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Syracuse University College of Law
Last updated: October 12, 2026
Contents
- 1 Syracuse University College of Law
- 1.1 Syracuse 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 Syracuse Compares
- 1.10 The TLS Verdict
- 1.11 Frequently Asked Questions
- 1.11.1 How hard is it to get into Syracuse Law?
- 1.11.2 What LSAT score is competitive for Syracuse Law?
- 1.11.3 What GPA do Syracuse applicants typically have?
- 1.11.4 Does Syracuse give scholarships?
- 1.11.5 Does Syracuse award conditional scholarships?
- 1.11.6 What is Syracuse's bar passage rate?
- 1.11.7 What percentage of Syracuse graduates get jobs?
- 1.11.8 Does Syracuse offer an online J.D.?
- 1.11.9 Does Syracuse offer loan repayment assistance?
- 1.11.10 How much debt do Syracuse graduates carry?
- 1.11.11 What is Syracuse Law best known for?
- 1.12 Contact and Key Links
- 1.13 TLS Forum Links
- 1.14 Sources
Syracuse University College of Law
Syracuse University College of Law is a private law school in Syracuse, New York, that enrolled a first-year class of 271 students in Fall 2025 from 2,752 completed applications, with a median LSAT of 158 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.60. It is ranked #100 (tie) of 194 in the 2026 U.S. News rankings and #9 in the nation for Trial Advocacy, and it reported a 97.6% employment rate or advanced-degree enrollment within 10 months of graduation along with a 94% ultimate bar passage rate in 2025 — the latter driven by one of the most unusual features of any U.S. law school: a partnership with Kaplan that guarantees every graduate a free bar-preparation course until they pass. The central decision issue for admitted applicants is that Syracuse offers a genuinely national brand, an online J.D. that was the first of its kind in the country, and a no-condition scholarship policy, at a 2026–27 cost of attendance of $93,251.
Forum Links
Syracuse Law at a Glance
| Category | Latest information |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1895 (23 students meeting in rented rooms above a downtown Syracuse theater) |
| Type | Private |
| ABA approval or accreditation | Council approved since 1923 |
| Location | Syracuse, New York |
| Latest U.S. News rank | #100 tie of 194 (2026 edition); #9 in Trial Advocacy |
| Latest completed applications | 2,752 (Fall 2025, 2025 509 report) |
| Latest acceptance rate | 34.59% (Fall 2025) |
| Latest LSAT median | 158 (Fall 2025) |
| Latest GPA median | 3.60 (Fall 2025) |
| Latest entering class | 271 (Fall 2025; all full-time, no part-time division) |
| Current tuition | $67,180 on campus ($33,590 per semester); JDinteractive online J.D. $53,042, or $2,411 per credit (2026–27) |
| Current estimated cost of attendance | $93,251 on-campus J.D. (2026–27) |
| Latest first-time bar passage | 84.8% (2025 graduates, LawHub); 82.9% (2024 administrations, ABA 509-aligned, +0.3 points over New York) |
| Latest bar-required employment | 97.6% employed or enrolled in an advanced degree within 10 months (school-reported); 71.2% in long-term, full-time legal jobs (LawHub, Class of 2025) |
| Current dean | Terence J. Lau L'98 (13th dean, since August 5, 2024) |
The admissions figures are drawn from Syracuse's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (2,752 completed applications, 952 offers, a 34.59% acceptance rate, 268 enrollees from the applicant pool, and an enrollment rate from offers of 27.94%). Tuition for 2026–27 and the cost-of-attendance budget are the school's published figures. Terence J. Lau, a 1998 Syracuse Law graduate, became the school's 13th dean effective August 5, 2024, succeeding Craig M. Boise, who is now Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law. One note for the record: a dean-database entry lists Lau's term as ending September 30, 2026, which appears to be a stale or administrative end-date rather than evidence of a vacancy — the school's own deans' page currently lists Lau as Dean and Professor of Law, and no successor was identified in the sources reviewed. Applicants should confirm leadership status directly if it matters to them.
Introduction
Syracuse University College of Law, founded in 1895 with 23 students meeting in rented rooms above a downtown Syracuse theater, is the law school of Syracuse University. It moved onto the university's main campus in the 1950s and into Dineen Hall, its current home, in 2014 — a building recognized by preLaw magazine among the best law school buildings in the country. With a J.D. student body of roughly 750 and a first-year class of about 271, Syracuse is a mid-sized private law school with an unusually broad geographic draw and a genuinely national brand.
