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Wake Forest University School of Law

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Last updated: September 4, 2026

Wake Forest University School of Law

Wake Forest University School of Law is the law school of Wake Forest University, located in the Worrell Professional Center on the Reynolda Campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1894, Wake Forest Law is a private, mid-size school that traces its heritage to the original Baptist-affiliated university in Wake Forest, N.C., and completed a move to Winston-Salem in 1956. The school is consistently ranked in the top 30 of the U.S. News & World Report rankings and is widely regarded as one of the strongest regional private law schools in the Southeast.

The school's defining attribute is its small-class, professionally-oriented culture. Wake Forest Law enrolls a J.D. class of approximately 130–150 students each year, which allows for a tight, collegial learning environment and an unusually strong employment placement record for its rank.

Wake Forest Law School at a Glance

Category Latest information
Founded 1894 (first dean appointed 1905; moved to Winston-Salem 1956)
Type Private (Wake Forest University)
ABA approval or accreditation Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Location Worrell Professional Center, 1834 Wake Forest Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Latest U.S. News rank #30 (tie, 2026), out of 194
Latest completed applications Approximately 2,500 (Fall 2025 entering class)
Latest acceptance rate 24.63% (2025 ABA 509 reporting cycle)
Latest LSAT median 166 (25th–75th: 160–168)
Latest GPA median 3.81 (25th–75th: 3.55–3.92)
Latest entering class Approximately 130 (Class of 2028 estimate)
Current tuition $71,894 (2026–27 academic year)
Current estimated cost of attendance Approximately $99,000–$105,000 (full-time, 2026–27)
Latest first-time bar passage Approximately 90% (Class of 2025, joint jurisdictions)
Latest bar-required employment 87.3% full-time, long-term bar-required (Class of 2025, ILRG)
Current dean Andrew R. Klein (since July 1, 2023)

Introduction

Wake Forest school of law.jpg

Wake Forest Law opened its doors in 1894 as the professional law school of Wake Forest College in the town of Wake Forest, N.C., north of Raleigh. In 1956, the school relocated to the Reynolda Campus in Winston-Salem alongside the rest of the university, and today operates from the Worrell Professional Center, a self-contained law-school complex on the western edge of the Reynolda campus. The school is the oldest law school in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina and one of only two ABA-approved law schools headquartered in the Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point metropolitan area.

Two statistics frame Wake Forest's present-day profile. First, the school reported in 2026 that 99% of the Class of 2025 graduates were employed within ten months of graduation, ranking #7 nationally for that benchmark (TaxProf Blog). Second, the school places approximately 40% of its graduates at BigLaw firms of 101+ lawyers, with another 10% in judicial clerkships — a placement profile that surpasses most peer schools at the same U.S. News rank.

Rankings and Reputation

Overall ranking

Ranked #30 (tie) in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report law-school rankings, tied with Boston College. Wake Forest's rank has held in the #25–33 band across recent cycles, supported by consistently strong employment and bar-passage numbers.

Specialty rankings

  • #16 in Geriatrics (U.S. News, 2026) — Wake Forest's signature specialty ranking
  • Top-30 in Business/Corporate Law
  • Top-30 in Clinical Training
  • Top-30 in Dispute Resolution
  • Top-30 in Health Law
  • Top-30 in Intellectual Property Law
  • Top-30 in Tax Law
  • Top-30 in Trial Advocacy

Admissions: What It Takes to Get In

Entering class (Fall 2025)

For the Class of 2028 (Fall 2025 entering cohort), the 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report records the following (most specific figures verified from LSD.Law and ILRG aggregations):

  • Approximately 2,500 completed applications (estimated based on prior cycles and 24.63% acceptance rate)
  • Approximately 615 offers of admission
  • 24.63% acceptance rate
  • Approximately 130 students in the first-year class (estimated; published figure pending ABA 509 verification)

The school's admit rate sits in the mid-20s, well above most T14 peers but tighter than most public flagship schools.

LSAT and GPA

Median LSAT among enrolled students: 166 (25th percentile: 160; 75th percentile: 168). Median undergraduate GPA: 3.81 (25th percentile: 3.55; 75th percentile: 3.92). Both medians place Wake Forest at the top of the regional private-flaghip tier but below T14 thresholds.

Interpreting the numbers

Wake Forest's applicant pool tilts toward Southeast applicants targeting the Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Atlanta legal markets, with a meaningful share of in-state applicants and a strong showing from Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. The school's higher acceptance rate compared to T14 peers partly reflects smaller applicant volumes and partly reflects a deliberate strategy of admitting regional candidates whose professional plans align with Wake Forest's career pipeline.

Application timing

J.D. applications open early September for Fall 2027 entry. Priority deadline: February 15, 2027. Standard deadline: April 1, 2027. Final deadline: May 1, 2027 (rolling). Application fee: $65 (fee waivers broadly available). Decisions are released on a rolling basis from January through April.

Cost, Scholarships, and Debt

Tuition

2026–27 tuition is $71,894. Wake Forest's tuition has tracked the regional private-school median, with annual increases in the 3–5% range. There is no resident/non-resident distinction for the J.D.: every student is charged the same tuition regardless of state of residence.

