Last updated: September 23, 2026

Seton Hall University School of Law

Seton Hall University School of Law is a private, Catholic law school in Newark, New Jersey, that enrolled a first-year class of 302 students in Fall 2025 from 2,714 completed applications, with a median LSAT of 161 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.71. It is ranked #70 (tie) in the 2026 U.S. News rankings and #11 (tie) for part-time law, and 202 of its 207 Class of 2025 graduates (97.6%) were employed ten months after graduation, with 184 in bar-admission-required positions and an extraordinary 90 in judicial clerkships. The central decision issue for applicants is that Seton Hall pairs a market-leading judicial-clerkship pipeline — 44% of employed graduates clerk, and the school ranked #1 nationally on Above the Law's 2021 state-and-local clerkship measure — with strong New Jersey and New York placement, at a 2026–27 total cost of attendance of $104,630 for full-time students.

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Seton Hall Law at a Glance

Category	Latest information
Founded	1951 (ABA approved since 1951)
Type	Private (Catholic, Seton Hall University)
ABA approval or accreditation	ABA approved (Council of the Section of Legal Education)
Location	Newark, New Jersey (One Newark Center)
Latest U.S. News rank	#70 tie (2026 edition); #11 tie among 78 part-time programs
Latest completed applications	2,714 (Fall 2025, 2025 509 report)
Latest acceptance rate	34.27% (Fall 2025)
Latest LSAT median	161 full-time / 161 part-time (Fall 2025)
Latest GPA median	3.72 full-time / 3.48 part-time (Fall 2025)
Latest entering class	302 (Fall 2025: 266 full-time, 36 part-time)
Current tuition	$71,920 + $2,050 fees = $73,970 full-time (2026–27); $53,970 + $3,390 fees = $57,360 part-time/weekend
Current estimated cost of attendance	$104,630 full-time / $76,164 part-time (2026–27, fall/spring)
Latest first-time bar passage	87.13% (2025 graduates, 2026 bar admission report); 87.2% New Jersey, 86.5% New York
Latest bar-required employment	184 of 207 graduates (88.9%) in bar-admission-required positions; 97.6% employed overall (Class of 2025)
Current dean	Ronald H. Weich (dean since July 1, 2024)

The admissions figures are drawn from Seton Hall Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (2,714 completed applications, 930 offers, a 34.27% acceptance rate, 302 in the first-year class, and 822 total J.D. enrollment). Tuition and cost-of-attendance data are from the law school's own financial aid pages covering 2026–27. Ronald H. Weich, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, became dean on July 1, 2024, arriving from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Introduction

Seton Hall University School of Law was founded in 1951 and has been ABA-approved since that year, making it the older of New Jersey's two private law school campuses in the northern part of the state. It occupies One Newark Center, a high-rise in downtown Newark, a short train ride from Manhattan and within walking distance of New Jersey's federal and state courthouses, the offices of major firms and the corporate legal departments of northern New Jersey.

The school's identity rests on three pillars. First, judicial clerkships: the Class of 2025 sent 90 graduates into state, local and federal clerkships — 44% of all employed graduates — and the school ranked #1 nationally on the percentage of 2021 graduates in state and local clerkships. Second, the New Jersey and New York markets: 150 of 202 Class of 2025 employed graduates took positions in New Jersey and 38 in New York, with 26 graduates joining firms of 501 or more attorneys. Third, part-time legal education: the weekend/evening programme is ranked #11 (tie) nationally among 78 part-time programmes, and the school is a designated centre for health law, compliance and intellectual property study.

Rankings and Reputation

Seton Hall Law is ranked #70 (tie) out of 194 ABA-approved law schools in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report edition, and #11 (tie) out of 78 schools in the part-time law ranking. The school also placed #31 nationally out of 186 law schools on return on investment (top 17%), reflecting a combination of New Jersey and New York salary levels against its tuition. Its reputation rests on clerkship placement, health law (a signature programme tied to Seton Hall's health sciences campus) and its proximity to the New York metropolitan legal market.

Overall ranking

U.S. News edition	Seton Hall Law rank
2026	70 (tie)
2026 (part-time law)	11 (tie), of 78 programs

Applicants should treat movement within the 65–75 band as largely immaterial to Seton Hall's practical career outcomes, which turn on its clerkship pipeline, its New Jersey and New York placement network and its part-time programme rather than on rank position. U.S. News lists Seton Hall among the top ten law schools in the tri-state area.

