two-year ultimate, 2023 graduates (school report)	82.35% (196 of 238 takers)

Bar passage is Haub Law's defining weakness. The school's own ABA reports show first-time rates trailing the weighted state average by 15 to 19 points in every year from 2023 through 2025 — 65.18% in 2025 against an 84.05% average, with the New York gap at −19.23 points — and the two-year ultimate rate (82.35% for the 2023 cohort) sits near the ABA's 75% Standard 316 floor rather than comfortably above it. Applicants should treat bar risk as a first-order cost of attendance here: the gap between a 65% first-time rate and the state average translates directly into delayed licensure, lost income, and repeat bar-exam costs for a meaningful share of each class.

Where graduates go

The Class of 2025's employment geography centers on New York City and Westchester: the BigLaw contingent (12.6%) places in Manhattan firms, while the public-service quarter (26.8%) spreads across New York State agencies, Westchester County government, Legal Aid, and environmental organizations. State-by-state counts, firm-size detail, and salary figures for the class were not machine-readable in the sources reviewed and are therefore not reproduced here; the school's ABA Employment Summary is the primary document.

Academics and Programs

The J.D. is offered full-time (day) and part-time, with the school's curricular identity organized around its environmental mission and its clinical tradition. Degrees beyond the J.D. include the LL.M. in Environmental Law (the country's longest-running), the LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies, and an online M.S.E.L. in Environmental Law.

Curriculum and special strengths

U.S. News lists coursework across clinical training, dispute resolution, environmental law, health care law, intellectual property, international law, business/corporate law, constitutional law, contracts/commercial law, and criminal law. The signature institutions are the Pace Energy and Climate Center — a nationally influential clean-energy policy shop that has helped draft and defend New York's climate legislation — and the Land Use Law Center, which trains local officials across the Hudson Valley. Joint degrees multiply the environmental brand: J.D./LL.M. in Environmental Law, J.D./M.B.A. (Lubin School of Business), J.D./M.P.A. (Dyson College), J.D./M.S. in Environmental Policy (Bard College), and a J.D./Master of Environmental Management with the Yale School of the Environment — the Yale pairing being the program's most distinctive credential.

Clinics and experiential learning

Seven live-client clinics operate through John Jay Legal Services, Inc., the school's not-for-profit teaching firm: the Environmental Litigation Clinic (students litigate real cases for the Hudson River region under faculty supervision — the clinic that made Pace's name), the Barbara C. Salken Criminal Justice Clinic, the Amelia A. Gould Representation in Mediation Clinic, the Equal Justice America Disability Rights Clinic, the Fairbridge Investor Rights Clinic, the Food and Farm Business Law Clinic, and the Immigration Justice Clinic. The on-campus New York State Judicial Institute adds a judicial-education dimension unavailable elsewhere, and externships place students throughout the Westchester–Manhattan corridor.

Student Life and Location

Living in White Plains

The law school sits at 78 North Broadway in downtown White Plains, the county seat of Westchester County and roughly 30 minutes from Grand Central by Metro-North — close enough to New York City for internships and interviews, far enough out to carry a materially lower housing budget than the city itself (the school budgets a $22,192 independent-living housing allowance, versus roughly double at Manhattan schools). The campus also houses the New York State Judicial Institute, giving students regular contact with sitting judges. Students without cars find the school walkable from the White Plains Metro-North station.

Student body

Total J.D. enrollment is 873 (October 2025), with a student-faculty ratio of 10.1:1 per U.S. News. The faculty comprises 43 full-time members, 108 non-full-time members, and 4 librarians. LawHub reports the class is 64% women and 36% men, 64.8% White, 8.9% multiracial, with 10.9% unknown race/ethnicity; detailed 509 faculty demographics and in-state enrollment percentages were not retrievable from the sources reviewed this cycle and are therefore not listed. The student body splits between a full-time day cohort oriented toward New York City practice and a substantial part-time cohort (77 of 324 first-years) of working students drawn from Westchester government and the region's firms.

How Haub Compares

Choose Haub if

You want the country's definitive environmental-law credential — the #1 U.S. News rank for five straight years, the Energy and Climate Center, the Land Use Law Center, and the Yale joint-degree pairing are unmatched at any price.
You are targeting New York public interest, government, or environmental practice — 26.8% of the Class of 2025 entered public-service work, and preLaw ranks the school #2 nationally for public-interest placement.
You want BigLaw access from a lower-ranked school — 12.6% of 2025 graduates joined firms of 101+ attorneys, well above the norm for this band.
You need the flexibility of a part-time track with credentials only modestly below the day division, at a campus 30 minutes from Manhattan.