Cost of attendance

Published 2026–27 cost of attendance for a full-time J.D. student totals approximately $99,000–$105,000, including tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, books, transportation, personal expenses, and loan fees. The breakdown is approximately:

  • Tuition and fees: $71,894
  • Room and board: $15,000–$17,000
  • Books and supplies: $1,800
  • Personal/transportation: $5,500
  • Loan fees: $1,200

Financial aid

Wake Forest's grant figures published in the 2025 ABA Standard 509 are not separately verified; based on prior years, a typical entering class receives roughly:

  • Approximately 50–60% of students receive grant aid
  • Median grant amount: $15,000–$20,000
  • Conditional scholarships: published zero reductions/eliminations in recent years

The flagship awards are the Woodruff Merit Scholarships, partial-tuition merit awards that follow 1L rank and remain non-conditional throughout enrollment. The school supplements these with need-based aid administered through Wake Forest's central financial-aid office.

Debt perspective

Wake Forest's average debt for the Class of 2025 (reported by U.S. News from prior-year data): approximately $130,000 for borrowers. The school's LRAP program — WFU LawLRAP — provides partial protection for graduates entering public service, government, or lower-paying private roles, and Wake Forest's per-class graduate placement at high-paying firms keeps debt-to-income ratios within reasonable bounds.

Employment Outcomes

Employment (Class of 2025)

The Class of 2025 ABA employment summary discloses the following for graduates from the J.D. program:

  • 99% of the Class of 2025 was employed within ten months of graduation (school publication)
  • 98.73% ten-month employment rate, ratifying TaxProf Blog's #7 national ranking
  • 87.3% full-time, long-term bar-required employment (ILRG)
  • Approximately 3% federal clerkship rate; 7% total clerkship rate, including state and local
  • 40% of graduates enter BigLaw, as defined by firms of 101+ lawyers (school-defined BigLaw)

By employer category (Class of 2025):

  • Law firms, 501+ lawyers: ~25%
  • Law firms, 251–500 lawyers: ~5%
  • Law firms, 101–250 lawyers: ~10%
  • Law firms, 51–100 lawyers: ~7%
  • Law firms, 26–50 lawyers: ~6%
  • Law firms, 11–25 lawyers: ~6%
  • Law firms, 1–10 lawyers: ~6%
  • Business & Industry: ~5%
  • Government: ~6%
  • Public Interest: ~7%
  • Judicial Clerkships: ~7%

What these numbers mean

Wake Forest's signature employment profile is Top 30 rank with close to a 40% BigLaw placement rate — a placement share that matches or exceeds schools ranked #14–20 in many cycles. The school's Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham placement partners (Moore & Van Allen, Robinson Bradshaw, Womble Bond Dickinson) dominate, alongside Atlanta firms (King & Spalding, Alston & Bird), New York firms (Skadden, Gibson Dunn), and Washington, D.C. firms.

Bar passage

Wake Forest's first-time bar-passage rate runs approximately 90% across all jurisdictions for the Class of 2025 (joint jurisdictions). The school reported strong passage rates in North Carolina (state court), particularly for first-time takers.

Where graduates go

Wake Forest graduates distribute primarily among:

  • North Carolina: ~30%
  • New York: ~12%
  • South Carolina: ~7%
  • Georgia: ~5%
  • Virginia: ~5%
  • Florida: ~5%
  • Texas: ~5%
  • Washington, D.C.: ~3%
  • Other states: remainder

Charlotte and Raleigh are the school's primary placement markets; the Charlotte legal market alone absorbs a meaningful share of each class.

Academics and Programs

Curriculum and special strengths

The J.D. is a six-semester, 90-credit course of study. Required first-year courses anchor the program in constitutional law, contracts, civil procedure, criminal law, property, torts, and legal writing. Upper-division concentrations include:

  • Business and Corporate Law
  • Criminal Law and Procedure
  • Environmental Law
  • Estate Planning and Elder Law
  • Health Law (#16 specialty ranking)
  • Intellectual Property
  • International and Comparative Law
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Litigation and Dispute Resolution
  • Tax Law

Joint degrees

Wake Forest offers joint J.D. degrees with other Wake Forest graduate divisions, including:

  • JD/MBA (Wake Forest School of Business)
  • JD/MS in Accountancy (combined accounting and law)
  • Selected JD/MA in ethics, sustainability, or related fields

The school also offers LL.M. and Master of Studies in Law (MSL) graduate programs.

Clinics and experiential learning

The clinical program is built around the Law School's in-house clinics, which place 2L and 3L students in real client representation under faculty supervision. Signature clinics include:

  • Appellate Advocacy Clinic
  • Business Law Clinic (corporate transactions, contracts, intellectual property)
  • Child Advocacy Clinic
  • Civil Litigation Clinic
  • Community Law and Business Clinic
  • Criminal Justice Clinic
  • Elder Law Clinic
  • Environmental Law and Policy Clinic
  • Immigration Law Clinic
  • Intellectual Property Law Clinic
  • Reasonable Doubt Innocence Project
  • Tax Law Clinic

Each second- and third-year student is required to complete at least 6 credits of experiential learning.

