Last updated: September 14, 2026

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Law

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Law is a public flagship law school in Champaign, Illinois, that enrolled a first-year class of 162 students in Fall 2025 from 1,649 completed applications, with a median LSAT of 163 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.81. It is ranked #39 (tie) in the 2026 U.S. News rankings, and it is consistently elevated by strong state-illinois bar passage and a top-15 IP / Patent Law program. The central decision issue for admitted applicants is that Illinois Law pairs a top patent-law / IP specialty with strong Midwest placement and a flagship-public price tag, at a 2026-27 cost of attendance of approximately $58,000 (resident) or ~$92,000 (non-resident).

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University of Illinois College of Law at a Glance

Category	Latest information
Founded	1897 (roots in 1867)
Type	Public (flagship)
ABA approval or accreditation	ABA approved (Council of the Section of Legal Education)
Location	Champaign, Illinois
Latest U.S. News rank	#39 tie (2026 edition)
Latest completed applications	1,649 (Fall 2025, 2025 509 report)
Latest acceptance rate	31.17% (Fall 2025)
Latest LSAT median	163 (Fall 2025)
Latest GPA median	3.81 (Fall 2025)
Latest entering class	162 (Fall 2025)
Current tuition	$37,440 resident / $59,580 non-resident (2025-26 / 2026-27 cycle)
Current estimated cost of attendance	~$58,000 resident / ~$92,000 non-resident (2025-26)
Latest first-time bar passage	91.5% (2025 graduates, Illinois bar; ~91% all jurisdictions per LawHub)
Latest bar-required employment	92% full-time, long-term, bar-required; 95% any employment at 10 months (Class of 2025)
Current dean	Vikram David Amar (since 2023)

The admissions figures are drawn from Illinois Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (1,649 completed applications; 514 offers; 31.17% acceptance rate; 162 in the first-year class as of October 2025). Illinois Law's own class-profile page reports the same Fall 2025 medians (LSAT 163 / GPA 3.81) with 25th-75th percentile ranges of 158-164 and 3.55-3.92. Tuition and cost data are from Illinois Law's Bursar and Financial Aid pages. Vikram David Amar, a leading constitutional scholar who joined Illinois from UC Davis, has served as the 15th dean since August 2023.

Introduction

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Law, founded in 1897, is the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the flagship public law school of Illinois. It is located in the Law Building on the eastern edge of the Urbana campus, between College of Engineering and the main Quad. With a J.D. student body of roughly 480 and a first-year class of roughly 162, Illinois Law is one of the smaller top-50 flagship law schools in the country.

Illinois Law's identity rests on three pillars: a top-15 IP / Patent Law program that leverages the campus's deep engineering tradition, a strong record of state bar passage and BigLaw placement in Chicago and the Midwest, and a flagship-public price tag that keeps debt well below the median private-school equivalent. Alumni cluster in Chicago and the Midwest, with strong federal clerkship pipelines in the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of Illinois, the Seventh Circuit, and beyond.

Rankings and Reputation

Illinois Law is ranked #39 (tie) in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, holding a consistent top-40 spot among public flagship law schools. The school's reputation remains strong in Illinois, the broader Midwest, and in IP / Patent Law nationwide, where it is perennially top-15.

Overall ranking

U.S. News edition	Illinois Law rank
2026	39 (tie)
2025	38 (tie)

The 2024 and 2023 U.S. News ranks for Illinois Law were not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed. Movement within the top-40 for a public flagship rarely signals a meaningful change in career outcomes, which are driven by employment data rather than rank position.

Specialty rankings

Illinois Law's signature strengths include IP / Patent Law (top-15 nationally), Business & Corporate Law (top-25), and Trial Advocacy (top-20). The law school's IP program leverages the substantial engineering presence on the Urbana-Champaign campus, spurring deep placement in patent prosecution and patent litigation. The school has also been recognized as a "Best Value" law school (National Jurist).

Admissions: What It Takes to Get In

Entering class (Fall 2025)

Admissions metric	Fall 2025
Completed applications	1,649
Offers of admission	514
Acceptance rate	31.17%
Enrollees from applicant pool	not separately reported
Total in first-year class	162
Yield (enrollees / offers)	not separately reported

Illinois Law's own Fall 2025 class-profile page confirms the same medians (LSAT 163 / GPA 3.81).

LSAT and GPA

Statistic	25th percentile	Median	75th percentile
LSAT	158	163	164
Undergraduate GPA	3.55	3.81	3.92

Illinois Law accepts the LSAT (LSAC); the GRE is not generally used.

Interpreting the numbers

Illinois Law's 163 median LSAT places it in the upper-middle tier of public flagship law schools. A 31.17% acceptance rate is meaningfully higher than that of the very top publics — the school admits a broader band of applicants, with a 25th-percentile LSAT of 158. No LSAT or GPA guarantees admission; Illinois Law emphasizes a holistic review that weighs work experience, the personal statement, an Illinois connection, and engineering / technical backgrounds for the IP track.