Specialty rankings

Specialty	Rank
Part-time Law	#11 tie (2026, of 78 programs)
Return on Investment	#31 of 186 (top 17%, school-reported)
State & Local Clerkships, 2021 graduates	#1 nationally (Above the Law, February 2023)

Current-edition rank numbers for other specialty categories were not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed and are therefore not listed. The school's published areas of programmatic strength, per its U.S. News academics listing, span clinical training, dispute resolution, environmental law, health care law, intellectual property law, international law, business/corporate law, constitutional law, contracts/commercial law and criminal law.

Admissions: What It Takes to Get In

Entering class (Fall 2025)

Admissions metric	Fall 2025
Completed applications	2,714
Offers of admission	930
Acceptance rate	34.27%
Enrollees from applicant pool	Not separately reported (the 509 filing reports a single first-year class figure)
Total in first-year class	302 (266 full-time, 36 part-time)
Yield (enrollees / offers)	32.5%

Total J.D. enrollment stands at 822, split between a three-year full-time day programme and a part-time weekend/evening programme. The school reports a first-year class of 266 full-time and 36 part-time students, a split that makes Seton Hall's part-time cohort modest in size relative to the day division while still sustaining a nationally ranked part-time programme.

LSAT and GPA

Statistic	25th percentile	Median	75th percentile
LSAT, full-time	158	161	164
LSAT, part-time	157	161	163
UGPA, full-time	3.53	3.72	3.86
UGPA, part-time	3.19	3.48	3.78

The combined entering-class figures are an LSAT of 158/161/164 and a UGPA of 3.51/3.71/3.86. Notably, the part-time division's LSAT profile is nearly identical to the day division's — a 161 median in both, with a 157–163 range against 158–164 — but its GPA profile is materially lower at the median (3.48 against 3.72) and at the 25th percentile (3.19 against 3.53), reflecting an applicant pool that includes working professionals with older undergraduate records.

Interpreting the numbers

Seton Hall's 161 median LSAT places it mid-band among New York metropolitan law schools, and its 34.27% acceptance rate reflects a selective but broad funnel drawn from 2,714 completed applications. The school's 32.5% yield from offers is high for a school in its ranking band — a reflection of the pull of the New Jersey and New York markets and the appeal of the weekend programme to employed applicants. No LSAT or GPA guarantees admission given the holistic review.

Application timing

The application fee is $65 and the application deadline is April 1, per the 2025 Standard 509 report. The financial aid deadline listed in the filing is April 4; U.S. News lists the financial aid application deadline as April 1, so applicants should treat early April as the operative window and confirm the exact date with the financial aid office (director: Gary Thomas, 973-642-8738). Applications are submitted through the Law School Admission Council.

Cost, Scholarships, and Debt

Tuition

Tuition for the 2026–27 academic year is $35,960 per semester for full-time J.D. students and $26,985 per semester for part-time/weekend students, which equates to $71,920 and $53,970 respectively across a two-semester year. Mandatory fees add a $1,025 university fee and, for weekend students entering Fall 2025 and later, a $670 law school weekend fee, with a $335 university fee and $230 administrative fee for summer J.D. study. Total tuition and fees are therefore $73,970 full-time and $57,360 part-time/weekend. In 2025–26, the 509 filing reported full-time tuition of $69,660 plus $1,890 in fees and part-time tuition of $52,270 plus $3,190 in fees. Seton Hall is private, so resident and non-resident students pay the same rate. U.S. News reports the current cycle at $71,550 full-time and $55,460 part-time, which reflects a marginally different reporting basis; the school's own published figures are those used above.

Cost of attendance

Expense	JD Full-Time (living on own)	JD Part-Time/Weekend
Tuition	$71,920	$53,970
Fees	$2,050	$3,390
Total tuition and fees	$73,970	$57,360
Housing	$16,200	$8,100
Food	$5,310	$2,610
Transportation	$2,646	$1,800
Miscellaneous expenses	$4,374	$4,374
Total living expenses	$28,530	$16,884
Books and supplies	$1,600	$1,400
Stafford loan fees	$530	$530
Total budget	$104,630	$76,164

The 2026–27 budgets cover fall and spring terms for students living on their own. The full-time total of $104,630 is a complete, school-published figure — unlike several schools in this series, Seton Hall itemises its housing, food, transportation, personal, books and loan-fee components. The part-time budget is materially lower at $76,164, largely because the housing and food allotments are halved for students assumed to be maintaining their own households.