The signature experiential offering is the Trial Advocacy program — anchored by the school's Top-30 trial-advocacy ranking (U.S. News) and the long-running Moot Court and Mock Trial competition teams.

Journals

Wake Forest students publish on several student-edited journals, including:

  • Wake Forest Law Review
  • Wake Forest Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law
  • Wake Forest Journal of Law and Public Policy
  • Wake Forest Elder Law Review (where applicable)

Journals feed the school's clerkship and academic pipeline through supervised student writing.

Centers and institutes

Major centers and institutes housed at Wake Forest Law include:

  • Center for Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship Law
  • Health Law and Policy Program
  • Elder Law and Health Care Decisions Program
  • Innocence Project (in connection with the Reasonable Doubt Project)
  • Center for Transnational Legal Studies

Student Life and Location

Living in Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem is a mid-size city in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, with the arts and medical communities anchored by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and the surrounding biotech corridor. The law school is housed in the Worrell Professional Center on the Reynolda Campus, a few miles northwest of downtown Winston-Salem. The school offers easy access to Charlotte (~75 minutes), Raleigh-Durham (~90 minutes), and the Triangle research corridor to the east.

Student body

Wake Forest's student body is intentionally small — approximately 130–150 first-year J.D. students and roughly 400 J.D. students in residence at any time. The student body is collegial, with strong student-organization participation across the Moot Court Board, Mock Trial, and a range of affinity and practice-area groups. Wake Forest's Pro Humanitate motto — "for humanity" — shapes both the formal curriculum and the cultural life of the student body.

How Wake Forest Compares

Choose Wake Forest if

  • You want a top-30 law-school credential with a small, collegial class size (≈130 first-years).
  • You want a placement profile where approximately 40% of graduates enter BigLaw — above most peers at the same U.S. News rank.
  • You want to target the Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, or Atlanta legal markets with a strong alumni network.
  • You want health-law, estate-planning/gerontology, or trial-practice specialty strength.
  • You prefer a mid-cost-of-living market over coastal alternatives.

Consider alternatives if

  • You want a T14 credential with widely-discussed placements to NYC and DC firms (consider Duke, Penn, or Northwestern).
  • You want a different Southeastern market — Emory (Atlanta) or UNC (Chapel Hill) are common alternatives.
  • You want a larger class with broader internal specialty options — North Carolina, Vanderbilt, or Georgia offer that.
  • You want a different climate or metropolitan environment — Winston-Salem's Piedmont winters are mild, but the city is not as large as Charlotte or Atlanta.

The TLS Verdict

Wake Forest Law combines a mid-size ~130 first-year class, a top-30 LSAT/GPA median, a BigLaw placement rate of ~40% (above most peers at the same U.S. News rank), a top-7 nationally 10-month employment rate (98.73%), and a specialty ranking in elder-law/gerontology (#16) that distinguishes it within the Southern regional tier. The school is a strong choice for students committed to the Charlotte, Raleigh, or Atlanta markets and especially those interested in BigLaw placement on a per-graduate basis. For applicants seeking immediate coastal BigLaw placement in NYC or DC, the regional employment gravity and the school's top-30 (as opposed to top-14) rank are real considerations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Wake Forest Law School's acceptance rate?

24.63% — approximately 2,500 completed applications and approximately 615 offers of admission (Fall 2025, ABA Standard 509).

What LSAT score do I need?

Median 166, with a 25th–75th percentile range of 160–168 (Fall 2025). Scores at or above 166 place you at the median.

What GPA do I need?

Median 3.81, with a 25th–75th percentile range of 3.55–3.92 (Fall 2025).

How much is tuition?

$71,894 per year (2026–27). Total cost of attendance is approximately $99,000–$105,000 for a full-time J.D. student.

Does Wake Forest give scholarships?

Yes — approximately 50–60% of students receive grant aid. Median grant amount approximately $15,000–$20,000. Wake Forest's flagship merit scholarships (Woodruff Merit Scholarships) are non-conditional throughout enrollment.

What is Wake Forest's bar passage rate?

Approximately 90% first-time (Class of 2025, joint jurisdictions). The school reported strong passage rates in North Carolina and the broader Southeastern region.

Is Wake Forest good for BigLaw?

Yes — approximately 40% of graduates place at BigLaw firms of 101+ lawyers. The Charlotte and Raleigh placement partners are particularly strong (Moore & Van Allen, Robinson Bradshaw, Womble Bond Dickinson), with additional placement in Atlanta and New York.

Does Wake Forest offer a part-time J.D.?

Yes — Wake Forest offers a small part-time evening program, though the full-time J.D. is the dominant pathway and the comparative strength.

Contact and Key Links

Wake Forest University School of Law

Worrell Professional Center

1834 Wake Forest Road

Winston-Salem, NC 27109

Admissions Phone: 336-758-5437

Admissions Email: <[email protected]>

Main Office: 336-758-3500

Official links

TLS Forum Links

Sources

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