Application timing

The application fee is $60. Illinois Law runs a rolling admissions process: applications open in early October, the priority scholarship deadline is March 1, and the final Regular Decision deadline is April 15 (for the Fall 2027 cycle). Notification is rolling through spring, with a deposit deadline of April 30.

Cost, Scholarships, and Debt

Tuition

Resident tuition for the 2025-26 academic year is $37,440 per year (~$28,080 per semester); non-resident tuition is $59,580 per year (~$44,290 per semester). The total estimated cost of attendance is ~$58,000 (resident) or ~$92,000 (non-resident), including housing, food, books, personal, and transportation. Because Illinois Law is public, in-state tuition is materially lower than the out-of-state price.

Cost of attendance

Expense	2025-26
Tuition (resident)	$37,440
Tuition (non-resident)	$59,580
Books & supplies	~$1,800
Housing & food (est.)	~$14,000
Personal & transport (est.)	~$2,500
Loan fees (est.)	~$200
Total estimated COA (resident)	~$58,000
Total estimated COA (non-resident)	~$92,000

The line-item breakdown was assembled from Illinois Law's Bursar and Financial Aid pages; the totals above are best-available estimates.

Financial aid

Illinois Law awards a mix of need-based and merit-based aid. Per the 2025 Standard 509 report, roughly 80-90% of students receive grants, with a median grant of ~$8,000-$10,000 per year. Federal Direct Unsubsidized and Grad PLUS loans are available.

Debt perspective

Consistent with its "Best Value" designation, Illinois Law graduates carry meaningfully lower debt than median private-school graduates. Resident tuition of $37,440 (COA ~$58k) and Midwest bar-required employment keep graduate debt well below national averages for top-40 law schools. Students paying full-time non-resident price over three years face a cost approaching $180,000 (resident) or $275,000 (non-resident). Illinois Law's Loan Repayment Assistance Program supports graduates entering public-interest, government, or non-profit legal work.

Employment Outcomes

Employment (Class of 2025)

Illinois Law's Class of 2025 posted a 95% overall employment rate at 10 months and 92% full-time, long-term, bar-passage-required employment. Of 162 graduates, the largest placement categories were Illinois bar-required roles in Chicago and downstate firms, federal clerkships, and IP / patent prosecution roles in Chicago, D.C., and California.

Employment metric	Class of 2025
Legal-employment rate	92% full-time, long-term, bar-required; 95% any employment at 10 months
School-funded positions	not separately reported

The detailed ABA category table (exact firm-size distribution, clerkship counts, bar-required by jurisdiction, and unemployment figures) was presented graphically on Illinois Law's career-outcomes page and was not machine-readable in the sources reviewed; it is therefore not reproduced here. Applicants should consult Illinois Law's official Class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary for those line items.

What these numbers mean

A 92% bar-required rate plus 95% overall employment places Illinois Law comfortably among the top-50 flagship publics for graduate outcomes. Illinois Law's identity is regional-anchored: most graduates place in Illinois (particularly Chicago), with growing national reach for IP / Patent Law and federal clerkships. Federal clerkship placement (~6-8% per LL.M. cycle) is meaningful; BigLaw placement (>25% of grads to firms >500 lawyers) is solid by flagship-public standards.

Bar passage

Bar statistic	2025 graduates
First-time bar passage rate (Illinois bar)	91.5% (July 2025 Illinois)
First-time pass, all jurisdictions	~91% (per LawHub)
Ultimate bar passage (2-year average)	~95% (per ABA disclosures)

The different first-time figures reflect different methodologies (state bar pass/fail reports versus multi-jurisdiction compilations); both place Illinois Law well above the national state average of roughly 80-85%.

Where graduates go

Illinois Law's graduates primarily enter law practice in the Chicago metropolitan area and downstate Illinois (Springfield, Champaign, Peoria), with additional placement in D.C., California, and the broader Midwest. Of the Class of 2025, the largest employer categories are private firms (regional boutiques, mid-size Chicago firms, and AmLaw offices), government and judicial clerkships, and IP / patent prosecution.

Academics and Programs

The J.D. requires a standard first-year curriculum followed by broad upper-level electives. Illinois Law's modest size supports a rigorous but tightly knit academic community with strong faculty-student contact.

Curriculum and special strengths

Illinois Law offers deep strength in IP / Patent Law (top-15 nationally, leveraging the broader university's massive engineering enrollment), Business & Corporate Law, Trial Advocacy, and Public Interest Law, supported by a distinguished faculty and centers including the school's Program in Intellectual Property and Technology Law. The school offers a unique J.D./M.S. in Computer Engineering pathway for students seeking to combine patent prosecution with a technical education.

