Santa Clara Law

In 1851, Santa Clara College was founded as a higher-education institution in Santa Clara, California. This college was one of the pioneering educational institutions to be established in the state, and it has since served countless students who have gone on to become successful professionals.

Santa Clara College has a long-standing history of excellence in providing students with the best education possible. The college offers many degree programs and majors, including Law. Santa Clara Law School is one of the most renowned law schools in the country and has been recognized for its top-notch curriculum.

Santa Clara Law School's educational program focuses on developing knowledgeable, ethical, and qualified attorneys who can practice in various legal fields. The law school emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and professional development while providing students with opportunities to gain real-world experience through internships, clinics, and externships.

Admissions

If you're looking for an exceptional legal education experience, Santa Clara Law offers students the opportunity to engage in challenging and meaningful coursework in a supportive and stimulating atmosphere. Whether you're looking to specialize in high-tech law, international law, or another area of legal study, Santa Clara Law is ready to help you reach your goals.

Join the Santa Clara Law community today and become part of an elite group of distinguished attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals. With Santa Clara Law's commitment to excellence and diversity, you can be sure that your education is in good hands. Welcome to the future of legal studies! If you need more clarification about applying to law school or just beginning the application process, please take the time to read some of the excellent pre-law articles found here.

Statistics

Admissions Stats
Class of:	2023-2024	2024-2025
25th - 50th - 75th percentile LSAT	155-159-162	154-157-160
25th - 50th - 75th percentile GPA	3.31-3.55-3.72	3.15-3.44-3.69
Acceptance rate	52.3%	66.3%
Applications received	1913	1981
Acceptances	1003	1314
Matriculants	240	244

For the 2024–2025 admissions cycle, Santa Clara Law saw notable changes compared to the previous year. The 25th to 75th percentile range for LSAT scores was 154–157–160, showing a slightly lower median compared to the 2023–2024 range of 155–159–162. In contrast, GPA ranges increased modestly, with the middle 50 percent of applicants holding GPAs between 3.15 and 3.44 on the low end and up to 3.69 on the high end, compared to 3.31–3.55–3.72 the year before. The school received 1,981 applications for 2024–2025, a slight increase from 1,913 in the previous year. Out of those, 1,314 applicants were accepted, representing a significant rise from the 1,003 acceptances in 2023–2024. This brought the acceptance rate up to 66.3%, compared to 52.3% the previous cycle. Despite the increase in offers, the number of students who ultimately enrolled (matriculants) remained relatively stable, moving only slightly from 240 to 244. In summary, Santa Clara Law became somewhat more accessible in 2024–2025, with a higher acceptance rate and a small rise in total applications. However, the academic credentials of accepted students—while still competitive—showed a slight decline in LSAT scores but a small improvement in GPA averages.

Application Process

Your application process at Santa Clara Law is straightforward and simple. It begins with taking the LSAT no later than January of the year you plan to enroll – although they will accept scores from later test administrations, these may not be received before their priority deadline, which could affect your likelihood of both admission and scholarship awards.

You should also register with LSAC's JD Credential Assembly Service (JD-CAS) and have your transcripts sent directly to them.

You must complete their online application form through LSAC, noting that this year's $75 application fee is waived.

The next step is to upload a personal statement and any optional submissions, such as letters of recommendation and a resume. These are not mandatory, but they strongly encourage you to submit them for consideration.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Santa Clara Law continues to uphold its reputation as one of the nation’s premier institutions for legal education in 2025. Students enrolled in the Juris Doctor (JD) programme can expect tuition costs that vary depending on the number of academic units taken each year. For the 2024–2025 academic year, tuition is $2,090 per unit.

This means full-time first-year students taking 28 units will pay approximately $58,520, while second- and third-year full-time students enrolled in 30 units will pay around $62,700. Part-time students, taking around 21 units, can expect tuition costs of $43,890 for the year.

In addition to tuition, Santa Clara Law offers an array of financial aid opportunities, including scholarships, federal and private loans, and forgiveness programmes aimed at supporting students pursuing public interest or non-profit careers. The institution remains deeply committed to helping law students manage their educational costs while maintaining a rigorous and enriching curriculum that prepares graduates for excellence in the legal profession.

Santa Clara Law’s 2025 tuition reflects modest increases from previous years, maintaining its position as a top-tier legal education provider with comprehensive financial aid options that help make its programme accessible to a diverse student body.

Cost of Attendance

The cost of attendance at Santa Clara Law encompasses both direct and indirect expenses that contribute to a student’s total financial commitment each academic year. While tuition covers instructional costs, students should also plan for living expenses, books, and personal costs, which vary depending on individual circumstances.