Syracuse's identity rests on three pillars: a legacy of firsts — including early African American, female, and Hispanic graduates and the launch of JDinteractive, the nation's first fully interactive online J.D. program; a trial advocacy program ranked in the national top 10; and a bar-preparation partnership with Kaplan that guarantees every graduate a free prep course until they pass. Its graduates practice across New York State and the Northeast, and the university's broader footprint — the #1 ranked public affairs school in the country, plus strong programs in communications, business, and political science — supports an unusually deep set of joint degrees and policy-oriented career paths.
Rankings and Reputation
Syracuse is ranked #100 (tie) of 194 in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, with an additional #92 (tie) placement in Business/Corporate Law and a top-10 placement in Trial Advocacy. Its reputation among applicants rests more on its brand, its online J.D., and its bar-support guarantee than on aggregate rank position.
Overall ranking
| U.S. News edition | Syracuse rank |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 100 (tie) of 194 |
| 2023–2024 edition | 120 (tie) |
The school's movement from #120 to #100 (tie) over recent editions is a genuine upward trend rather than noise, and the school's own fast-facts page describes it as a "top #100 U.S. News" program. Applicants should nonetheless treat movement within the 90–120 band as secondary to the employment, bar-passage, and cost figures reported below, which are what actually determine outcomes.
Specialty rankings
- Trial Advocacy: #9 nationally per the school's own fast facts (2026), and #8 (tie) per at least one third-party compilation of the same U.S. News specialty rankings. The two figures differ by one place and appear to reflect different editions; both place the program in the national top 10, which is the material point. This is Syracuse's strongest academic claim.
- Business/Corporate Law: #92 (tie) nationally (2026 U.S. News).
- Online J.D.: Named one of the 2026 Best Online J.D. Programs by The Princeton Review — a natural distinction given that JDinteractive was the first program of its kind.
- Practical training and business law: Listed in preLaw magazine's Best Law Schools for Practical Training (2026) and Top Law Schools for Business Law (2025).
- Family law: Listed among National Jurist's Top Law Schools for Family Law (2026).
- Student body characteristic: #10 nationally among "Most Chosen by Older Students" (The Princeton Review, 2025) — a real signal about the school's appeal to career-changers and mature applicants, consistent with its large online and part-time-adjacent offerings.
- Joint-degree partner strength: The university's other schools carry the rankings that give Syracuse's joint degrees their value — #1 Best Public Affairs Schools (2026 U.S. News), #27 Top Online MBA (Princeton Review), #48 Political Science, #63 Best Business Schools, #69 History, and #69 Best Education Schools.
Admissions: What It Takes to Get In
Entering class (Fall 2025)
| Admissions metric | Fall 2025 |
|---|---|
| Completed applications | 2,752 |
| Offers of admission | 952 |
| Acceptance rate | 34.59% |
| Enrollees from applicant pool | 268 |
| Total in first-year class | 271 |
| Yield (enrollees / offers) | 27.94% |
The first-year class is entirely full-time — Syracuse reports no part-time division in the residency category, with the J.D. delivered through the on-campus full-time program and the separate JDinteractive online program. Total J.D. enrollment is 750, with 2 students transferring in and 5 transferring out. Across all programs the school reports 835 J.D. and 13 LL.M. students. The complete demographics of the entering class — gender split, students of color, first-generation status, states and countries represented, and undergraduate institutions — appear on the school's Fall 2026 entering-class profile page and were not retrievable in machine-readable form for this profile.
LSAT and GPA
| Statistic | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSAT (Fall 2025) | 154 | 158 | 160 |
| Undergraduate GPA (Fall 2025) | 3.18 | 3.60 | 3.77 |
The 509 report aggregates undergraduate GPA across the first-year class regardless of admission test, indicating that a test other than the LSAT is accepted; the specific alternative tests accepted were not independently confirmed. The LSAT interquartile range of 154 to 160 is unusually narrow, which means the school's entering class is relatively homogeneous on tested credentials — a 154 is near the floor and a 160 near the ceiling, leaving little middle ground.