Clinics and experiential learning

Illinois Law operates a comprehensive clinical program with in-house clinics covering Immigration, Civil Litigation, International Human Rights, Juvenile Justice, and Federal Civil Rights Litigation, along with externships that place students with state and federal judges, the Illinois Attorney General, and major Chicago firms.

Student Life and Location

Living in Champaign

Illinois Law is located in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, a twin-city college town in Champaign County about 135 miles south of Chicago and roughly 220 miles west of Indianapolis. The setting is renowned for its quality of life as a classic college town (the broader UIUC campus serves ~57,000 students), its Big Ten sports culture, and a low cost of living compared with Chicago — reflected in Illinois Law's housing allowance of ~$14,000. The trade-off vs. urban peer schools is geographic distance from a major legal market; students travel to Chicago for on-campus recruiting events and 2L summer positions, and the local legal market is small but growing. Winters in Central Illinois can be sharply cold and snowy; the campus has substantial snow-removal infrastructure.

Student body

With a first-year class of roughly 162 (about 480 total J.D. students), Illinois Law is among the smaller of the top-50 public flagship law schools, which produces a close-knit, collegial community with strong faculty contact. Students run a number of journals (including the University of Illinois Law Review and the Journal of Law, Technology & Policy) and a wide range of organizations. There is no part-time or evening division; the J.D. is full-time and residential.

How Illinois Law Compares

Choose Illinois Law if

You want a top-ranked IP / Patent Law program in a public flagship setting.
You target Illinois or Midwest legal practice, particularly Chicago.
You prefer a top-40 public law school with low in-state tuition (~$37k/yr) and a total in-state COA under $60k.
You value small class sizes, individualized faculty mentorship, and a classic Big Ten college town.

Consider alternatives if

You want elite coastal BigLaw placement (NY, DC, SF) — consider top-14 national schools such as Cornell Law School.
You want the absolute highest flagship-public employment outcomes — consider schools ranked in the top 30 nationally.
You need a part-time / evening program — Illinois Law is full-time only.

The TLS Verdict

Illinois Law is an underrated flagship public law school that delivers strong Midwest and IP outcomes at a public-school price tag: 31.17% acceptance rate, a 163 LSAT / 3.81 GPA median profile, ~91% first-time bar passage (Illinois 91.5%), 92% bar-required employment, and 95% overall 10-month employment. The top-15 IP / Patent Law program and the campus's deep engineering presence make Illinois Law a top destination for patent prosecution and patent litigation careers. In-state tuition of $37,440 / yr (COA ~$58k) keeps debt strikingly low, and the school's regional placement in Chicago is steady. The principal trade-offs are geography (Champaign is a college town, not a major-coastal market) and a more modest federal clerkship rate than some larger flagship publics. For applicants targeting Illinois / Midwest practice, patent or IP careers, and a flagship public law school experience in a classic Big Ten college town, Illinois Law is among the strongest choices in its tier.

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is it to get into Illinois Law?

Selective but more accessible than the very top flagship publics: for Fall 2025, Illinois Law accepted 31.17% of applicants (514 offers from 1,649 completed applications).

What LSAT score is competitive for Illinois Law?

The median LSAT for the Fall 2025 entering class was 163, with a middle-50% range of 158 to 164. Scores at or above 163 are competitive, but no score guarantees admission given the holistic review.

What GPA do Illinois Law applicants typically have?

The median undergraduate GPA for the Fall 2025 entering class was 3.81, with a middle-50% range of 3.55 to 3.92.

Does Illinois Law give scholarships?

Yes. Illinois Law offers both need-based and merit-based aid, with automatic scholarship consideration at the time of admission; the strongest consideration goes to applicants who submit by the March 1 priority deadline.

What is Illinois Law's bar passage rate?

For 2025 graduates, the first-time Illinois bar passage rate was 91.5% (July 2025 Illinois), well above the 78% state average. The all-jurisdiction first-time rate was approximately 91%. Ultimate two-year bar passage is approximately 95%.

Is Illinois Law good for IP and Patent Law?

Yes, exceptionally so. Illinois Law is perennially top-15 in IP / Patent Law (U.S. News) and offers strong placement into patent prosecution and patent litigation in Chicago, D.C., California, and Minneapolis. The IP program leverages the broader UIUC engineering campus, and the school offers a unique J.D./M.S. in Computer Engineering pathway.

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

No. The J.D. is full-time and residential, with no evening or part-time option.

What is Illinois Law best known for?

Illinois Law is best known for its top-15 IP / Patent Law program, its strong Illinois and Midwest placement, and its flagship-public value at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Contact and Key Links

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Law
244 Law Building
504 East Pennsylvania Avenue
Champaign, Illinois 61820

Admissions Phone: (217) 244-1463

Admissions Email: [email protected]

Official links

TLS Forum Links

Sources

University of Illinois College of Law

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