For the 2024–2025 academic year, Santa Clara University estimates that students will incur an average of $36,900 in indirect educational costs, in addition to tuition. This includes expenses for room and board, transportation, books, and health insurance. Although the university doesn’t charge directly for living expenses or course materials, it provides clear estimates to help students plan realistically.

Santa Clara Law encourages students to explore housing and textbook options that can reduce overall spending, as well as to pursue scholarships or part-time employment where feasible. The university’s goal remains clear: to ensure every student receives a quality legal education while making informed, sustainable financial choices.

Estimated Cost Breakdown (2024–2025 Academic Year)

Category	Estimated Annual Cost (USD)
Tuition (30 units)	$62,700
Room and Board	$25,200
Books and Supplies	$1,650
Transportation	$3,850
Personal Expenses	$5,500
Health Insurance Fee	$700
Total Estimated Cost	$99,600

For 2025, Santa Clara Law maintains its commitment to affordability through transparent cost estimates, expanded scholarship support, and financial guidance. Students can plan for an estimated total annual cost of around $99,600, inclusive of tuition and living expenses, while benefiting from a high-calibre education that fosters long-term professional recognition.

Financial Aid

Attending Santa Clara University School of Law can be an essential step towards a successful career in the legal profession. Prospective students need to understand the financial commitment of obtaining a legal education and the options available for financing it.

At Santa Clara Law, they understand that many students may need access to more resources to cover the total cost of attendance. To ensure that every student is included in legal education for financial reasons, their office of Financial Aid can help you develop a customized financing plan.

They provide numerous scholarship opportunities and access to federal and private loan programs. Their staff assists in determining eligibility for need-based aid, merit-based scholarships, public interest scholarships, and loan forgiveness programs.

Academics and Curriculum

Attending Santa Clara Law will allow you to study in one of the world's most helpful and dynamic business hubs: Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. This is an excellent choice for those wishing to pursue a legal career. The region provides enhanced professional opportunities thanks to its advanced technological infrastructure, unparalleled access to high-tech and venture capital resources, and a wide array of established legal firms.

Santa Clara Law is also highly respected in the legal community for its strong academic reputation and top-ranked programs, including International Business Law, Environmental & Energy Law, Intellectual Property Law, Health Care Law, and Information Technology Law. Their faculty are world-renowned scholars whose research and teaching focus on helping students develop the professional skills necessary for success.

High Technology Law

Applicants would be hard-pressed to find a law school with a greater emphasis upon or dedication of resources to high technology law than Santa Clara Law School. While many law schools have only recently discovered the intellectual property (IP) law field, Santa Clara has long been at the forefront of this constantly evolving and growing legal area.

Assistant Dean Alexandra Horne said, "I think that since Silicon Valley has been a semiconductor and tech center, students have come to Santa Clara because of the IP and High Tech Program."

The Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Journal was one of the first legal publications dedicated to high technology law. This student-run publication is considered one of the finest in the nation.

While Santa Clara's long-standing excellence in technology law has been well known in Silicon Valley, it achieved nationwide recognition by being ranked within the top ten law schools in the US News ranking of IP programs.

Capitalizing upon its Silicon Valley location, the law school has created a very strong IP program by extensively using visiting lecturers from the technology legal community and hiring professors' experts in IP law. The most notable professor is patent law icon Donald Chisum, publisher of a treatise and several casebooks on patent law.

Santa Clara's excellence in High Technology law, particularly patents, has made the law school attract many engineers and life science majors, who generally become patent attorneys.

"Numerous top IP firms and technology companies, such as Cisco, eBay, and Sony Entertainment, offer internships to students… many students receive job opportunities from these companies upon graduation," said Assistant Dean Horne.

Santa Clara offers a wide array of classes in high technology law and often offers two classes per semester in the core IP areas, such as patent and copyright law. These classes are well attended, with over 100 students often in these classes.

Building on its success, Santa Clara Law School now offers a High Tech Law Certificate. Assistant Dean Horne explains, "The program continues to develop and expand and now offers a certificate program in High Tech. Students can get the certificate with an emphasis upon Technology Law, corporate issues within IP law, or an International IP certificate with an International law component."

Obtaining this certificate, as many students choose to, requires at least 15 units in High Technology classes and a research paper analyzing IP law and policy. Additionally, a Master of Laws Degree in Intellectual Property (L.L.M. in Intellectual Property) was created in 2001, further expanding the law school's course offerings and expertise.

Santa Clara Law School's High Technology program is well-known and respected in Silicon Valley, as well as the other high-tech hubs of Boston, Seattle, Austin, and San Diego.