Interpreting the numbers
Syracuse admits roughly a third of its applicant pool at a 34.59% acceptance rate, with a 27.94% yield that is healthy for that band. The trend is the more interesting fact: the school has moved from #120 to #100 (tie) in U.S. News while drawing 2,752 applications for a 271-seat class, and the narrow 154–160 LSAT range indicates that the school is not reaching far down the distribution to fill seats. Two practical implications follow. First, because the GPA band is wide (3.18 to 3.77) relative to the LSAT band, the school appears to weigh GPA flexibly and to place weight on other factors — consistent with its #10 ranking among schools most chosen by older students, who often bring strong work experience and wide GPA variance. Second, the online JDinteractive program has its own separate admissions profile and should not be evaluated using the on-campus medians. No LSAT or GPA guarantees admission.
Application timing
The application fee is $75. The 2025 509 report lists an application deadline of July 15, 2025 and a financial aid deadline of March 15, 2025 — meaning the school accepts applications very late in the cycle, well past most peer schools, and that a mid-July application is viable. Note the mismatch between those two dates: the financial aid deadline falls four months before the application deadline, so applicants who apply in the summer window should expect aid consideration to be limited and should apply earlier if they need funding. Whether Syracuse operates a binding early decision program and what the current cycle's priority deadline is were not confirmed in the sources reviewed; financial aid questions route to [email protected] or 315.443.1962.
Cost, Scholarships, and Debt
Tuition
Tuition and fees for the 2026–27 academic year, on-campus J.D.:
| Charge | 2026–27 |
|---|---|
| Tuition | $67,180 ($33,590 per semester) |
| Health & Wellness Fee | $908 |
| Student Activity Fee | $120 |
| Law Student Resource Fee | $1,280 |
| Fixed (directly billed) cost total | $69,488 |
The 2025–26 509 figure was $64,650 in tuition plus $2,290 in fees for both residents and non-residents, so the 2026–27 tuition represents an increase of approximately 3.9% — a rate of increase that matters over three years and should be modeled rather than ignored. U.S. News reports full-time tuition of $66,940, reflecting a prior cycle.
The school's JDinteractive online J.D. is priced separately and materially lower: $53,042 for the corresponding year, or $2,411 per credit hour for fall 2026 and spring and summer 2027. Students in the online program pay per credit and attend periodic on-campus residencies, with estimated residency charges of $370 to $555 each. The per-credit rate for part-time or reduced-load study is $2,321 with $1,110 in per-credit fees.
Cost of attendance
| Expense | 2026–27 (nine-month academic year) |
|---|---|
| Directly billed | |
| Tuition | $67,180 |
| Health & Wellness Fee | $908 |
| Student Activity Fee | $120 |
| Law Student Resource Fee | $1,280 |
| Fixed cost subtotal | $69,488 |
| Indirect (variable) | |
| Health insurance (waivable with coverage; $2,868 for LL.M. students) | $0 |
| Books, course materials, supplies, and equipment | $2,222 |
| Housing (9 month) | $12,168 |
| Food (9 month) | $4,611 |
| Transportation | $1,781 |
| Personal allowance | $2,452 |
| Federal loan fees (if applicable) | $529 |
| Indirect cost subtotal | $23,763 |
| Total estimated cost of attendance | $93,251 |
Three details in the budget deserve attention. First, the New York bar exam fee is included in the cost of attendance for the semester of graduation, and students sitting for a bar exam in another jurisdiction may document that cost with the financial aid office — a small but real benefit that most schools do not provide. Second, the housing allowance of $12,168 for nine months is modest and reflects Syracuse's low cost of living relative to downstate New York; students who choose university housing or a higher-end apartment should expect to exceed it. Third, the nine-month transportation allowance of $1,781 assumes limited travel, which is optimistic for a school whose graduates interview heavily in New York City, roughly four hours away by car. The three-year gross cost at current rates is approximately $279,753, before any scholarship and before the 3.9% annual tuition escalation is compounded.
Financial aid
Per the 2025 Standard 509 report, 658 students received grants, with a 25th percentile of $14,000, a median of $24,351, and a 75th percentile of $40,211. Against 2026–27 tuition of $67,180, the median award covers approximately 36% of tuition — a moderate subsidy that leaves a substantial balance. The 75th-percentile award of $40,211 covers roughly 60%. Because the distribution is wide and the school enrolls roughly 750 students while reporting 658 grant recipients, grant coverage is broad; the key question for an individual applicant is where in that $14,000-to-$40,211 range their award falls, and the answer is negotiable. Aid questions route to [email protected] or 315.443.1962.
