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Washington University School of Law

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Last updated: September 1, 2026

Washington University School of Law

Washington University School of Law (commonly "WashU Law") is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1867 and ABA-accredited continuously since 1923, it has become one of the most talked-about risers in legal education: the nation's highest LSAT median (175), a top-15 U.S. News ranking, and 95.09% of the Class of 2025 in full-time, long-term, JD-required positions.

WashU Law at a Glance

Category Latest information
Founded 1867 (ABA accredited continuously since 1923)
Type Private (Washington University in St. Louis)
ABA approval or accreditation ABA approved (Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar)
Location St. Louis, Missouri
Latest U.S. News rank #13 (tie) (2026 edition; school release cited #14)
Latest completed applications Not publicly confirmed for 2025 (2024: 4,798)
Latest acceptance rate 18.96% (2025 ABA 509)
Latest LSAT median 175 (highest of any ABA law school, Fall 2025)
Latest GPA median 3.96
Latest entering class 258 (enrolled from applicant pool)
Current tuition $75,600 (2026–27, all full-time residential J.D. programs)
Current estimated cost of attendance ≈$105,700 (maximum nine-month budget, school-published components)
Latest first-time bar passage 93.6% (#22 nationally; +12.2 points vs. Missouri average)
Latest bar-required employment 95.09% full-time, long-term, JD-required (Class of 2025)
Current dean Stefanie Lindquist (Nickerson Dean and Professor of Law)

Introduction

Images wash-u-law-building.jpg



WashU Law is a private, top-tier law school in St. Louis that has engineered one of the most dramatic ascents in recent legal education — from a solid regional power to a national top-15 player — through a deliberate strategy of high LSAT medians, guaranteed three-year scholarships and intense placement focus. In Fall 2025 it posted the highest LSAT median in the country (175), and its Class of 2025 placed 95.09% of graduates into full-time, long-term, JD-required positions. The school styles itself "#1 in the nation for outcomes" in its own materials and backs its affordability pitch with scholarship guarantees that virtually no peer matches: all J.D. scholarships are guaranteed for three years with no GPA or class-rank conditions.

Rankings and Reputation

Overall ranking

U.S. News (2026 edition) ranks WashU Law #13 (tie) out of 194 per its official profile page; the school's own news release reported the move as "WashU Law Rises to #14" — the tie-break rounds differently across the two sources. Either way, it marks WashU's highest sustained position in the modern rankings era. Official profile: U.S. News profile

Specialty rankings

WashU's reputational identity is built less on a single specialty than on outcomes and value: the school markets itself as "#1 in the nation for outcomes" in its news materials, and its 2026–27 U.S. News peer-reputation score placed it at #18 on the TaxProf compilation. Its most celebrated specific strength is scholarship stability — every J.D. scholarship is guaranteed for all three years, a guarantee that explicitly avoids the conditional-scholarship model that has drawn ABA scrutiny elsewhere.

Admissions: What It Takes to Get In

Entering class (Fall 2025)

Per the 2025 ABA Standard 509 Report, WashU reported an 18.96% acceptance rate with 258 enrollees from the applicant pool. Exact completed-application and offer counts for Fall 2025 were not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed (the most recent full count found was 4,798 applications / 955 offers for 2024).

LSAT and GPA

Fall 2025 admitted students: LSAT median 175 — the highest LSAT median of any ABA-approved law school in the country that cycle (per Spivey Consulting's 2025 509 analysis; ILRG and LSATLab concur). UGPA median 3.96 (ILRG/SLSATLab). The 25th–75th percentile ranges were not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Interpreting the numbers

WashU's 175 LSAT median — above Harvard's 174 and tied with the very top of the market — is the visible product of an aggressive, well-documented scholarship strategy aimed at high-scoring applicants. The result is an entering class whose numbers outrank its U.S. News position, and a recurring TLS-era debate about whether WashU's credentials outpace its brand. What is not debatable is the placement record: 95.09% FT/LT JD-required employment is at the very top of the national table.

Application timing

The J.D. application for the 2026–27 cycle opens in September with winter deadlines and rolling review; the application fee and exact 2027 dates were not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed (the application page was not retrievable this cycle) — check the admissions portal directly: J.D. Admissions

Cost, Scholarships, and Debt

Tuition

$75,600 for the 2026–27 academic year for all full-time residential law programs (an increase of $2,808 over the prior year, per Washington University). Required fees: University Health & Wellness Fee $700, Student Bar Association Fee $189, Orientation Fee $100. (ILRG lists $72,792 for an earlier reported year.)

Cost of attendance

The school publishes a maximum nine-month student budget whose components — tuition and fees plus Housing $13,617, Food $3,780, Books $1,500, Miscellaneous $5,000, Transportation $1,521, University Health Insurance $2,712 (waivable with comparable coverage), and an optional parking permit $941 — sum to approximately $105,700. St. Louis living costs are among the lowest of any top-15 school, and the school emphasizes that many students come in well under the maximum budget.

Financial aid

Approximately 94% of students receive grant or scholarship funding (LSATLab, 2025 509 data); the median grant amount was not confirmed in sources reviewed. Verified and distinctive: all J.D. scholarships are guaranteed for all three years and are never conditioned on GPA or class rank — the ABA Scholarship Retention worksheet shows zero conditional-scholarship entrants in every reporting year. FAFSA code: 002520. A new supplemental loan program (up to $25,000/year, 7.50% fixed, no credit check) is offered to incoming J.D. students.