Financial aid

Seton Hall awards a substantial mix of merit scholarships and need-based grants. Per the 2025 Standard 509 report, 673 students received grants, with a 75th-percentile award of $60,000, a median of $40,000 and a 25th-percentile award of $20,500 — a distribution whose median covers roughly 55% of full-time tuition. Data note: the filing's grant table reports a total student count of 761, which does not reconcile with the 822 total J.D. enrollment reported elsewhere in the same filing, so the proportion receiving grants is best stated as 673 recipients rather than as a percentage.

Conditional scholarships: Seton Hall does not award scholarships that may be reduced or eliminated based on law school academic performance other than failure to maintain good academic standing, and it filed no conditional-scholarship retention chart. This is a meaningful protection relative to schools that award conditional aid.

Debt perspective

The average indebtedness of 2025 J.D. graduates who incurred law school debt was $142,329, with 61.4% of graduates borrowing. Seton Hall does offer a loan repayment assistance programme for 2025 graduates, which mitigates the burden for graduates entering public-interest, government or lower-paying clerkship work — a relevant feature given that 44% of employed graduates take clerkships, many of which are state or local positions. Students paying near full price without grant support face a three-year tuition cost approaching $222,000 before living expenses.

Employment Outcomes

Employment (Class of 2025)

Seton Hall's Class of 2025 employment summary shows 207 total graduates, of whom 202 were employed (97.6%) and 184 held bar-admission-required positions — 88.9% of the class. The defining feature of the profile is judicial clerkship placement: 90 graduates secured state, local or territorial clerkships and 1 secured a federal clerkship, so clerkships accounted for 44% of all employed graduates. Private practice claimed 38.2% of employed graduates and corporate or business 8.2%. The school reported zero law-school-funded positions and only 4 graduates still seeking work.

Employment metric	Class of 2025
Total graduates	207
Employed (all categories)	202 (97.6%)
Bar-admission-required	184 (180 full-time long-term, 2 full-time short-term, 2 part-time long-term)
J.D. advantage	8 (all full-time long-term)
Professional position	10 (all full-time long-term)
Other position	0
Enrolled in graduate studies	0
Unemployed — seeking	4 (1.9%)
Unemployed — not seeking	1 (0.5%)
Employment status unknown	0
Law-school-funded positions	0

The employer-type distribution (all categories) was: law firms 79 — solo 0; 1–10 attorneys 10; 11–25 attorneys 10; 26–50 attorneys 8; 51–100 attorneys 5; 101–250 attorneys 8; 251–500 attorneys 12; 501+ attorneys 26. State/local/territorial clerkships 90; business and industry 17; government 9; public interest 4; federal clerkships 1; education 2. Employment data reflect graduates' status as of March 16, 2026.

Data note: the school's outcomes page states a "90.8%" bar-required-or-J.D.-advantage rate in one line and "92.8%" in the accompanying detail. The ABA filing supports 92.8% (184 bar-required plus 8 J.D.-advantage = 192 of 207 graduates); the 90.8% figure appears to be an error on the page and is not used here.

What these numbers mean

Seton Hall's employment profile is unusual among schools in its ranking band in two respects. First, the clerkship share: 91 of 202 employed graduates (45%) entered judicial clerkships, a far higher proportion than peer schools, and the school ranked #1 nationally on Above the Law's measure of 2021 graduates in state and local clerkships. Second, the large-firm share: 26 graduates joined firms of 501 or more attorneys and 38 joined firms of 251 or more — about 19% of employed graduates — which is real New York and New Jersey BigLaw and mid-size placement. The constraint is that clerkships are often one-year or two-year positions, so the school's underlying permanent-employment quality depends on what happens after the clerkship term: for the Class of 2024, of the 129 graduates who clerked, 63.6% moved to law firms, 20.2% to government or public interest and 7.0% to further clerkships. Placement is heavily regional — 150 of 202 employed graduates in New Jersey, 38 in New York, 3 in Florida and none abroad.

Bar passage

Bar statistic	2025 graduates
First-time bar passage rate (all jurisdictions)	87.13% (176 of 202 first-time takers)
Council weighted average across those jurisdictions	74.38% (a +12.75 point margin)
New Jersey bar, first-time passers	87.18% (156 takers, 136 passers, vs. 71.10% state average, +16.08 points)
New York bar, first-time passers	86.49% (37 takers, 32 passers, vs. 87.27% state average, −0.78 points)
Two-year ultimate bar admission, 2023 cohort	93.25% (221 of 237 takers)

The 2025 cohort comprised 207 graduates, of whom 194 sat the bar after graduation and none before it; 7 had not taken the bar and 6 had no bar information. Adding 8 first-time takers from prior graduating years produces 202 first-time takers, of whom 176 passed — an 87.13% rate, 12.75 points above the Council weighted average of 74.38%. Within New Jersey the margin was far larger: 87.18% against a 71.10% state average of Council-accredited-school takers, a +16.08 point differential, and the school's own outcomes page reports 87.2% for New Jersey first-time takers. Performance in the eight remaining jurisdictions was 88.89% across just 9 takers. New York was the only jurisdiction where the school slightly trailed the state average (86.49% against 87.27%).