Debt perspective
Syracuse has one clearly favorable policy here and one gap in the record. The favorable policy: the school 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 therefore files no ABA conditional scholarship retention worksheet. No merit award can be stripped for a bad first-semester grade — a protection that a majority of similarly ranked schools do not offer, and one that is worth real money at a school charging $67,180 in tuition. The gap: average graduate indebtedness and the percentage of graduates borrowing were not retrievable for Syracuse, and the figures reported elsewhere in this profile series ($91,856, $103,964, $131,125) belong to other schools and must not be attributed to Syracuse. No loan repayment assistance program was identified for the school in the sources reviewed, though the school maintains a "Managing Loan Debt" resource page covering repayment, deferment, forgiveness, and financial literacy; because no LRAP was affirmatively confirmed or denied, applicants should ask the financial aid office directly rather than assuming either way. The practical arithmetic: at roughly $93,251 per year with a median grant covering about a third of tuition, a student paying near full price faces a three-year cost approaching $280,000, which is the number to weigh against a market where a substantial share of graduates take long-term full-time legal jobs rather than large-firm positions.
Employment Outcomes
Employment (Class of 2025)
Syracuse reports a 97.6% employment rate or advanced-degree enrollment within 10 months of graduation. Independent tabulations of the same federal data set, based on 208 graduates in the Class of 2025, show a more granular picture:
| Employment metric | Class of 2025 |
|---|---|
| Employed or enrolled in an advanced degree within 10 months | 97.6% (school-reported) |
| Long-term, full-time legal jobs | 71.2% (LawHub) |
| Any long-term job | 94.7% (LawHub) |
| Any full-time job | 91.8% (LawHub) |
| Total graduates in class | 208 (LawHub) |
The detailed ABA category table — firm-size distribution, judicial clerkship counts including federal, government and public interest counts, JD-advantage counts, and the count of graduates not seeking employment — is published by the school as a PDF Employment Summary for the Class of 2025, alongside summaries for the Classes of 2024 through 2021 and matching NALP Salary Summary Reports for each year, but the Class of 2025 PDF was not machine-readable in the sources reviewed. Salary figures from the NALP summaries were likewise not retrievable and are not asserted here.
What these numbers mean
Syracuse's employment figures require careful reading because the headline and the granular numbers tell different stories, and both are true. The 97.6% figure counts employment or advanced-degree enrollment against the graduates the school reports on, and it is genuinely strong. The LawHub tabulations, which count only full-time, long-term, bar-required or JD-advantage positions against every graduate in the class, report 71.2% in long-term full-time legal jobs — a 26-point gap that reflects the difference between "employed" and "employed as a lawyer in a career-track position." The 94.7% "any long-term job" and 91.8% "any full-time job" figures sit between the two, indicating that most graduates who are not in long-term legal jobs are nonetheless working full-time in long-term roles. That pattern — high overall employment, a meaningful share outside legal-track work — is characteristic of a school with strong regional employer relationships, a large government and public-sector footprint in upstate New York, and a substantial population of older students who bring existing careers and may not pursue traditional practice. It is not a red flag, but applicants targeting a specific outcome (Big Law, a federal clerkship, a particular market) should look at the school's published ABA report for the sector counts that bear on their goal rather than relying on either headline.
Bar passage
| Bar statistic | Recent graduates |
|---|---|
| First-time bar passage (2025 graduates, all jurisdictions) | 84.8% (LawHub) |
| First-time bar passage (2024 administrations, ABA 509-aligned) | 82.9%, against a New York rate 0.3 points lower (+0.3 margin); ranked #97 nationally (ILRG) |
| Ultimate bar passage (2025) | 94% (school-reported) |
Bar passage at Syracuse is solid and improving, and the school has built an unusually concrete support structure around it. The Office of Academic and Bar Success provides individualized support and targeted programming from admission through licensure, and the school maintains a partnership with Kaplan that gives graduates bar-preparation support — the mechanism most plausibly behind the school's rise to a 94% ultimate passage rate in 2025. The administration-matched comparison for the 2024 cycle shows the school performing essentially at the New York statewide rate (+0.3 points), which is the honest benchmark: Syracuse graduates pass the New York bar at about the state average on first attempt, and 94% pass ultimately. For a school whose median LSAT is 158, matching the New York average is a respectable result and a better one than schools with similar entering credentials, and the ultimate rate is the figure that matters most for licensure planning.