The new Assistant Dean in charge of the High Technology Program, Alexandra Horne, is dedicated to building upon and expanding this renowned program and its course offerings.

She says of Santa Clara's Law School, "Being located in the center of Silicon Valley, we are better situated than Stanford or Boalt at attracting local practitioners who are experts at Technology Law. These practitioners are wonderful and smart and are right on top of new legal issues, for they practice their area of law daily."

International Law

Silicon Valley's economy is driven by international trade. Thus, it is no surprise that Santa Clara Law School also provides rich and diverse class offerings in international law. Earning the Certification in International Law requires students to complete four courses on international law and a research paper exploring legal issues in international law. Additionally, one final and exciting requirement is that students enroll in at least one overseas summer program with 11 choices of location, including Oxford, Munich, Seoul, and Singapore.

There are a lot of interplays between High Technology and International Law programs. Several visiting professors from countries such as Germany and Japan lecture about the IP customs of their countries.

The Certificate in High Technology law with an International emphasis offers several unique learning opportunities. For example, Professor Chisum oversees the summer program in Munich, which examines the European patent system. This is taught in conjunction with faculty from the prestigious Max Plank Institute. Other overseas programs are also taught at renowned universities, such as Sophia University in Tokyo.

Santa Clara Law School's focus on intellectual property and international law bode well for students, as these branches of law will become increasingly prevalent and intertwined.

Public Interest Law

Santa Clara Law School has a long-standing commitment to public interest law and representing those who otherwise would not receive proper representation. A strong clinical program has been developed to further this goal, where students can learn the skills necessary for effective advocacy. At Santa Clara Community Law Center, students can counsel clients in small business counseling, workers' rights, consumer/debtor issues, and immigration rights.

Students who complete the necessary academic coursework in public interest law and complete a large written paper examining an issue in public interest law can earn a certificate in Public Interest and Social Justice. Additionally, students must complete 25 hours of community volunteer work and 150 hours of supervised legal work in a public interest/social justice organization, government office, or a judicial externship.

JD/MBA Joint Degree

This combined degree can be earned in only four years, with certain classes counting towards completing both degrees. This joint degree is helpful for those considering careers in corporate law, business, consulting or becoming a company's general counsel.

Students are first admitted to the law program and can apply to the business school during their first year. While work experience is a large plus towards admission to the business school, it is not always required.

Clinics

Santa Clara Law offers an Entrepreneurs' Law Clinic to serve the needs of early-stage Silicon Valley companies and give students in-depth experience. The clinic is designed to provide high-quality, cost-efficient legal help to SCU-affiliated startups while giving Santa Clara Law students a unique opportunity to gain insight into the various legal issues confronting high-tech or other growing businesses in the Valley.

Led by experienced faculty members and staff, the Entrepreneurs' Law Clinic provides services such as business formation advice and document preparation, intellectual property protection counsel, contract review and negotiation guidance, venture capital and financing assistance, employment law advice, mergers & acquisitions guidance, and more. The clinic also offers a wide range of educational opportunities, including seminars on startup formation and financing and legal research projects exploring the impact of regulatory developments in the tech industry.

Synopsis

Santa Clara Law School is rising and will only improve over time as its recent accomplishments become nationally recognized. Recently appointed Dean Polden is focused on continuing the significant progress that Santa Clara Law School has made and building upon the renowned High Technology and International law programs. His efforts will assuredly be rewarded with greater prominence and more applications for the law school.

In sum, applicants considering a career in IP or international law and or planning on practicing in California should consider visiting and applying to Santa Clara Law School.

Contact Information

Santa Clara Law
Admisssions
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
Phone: (408) 554-4000

https://law.scu.edu/Admissions/

Summary

Established	1903
Location	Santa Clara, CA
Dean	Michael Kaufman
2025 US News Ranking	156th
LSAT Median Score	157
GPA Median Score	3.44
Bar Passage Rate	61.8% (2025)
Employment Rate	42.9% (2025)
Cost	"$61,606 full-time, $48,574 part-time"
Average Debt	$167,815
Application Deadline	February 14, 2025

Forum and Discussion

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Reference

Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, CA
https://law.scu.edu/
Rank #156
LSD Law
Guide to Fee Waivers
LSAC Guide
How to Learn to Do Well on a Law School Exam
Success in Law School - A Unique Perspective
The Guide to Law School Loans

Interview: Dean Donald Polden of Santa Clara
Interview: Dean Jeanette Leach of Admissions to Santa Clara University's School of Law
Interview: Santa Clara Law School Assistant Dean Alexandra Horne