Graduation year	Graduates	First-time takers	Passed	Law school pass rate	Council weighted average	Difference
2025	207	202	176	87.13%	74.38%	+12.75
2024	314	305	266	87.21%	75.69%	+11.52
2023	241	242	199	82.23%	70.27%	+11.96

Two-year ultimate bar admission was 93.25% for the 2023 cohort (221 of 237 takers), 92.23% for 2022 (178 of 193) and 89.95% for 2021 (188 of 209) — all well above ABA Standard 316's 75% threshold. No graduates in these cohorts were reported as admitted through alternative pathways to licensure.

Where graduates go

New Jersey absorbed the largest share of the Class of 2025 by a wide margin (150 of 202 employed graduates), followed by New York (38) and Florida (3), with no graduates employed in foreign countries. The concentration in New Jersey is the school's structural advantage — it sits inside the state's largest legal market — while the New York share reflects the campus's position on the PATH and NJ Transit lines into Manhattan. The school's Office of Career Services provides individual counselling, résumé review, interview training and networking access, and alumni may return to use its services throughout their careers.

Academics and Programs

The J.D. is offered as a three-year full-time day programme and a part-time weekend/evening programme, with classes scheduled to accommodate students who work. The curriculum pairs a standard first-year doctrinal core with upper-level electives and programmes in health law, compliance and intellectual property.

Curriculum and special strengths

Seton Hall's distinctive academic strengths are health law, compliance, intellectual property and international law, supported by the university's health sciences campus and by the law school's proximity to northern New Jersey's pharmaceutical, life-sciences and financial-services employers. The school also offers an LL.M. in corporate compliance, health law and intellectual property and an LL.M. in American Law for foreign-educated lawyers, alongside a Master of Legal Studies for non-lawyer professionals. Its weekend part-time programme is ranked #11 (tie) nationally.

Clinics and experiential learning

Seton Hall operates clinical and experiential programming spanning civil, criminal, immigration and health law practice, with externships that place students in the New Jersey and federal courts, government agencies and corporate legal departments nearby. The school's clerkship pipeline is in part a product of that proximity and of sustained alumni placement in the New Jersey judiciary. Faculty total 139 — 58 full-time and 81 non-full-time — per the 2025 ABA filing, with U.S. News reporting an 8.4:1 student-to-faculty ratio.

Student Life and Location

Living in Newark

Seton Hall Law occupies One Newark Center in downtown Newark, New Jersey's largest city and the seat of its federal and state courts. The location is a genuine professional asset: students can extern, clerk part-time and network during the academic year within walking distance of the courthouse complex, major New Jersey firms and government offices, and Manhattan is reachable by PATH or NJ Transit. Newark carries a materially lower cost of living than New York City — reflected in a $28,530 full-time living-expense budget for 2026–27 — while offering access to the same metropolitan legal market, a combination that underpins the school's #31 return-on-investment ranking. The trade-off is an urban, high-rise campus rather than a traditional residential law school setting, and many students commute.

Student body

With a first-year class of 302 and total J.D. enrollment of 822, Seton Hall is a mid-sized law school. The student body includes a substantial cohort of working professionals in the weekend programme, whose median LSAT of 161 matches the day division's. Students participate in a range of student organisations, journals, moot court and trial advocacy programmes. The J.D. is offered full-time (day) and part-time (weekend/evening).

How Seton Hall Compares

Choose Seton Hall Law if

You want a judicial clerkship: 90 graduates of the Class of 2025 entered state, local or territorial clerkships and 1 entered a federal clerkship — 44% of employed graduates — and the school ranked #1 nationally on Above the Law's 2021 state-and-local clerkship measure.
You want New Jersey or New York practice: 150 of 202 employed graduates took New Jersey positions and 38 took New York positions, from a campus inside Newark's courthouse district and a short train ride from Manhattan.
You need a part-time or weekend J.D. without sacrificing credential quality: the #11 (tie) part-time programme nationally, with a 161 median LSAT identical to the day division's.
You want substantial merit aid without conditional risk: a $40,000 median grant with no conditional scholarships, against a $73,970 total tuition and fees.