Where graduates go
Syracuse graduates practice primarily in New York State — across the New York City metropolitan area, downstate, and the upstate markets including Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo — with additional placement in the Northeast and in Washington, D.C., where the university's public affairs and policy footprint supports government and policy-adjacent careers. The school's trial advocacy strength feeds litigation practices, and the university's #1-ranked public affairs school supports joint-degree and policy career paths that most stand-alone law schools cannot replicate. Exact state-by-state counts and salary distributions for the Class of 2025 were not retrievable in machine-readable form and are not asserted here.
Academics and Programs
The J.D. is offered on campus on a full-time basis and online through JDinteractive, alongside LL.M. programs (including an LL.M. for International Lawyers) and a broad set of joint degrees. The school reports 54 full-time faculty and a 10.7-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio — the school's own most favorable figure — while the 509 report lists 59 full-time and 39 non-full-time faculty plus 8 librarians (6 full-time, 2 part-time), and U.S. News reports a 12.3-to-1 ratio. The three figures count different populations, and the discrepancy should be noted rather than blended.
Curriculum and special strengths
Syracuse's signature academic claims are trial advocacy — ranked in the national top 10 by U.S. News and recognized for practical training by preLaw — and JDinteractive, the nation's first fully interactive online J.D. program, which the school launched as an innovation and which remains one of its most distinctive offerings and is named among The Princeton Reviews Best Online J.D. Programs for 2026. Business/Corporate Law holds a #92 (tie) specialty placement, and the school appears on preLaws Top Law Schools for Business Law (2025) and National Jurist's Top Law Schools for Family Law (2026). The university's joint-degree partners give Syracuse an unusually strong interdisciplinary profile for a law school of this rank: the #1 Best Public Affairs Schools program in the country, a #27 online MBA, and nationally ranked programs in political science (#48), business (#63), history (#69), and education (#69) support J.D. combinations in policy, public administration, business, communications, and international relations. Dineen Hall, the school's home since 2014, is recognized by preLaw among the best law school buildings in the country and was designed around the clinical and advocacy programs.
Clinics and experiential learning
Syracuse's experiential program is anchored by its trial advocacy curriculum and supported by clinical offerings that the school reports among its areas of program depth, along with dispute resolution, environmental law, health care law, intellectual property, international law, and business/corporate law. The school's placement on preLaw's Best Law Schools for Practical Training list for 2026 reflects its skills curriculum. The combination of a top-10 advocacy program and the university's policy and government footprint gives Syracuse students an unusual range of practice-experience options — from courtroom training in Dineen Hall's advocacy facilities to externships and placements in New York State government, the federal courts in the Northern District of New York, and public-interest organizations across upstate New York. The specific clinic roster was not retrievable in the sources reviewed and is described generally here; applicants who care about a particular practice area should request the current clinic list, because specific clinic availability varies year to year.
Student Life and Location
Living in Syracuse
Syracuse Law sits at 950 Irving Avenue on Syracuse University's main campus in central New York, a four-hour drive from New York City and roughly five hours from Boston. The university describes Dineen Hall as state-of-the-art, and its 2014 construction consolidated the school into a single purpose-built facility. The cost of living is genuinely low by the standards of private law schools in the Northeast: the school's own nine-month housing allowance of $12,168 and food allowance of $4,611 are well below what a comparably ranked school in a coastal city assumes, and that difference shows up directly in the $93,251 total cost of attendance. The university's campus is a major research institution with schools of public affairs, business, communications, engineering, and education, which gives the law school a broader intellectual environment than a stand-alone school offers. The trade-offs are real and should be stated plainly: Syracuse winters are long and heavy with lake-effect snow, the local legal market is modest relative to New York City, and students pursuing large-firm or government positions downstate will travel repeatedly for interviews and summer positions. The school's high share of older students — it ranks #10 nationally among schools "Most Chosen by Older Students" — shapes a student culture that skews more professionally focused and less traditionally residential than a typical private law school.
Student body
Syracuse reports 835 J.D. students across all programs and 13 LL.M. students, with a first-year on-campus class of 271 and total J.D. enrollment of 750 as of the 509 census date. The difference between the 835 and 750 figures reflects the counting of JDinteractive online students alongside the on-campus cohort. The school's profile as a destination for career-changers — underscored by the #10 "Most Chosen by Older Students" placement — means the student body includes a meaningful population of students with prior professional experience, which affects classroom dynamics, networking, and the shape of student organizations. Complete demographics of the entering class were not retrievable for this profile and appear on the school's class-profile page. The 10.7-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio the school reports is favorable and is one of the concrete benefits of a mid-sized program with a large faculty relative to enrollment.