Debt perspective

WashU's financial package is arguably its strongest asset: near-universal grant coverage, a three-year guarantee, and St. Louis's low cost of living combine to give graduates one of the best debt-to-outcome ratios in the top 15 — at roughly half the all-in cost of a New York or D.C. education.

Employment Outcomes

Employment (Class of 2025)

95.09% of the Class of 2025 secured full-time, long-term, JD-required positions per the school's official ABA Employment Summary for 2025 Graduates (WashU statement; the school's own ABA PDF is linked in Official links). National context: across all 36,206 ABA graduates in the Class of 2025, 82.7% landed long-term, full-time legal jobs, so WashU's figure runs roughly 12 points above the national bar-required baseline.

What these numbers mean

WashU's outcome numbers rival schools ranked far above it, and the school's "outcomes" marketing is grounded in this ABA-compiled reality rather than self-reported placement. The caveat for applicants: big-firm share and market composition (St. Louis, Chicago, Midwest plus national firms) were not machine-readable in the sources reviewed, so the quality-of-job mix behind the 95.09% headline is not independently broken down here.

Bar passage

93.6% first-time pass rate — #22 nationally among first-time test takers, and +12.2 percentage points above the Missouri state average (ILRG). The 2026 ABA Bar Admissions 509 report is posted in the school's disclosures.

Where graduates go

St. Louis and the Midwest anchor placement, with steady national firm hiring and a growing reputation among employers in Chicago, New York and Texas. Sector and geographic splits for the Class of 2025 were not confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Academics and Programs

Curriculum and special strengths

WashU's curriculum centers on a rigorous core with strong programs in business/corporate law, intellectual property, and constitutional law, supported by the university's broader research strength. The school's standout institutional feature is financial: the guaranteed three-year, never-conditional scholarship — practically unique among top-20 law schools. Faculty strength is signaled by recent selections of WashU professors for the prestigious Harvard/Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum.

Clinics and experiential learning

WashU runs an established clinical and externship program (specific clinic roster not re-verified this cycle) plus nationally competitive moot court — its team reached the national semifinals of the ABA competition in 2026. Degrees: full-time residential J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.L.S., plus online non-J.D. programs; there is no part-time J.D. division.

Student Life and Location

Living in St. Louis

St. Louis offers exceptional affordability — nine-month housing budgeted at just $13,617 — with Forest Park, free museums, festivals and a lively cultural scene, all a short distance from campus. The Danforth Campus sits in the residential Central West End, minutes from downtown firms and courts.

Student body

WashU's entering classes are among the most credentialed in the country by the numbers (175 LSAT median) and the school has one of the highest grant rates in the top 20 (≈94%). The student experience emphasizes collegiality and placement services; the alumni network is concentrated in St. Louis, Chicago and the Midwest.

How WashU Compares

Choose WashU if

You want top-15 outcomes (95.09% FT/LT JD-required) with a financial model that removes the risk of conditional scholarships; you value the nation's most credentialed entering class by LSAT; you want exceptional value in a low-cost city; or you plan to practice in the Midwest/St. Louis/Chicago corridor.

Consider alternatives if

You want the East Coast BigLaw pipeline or New York/D.C. market shares of T14 peers, a stronger national brand among non-legal employers, or the smaller, more intimate class culture of a Vanderbilt. WashU's 175 LSAT median and scholarship-driven admissions also draw a recurring forum debate about whether credentials outrun brand — make your choice on outcomes and debt, not rankings chatter.

The TLS Verdict

WashU Law has converted a visible, sometimes controversial admissions strategy into genuinely elite outcomes: the nation's highest LSAT median, a top-15 ranking, 95.09% full-time long-term JD-required placement, 93.6% first-time bar passage, and a scholarship guarantee structure no peer matches. The open question is market mix — how much of that placement is large-firm versus regional — which the school's aggregated disclosures do not fully break out in machine-readable form. For applicants who prize certainty (aid that cannot be yanked, jobs that appear in the data) and value, WashU is one of the most rational choices in the top 20. For those whose goal is the New York mega-firm corridor, peer schools with deeper East Coast pipelines may fit better.

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is it to get into WashU Law?

Moderately selective for the tier: an 18.96% acceptance rate for Fall 2025 (2025 ABA 509), with a highly credentialed entering class by LSAT.

What LSAT score is competitive for WashU?

The Fall 2025 median was 175 — the highest of any ABA-approved law school that cycle. The 25th–75th range was not publicly confirmed in sources reviewed.

What GPA do WashU applicants typically have?

The Fall 2025 median UGPA was 3.96; the 25th–75th range was not publicly confirmed in sources reviewed.

Does WashU give scholarships?

Yes — approximately 94% of students receive grant or scholarship funding, and all J.D. scholarships are guaranteed for all three years with no GPA or class-rank conditions (no conditional scholarships). The median grant amount was not confirmed in sources reviewed.

What is WashU's bar passage rate?

93.6% first-time (per ILRG), ranking #22 nationally and outperforming the Missouri state average by +12.2 percentage points.

Is WashU good for BigLaw?

Yes — 95.09% of the Class of 2025 landed full-time, long-term, JD-required positions, among the best rates nationally; the exact 501+ attorney firm share was not broken out in sources reviewed.

Does WashU offer a part-time J.D.?

No. The J.D. is full-time residential only; WashU's online programs (LL.M., M.L.S.) are non-J.D.

What is WashU Law best known for?

The nation's highest LSAT median (175), a top-15 U.S. News ranking, 95.09% FT/LT JD-required employment, guaranteed three-year non-conditional scholarships, and exceptional value in St. Louis.

Contact and Key Links

Official links

TLS Forum Links

Sources

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