Consider alternatives if

You want a federal clerkship or national academic career: only 1 Class of 2025 graduate secured a federal clerkship, and 90 of the 91 clerkships were state, local or territorial.
You are debt-averse: average indebtedness of $142,329 with 61.4% of graduates borrowing is high, though the school does offer a loan repayment assistance programme.
You want a residential campus community or a small programme — with 822 J.D. students on an urban high-rise campus, Seton Hall is a commuter-oriented school.
You are targeting a market outside New Jersey, New York and Florida, where the school placed all but a handful of its employed graduates.

The TLS Verdict

Seton Hall University School of Law is one of the best judicial-clerkship pipelines in American legal education relative to its ranking: 90 Class of 2025 graduates entered state and local clerkships, 44% of employed graduates clerked, and the school was ranked #1 nationally for 2021 graduates in state and local clerkships. Around that core it combines a 97.6% employment rate, 184 of 207 graduates in bar-required positions, a 12.75-point bar-passage margin over the Council weighted average (and a 16.08-point margin in New Jersey), and 26 graduates at firms of 501 or more attorneys. Its financial profile is disciplined for a private school with a metropolitan job market: $73,970 in total tuition and fees, a $40,000 median grant, no conditional scholarships, a $142,329 average debt, and a loan repayment assistance programme. The principal limitations are concentration — 150 of 202 employed graduates in New Jersey, New York and Florida, and only one federal clerkship — plus the fact that clerkships are often term-limited, so the school's post-clerkship conversion (63.6% of the Class of 2024 cohort moved to law firms) matters as much as the initial placement. For applicants intending to practise in New Jersey or New York, particularly those who want to clerk first, Seton Hall is a strong and financially defensible choice; applicants targeting federal clerkships or a national academic career should weigh the alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is it to get into Seton Hall Law?

Selective but accessible for a New York metropolitan school: for Fall 2025, Seton Hall accepted 34.27% of applicants (930 offers from 2,714 completed applications) and enrolled a first-year class of 302.

What LSAT score is competitive for Seton Hall Law?

The median LSAT for the Fall 2025 entering class was 161 in both the full-time and part-time divisions, with middle-50% ranges of 158–164 full-time and 157–163 part-time. Scores at or above 161 are competitive, but no score guarantees admission given the holistic review.

What GPA do Seton Hall Law applicants typically have?

The median undergraduate GPA was 3.72 full-time and 3.48 part-time, with middle-50% ranges of 3.53–3.86 and 3.19–3.78. The overall entering-class range across both divisions was 3.51–3.86.

Does Seton Hall Law give scholarships?

Yes, broadly. Per the 2025 ABA 509 report, 673 students received grants, with a median award of $40,000, a 25th percentile of $20,500 and a 75th percentile of $60,000. Seton Hall does not award conditional scholarships that can be reduced or eliminated based on academic performance.

What is Seton Hall Law's bar passage rate?

For 2025 graduates, the first-time bar passage rate was 87.13% across all jurisdictions, 12.75 points above the Council weighted average of 74.38%. Within New Jersey, 2025 graduates passed at 87.18% against a 71.10% state average of Council-accredited-school takers (+16.08 points), and the school reports 87.2% for New Jersey and 86.5% for New York first-time takers. The two-year ultimate bar admission rate was 93.25% for the 2023 cohort.

Is Seton Hall Law good for BigLaw?

Reasonably so for a school in its ranking band. Of the 202 Class of 2025 employed graduates, 26 joined firms of 501 or more attorneys and 38 joined firms of 251 or more — roughly 19% of employed graduates. Law firms absorbed 79 graduates in total, while private practice accounted for 38.2% of employed graduates.

Does Seton Hall Law offer a part-time J.D.?

Yes — a part-time weekend/evening programme, ranked #11 (tie) nationally among 78 part-time programmes. The Fall 2025 entering class included 36 part-time students, whose median LSAT of 161 matched the day division's; part-time tuition is $53,970 with $3,390 in fees for 2026–27.

What is Seton Hall Law best known for?

It is best known for its judicial clerkship placement — 44% of the Class of 2025's employed graduates entered clerkships, and it ranked #1 nationally on Above the Law's 2021 state-and-local clerkship measure — alongside its New Jersey and New York placement, its health law and compliance programmes, and its nationally ranked part-time programme.

Contact and Key Links

Seton Hall University School of Law
One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102

Main Phone: 973-761-9000

Admissions Phone: 973-642-8747

Dean Ronald H. Weich: [email protected] · 973-642-8727

Financial Aid Phone: 973-642-8738 · Financial aid director: Gary Thomas

Official links

TLS Forum Links

Sources

Seton Hall Law

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