Consider alternatives if

Bar passage risk is disqualifying — a 65.18% first-time rate (−18.87 points vs. the weighted average) trails New York's other private schools badly, and the two-year ultimate rate sits near the ABA compliance floor.
Conditional-scholarship exposure is a dealbreaker — 119 of 285 matriculating students (41.8%) had awards reduced or eliminated in 2024–25, among the highest reduction rates in New York.
You want minimal debt without an LRAP — average debt is $109,585 on 74.7% borrowing with no loan repayment assistance program, a poor combination for the public-interest careers the school sells.
You would pay New York private-school prices for a national placement footprint — peers in the city place more graduates into large firms and clerkships.

The TLS Verdict

Haub Law is the clearest one-trick school in American legal education, and the trick is excellent: a #1 environmental program, five years running, with policy centers, a litigation clinic, and a Yale joint degree that no similarly ranked school can match. It also posts a BigLaw rate (12.6%) that embarrasses schools fifty spots above it, and its public-interest quarter is genuine. But the core economics are the worst kind of trade: New York private-school tuition ($58,700), a 41.8% conditional-scholarship reduction rate, $109,585 of average debt with no LRAP, and a first-time bar passage rate 19 points below the state average that delays or denies licensure for roughly a third of each class. The environmental program justifies the school for its true believers — applicants who know they want energy, climate, and land-use practice and will fight for the specialty jobs. For everyone else, the same tuition buys better bar results, better aid retention, and better employment odds almost anywhere else in the New York system.

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is it to get into Haub Law?

Moderately selective: for Fall 2025, the school accepted 44.13% of applicants (1,012 offers from 2,293 completed applications), with 323 students enrolling from the applicant pool into a class of 324. Review is rolling, beginning in November, with a June 1 priority filing date.

What LSAT score is competitive for Haub Law?

The median LSAT for the Fall 2025 entering class was 154, with a middle-50% range of 151 to 157. The school accepts the LSAT, GRE, or JD-Next (within five years of enrollment); the LSAT takes priority where both exist.

What GPA do Haub Law applicants typically have?

The median undergraduate GPA for the Fall 2025 entering class was 3.54, with a middle-50% range of 3.31 to 3.74. The part-time track's 25th-percentile GPA is 3.01, reflecting its wider band.

Does Haub Law give scholarships?

Yes, broadly — roughly 93% of students receive grants (808 of 873), with a median of $29,000 (25th–75th percentiles $20,000–$38,500). But the awards are conditional: a 3.0 GPA keeps the full award, 2.80–2.99 keeps half, below 2.80 loses it, and 119 of 285 matriculating students had awards reduced or eliminated in 2024–25.

What is Haub Law's bar passage rate?

The school's 2025 first-time rate was 65.18% against an 84.05% weighted state average (New York bar: 68.04% vs. 87.27%), continuing a three-year pattern of trailing the average by 15–19 points. The two-year ultimate rate was 82.35% for the 2023 cohort (82.7% per U.S. News).

Is Haub Law good for BigLaw?

Better than its rank suggests: 12.6% of the Class of 2025 joined firms of 101+ attorneys, though federal clerkships are nearly absent (0.4%). The placement strength is environmental and public-interest work rather than general corporate BigLaw.

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

Yes — 77 of 324 first-year students enrolled part-time in Fall 2025, with tuition of $44,894 all-in for 2026–27 and a slightly wider admissions band (part-time LSAT median 152, GPA median 3.37). U.S. News ranks the program #43 (tie) of 78.

What is Haub Law best known for?

The #1 environmental law program in the United States for five consecutive years — anchored by the Pace Energy and Climate Center, the Land Use Law Center, the Environmental Litigation Clinic, and the Yale School of the Environment joint degree — plus its host role for the New York State Judicial Institute, its John Jay Legal Services clinic family, and its 2016 renaming for philanthropist Elisabeth Haub.

Contact and Key Links

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
78 North Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603

Admissions Phone: (914) 422-4210

Official links

TLS Forum Links

Sources

Pace Law School

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