How Syracuse Compares
Choose Syracuse if
- You want trial advocacy from a national top-10 program (#9 per the school, #8 tie per one third-party compilation) at admissions numbers near a 158 LSAT median.
- You want a guaranteed route to bar licensure support: the Kaplan partnership provides bar-prep support until you pass, and the school's 94% ultimate passage rate in 2025 reflects it.
- You want an aid award you cannot lose: Syracuse awards no conditional scholarships.
- You want JDinteractive, the nation's first fully interactive online J.D., at $53,042 or $2,411 per credit — materially below the on-campus price.
- You want an interdisciplinary degree: the university's #1-ranked public affairs school plus strong business, communications, and political science programs support joint degrees with real market value.
- You are a career-changer or older student: the school ranks #10 nationally among schools most chosen by older students, and the culture reflects it.
- You want low cost of living in a Northeast market: $12,168 for nine months of housing and $4,611 for food is far below coastal norms.
Consider alternatives if
- Cost is the deciding factor: at $67,180 in tuition, $93,251 in annual cost of attendance, and roughly $279,753 gross over three years — before compounding a 3.9% annual tuition increase — Syracuse is a genuinely expensive private degree, and the median grant of $24,351 covers only about 36% of tuition.
- You want a large-firm or national legal-track outcome: LawHub reports 71.2% of the Class of 2025 in long-term full-time legal jobs against the school's 97.6% headline, so roughly a quarter of graduates are working outside legal-track positions.
- You want published salary and debt data before committing: neither the NALP salary distributions nor average graduate indebtedness were retrievable, so the debt-to-income calculation cannot currently be made.
- You need a loan repayment assistance program for public-interest work: no LRAP was identified for Syracuse in the sources reviewed.
- You want a warm, high-density legal market within walking distance: Syracuse's local market is small, New York City is four hours away, and winters are severe.
- You are comparing on cost against New York public options — the SUNY and CUNY systems deliver New York market access at a fraction of $93,251 per year.
The TLS Verdict
Syracuse is a brand-and-support school: its value comes from a national university name, an innovative online program, a top-10 advocacy program, and an unusual no-conditions bar-prep guarantee, and its risk comes from a price that is high relative to its employment ceiling. On the positive side, the evidence is documented: the school has risen from #120 to #100 (tie) in U.S. News while drawing 2,752 applications for 271 seats; it does not award conditional scholarships, so no merit award can be stripped for academic performance; it operates the nation's first fully interactive online J.D. as a lower-cost alternative at $53,042; it reports a 97.6% employment-or-advanced-degree rate within ten months and a 94% ultimate bar passage rate in 2025, supported by a Kaplan partnership that keeps working until graduates pass; its trial advocacy program is a legitimate national top-10 asset; and its parent university's #1-ranked public affairs school gives its joint degrees value most law schools cannot match. On the negative side, the numbers require discipline. Tuition is $67,180, total cost of attendance is $93,251, three-year gross cost approaches $279,753, tuition is rising at roughly 3.9% a year, and the median grant of $24,351 covers little more than a third of tuition. LawHub's granular Class of 2025 data — 71.2% in long-term full-time legal jobs against a 97.6% headline — means roughly a quarter of graduates are not in legal-track positions, and the school publishes no retrievable salary or debt figures to let an applicant price that risk. On bar passage, the school performs at essentially the New York statewide average on first attempt (+0.3 points for the 2024 cycle) and well on the ultimate measure, which is respectable but not the cushion a 158-median school needs in a state with a demanding bar. The honest summary: Syracuse is a defensible choice for an applicant who wants the Northeast, values advocacy training or the online J.D., negotiates an award near the 75th percentile, and treats the guaranteed bar prep as the insurance policy it is; it is a questionable one at $93,251 per year with a median award, no published salary data, and no LRAP for anyone whose goal is a specific high-paying or public-interest outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
How hard is it to get into Syracuse Law?
Moderately selective: for Fall 2025, Syracuse accepted 34.59% of applicants (952 offers from 2,752 completed applications) and enrolled 271 first-year students at a 27.94% yield.
What LSAT score is competitive for Syracuse Law?
The median LSAT for the Fall 2025 entering class was 158, with a middle-50% range of 154 to 160. Because the range is narrow, a 160 is in the top quarter and a 154 is near the floor, with little room in between.
What GPA do Syracuse applicants typically have?
The median undergraduate GPA was 3.60, with a middle-50% range of 3.18 to 3.77. The wide GPA band relative to the narrow LSAT band suggests flexible weighting of undergraduate performance.
Does Syracuse give scholarships?
Yes. Per the 2025 ABA 509 report, 658 students received grants, with a 25th percentile of $14,000, a median of $24,351, and a 75th percentile of $40,211 — roughly 36% of tuition at the median against 2026–27 tuition of $67,180.
Does Syracuse award conditional scholarships?
No. The school 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 files no ABA conditional scholarship retention worksheet.
What is Syracuse's bar passage rate?
LawHub reports 84.8% first-time passage for 2025 graduates across all jurisdictions; the ABA 509-aligned figure for the 2024 administrations is 82.9%, about 0.3 points above the New York rate. The school reports a 94% ultimate bar passage rate in 2025, supported by its Kaplan bar-prep partnership.
What percentage of Syracuse graduates get jobs?
The school reports 97.6% employed or enrolled in an advanced degree within 10 months of graduation. Independent tabulations of the Class of 2025 (208 graduates) report 71.2% in long-term full-time legal jobs, 94.7% in any long-term job, and 91.8% in any full-time job.
Does Syracuse offer an online J.D.?
Yes. JDinteractive is the nation's first fully interactive online J.D. program, priced at $53,042 for 2026–27, or $2,411 per credit, with periodic on-campus residencies costing an estimated $370 to $555 each.
Does Syracuse offer loan repayment assistance?
No LRAP was identified for Syracuse in the sources reviewed, but this was not affirmatively confirmed or denied. The school maintains a "Managing Loan Debt" resource page on repayment, deferment, forgiveness, and financial literacy. Applicants should ask the financial aid office directly.
How much debt do Syracuse graduates carry?
Not retrievable. Average graduate indebtedness and the proportion of graduates borrowing were not published in the sources reviewed for this profile; the debt figures appearing elsewhere in this series belong to other schools.
What is Syracuse Law best known for?
Its top-10 trial advocacy program, JDinteractive as the first fully interactive online J.D. in the country, its Kaplan bar-preparation partnership and 94% ultimate bar passage rate, its prohibition on conditional scholarships, and its legacy of institutional firsts dating to 1895.
Contact and Key Links
Syracuse University College of Law
Dineen Hall
950 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244
Admissions Phone: (315) 443-1962
Admissions Email: [email protected]
Official links
- Syracuse University College of Law — Official Website
- J.D. Admissions
- Latest ABA Standard 509 Report and Consumer Information
- Latest Employment Data (ABA Employment Summaries and NALP Salary Reports, Classes of 2025–2021)
- Latest Bar Passage Data (Academic & Bar Success)
- Tuition and Cost of Attendance (On-Campus J.D.)
- Cost of Attendance (JDinteractive Online J.D.)
- Financial Aid
- Entering Class Profile
- About Syracuse Law — Fast Facts
- JDinteractive Online J.D. Program
- History and Timeline
TLS Forum Links
Sources
- Syracuse University College of Law — Official Website
- Syracuse — 2025 Standard 509 Information Report (PDF)
- Syracuse — ABA Consumer Information (Class Profile, employment summaries, bar passage, tuition and financial aid)
- Syracuse — 2026–27 Cost of Attendance, On-Campus J.D. Program
- Syracuse — Cost of Attendance, JDinteractive
- Syracuse — Statistics and ABA Employment Summaries (Classes of 2025–2021) and NALP Salary Reports
- Syracuse — ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2025 (PDF)
- Syracuse — NALP Salary Summary Report, Class of 2025 (PDF)
- Syracuse — Academic & Bar Success (94% ultimate bar passage, 97.6% employment rate)
- Syracuse — Bar Prep Support (Kaplan partnership)
- Syracuse Law — Fast Facts (founding history, fast facts, honors and rankings)
- Syracuse Law — Dean Terence Lau L'98
- Syracuse University News — Terence J. Lau L'98 Named Dean of the College of Law
- Syracuse Law — Deans & Faculty Directory
- U.S. News — Syracuse University Law Profile
