Vanderbilt University

131 21st Avenue S
Nashville, TN 37203-1181
(615) 322-6452

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National Comparison: Overview of Facts

#1 in Private Sector Salary

Vanderbilt Law is tied for #1 in terms of the median starting salary among graduates working in private practice as law firm associates ($180,000).

#7 in Public Sector Salary

Vanderbilt Law is tied for #7 in terms of median starting salary among graduates working in government jobs or judicial clerkships at the federal or state level ($65,287).

#11 in Median Undergraduate GPA

Vanderbilt Law ranks #11 in terms of highest median undergraduate GPA (3.80) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students.

#14 in Employment Rate at Graduation

#22 in Employment Rate at 10 Months
Vanderbilt Law ranks #14 in terms of graduates employed at the time of graduation (79.8%) and #22 in terms of graduates employed ten months after graduation (88.3%).

#15 in Median LSAT

Vanderbilt Law is tied for #15 in terms of the median LSAT score (167) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students. The LSAT measures reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning.

#17 in Bar Passage Rate

Vanderbilt Law ranks #17 in terms of bar passage rate among first-time test takers (95.0%), and it outperforms by +19.3% the state of New York’s overall bar passage rate of 75.7%. (A national comparison on this metric should be taken in a qualified sense and with caution, because every state has a different bar passage rate.)

#18 in Acceptance Rate

Vanderbilt Law ranks #18 in terms of student selectivity with an acceptance rate of 23.7% among those who applied for admission.

#25 in Highest Tuition

Vanderbilt Law ranks #25 in terms of highest tuition among full-time law students ($57,558). We rank from a total of 283 tuition rates from 194 law schools, ranking twice those law schools that have different in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.

#39 in Library Size

Vanderbilt Law ranks #39 in terms of library size with 656,173 volumes or equivalents.

#65 in Presence of Minority Faculty

Vanderbilt Law ranks #65 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are racial or ethnic minority (15.0%).

#88 in Presence of Minority Students

Vanderbilt Law ranks #88 in terms of the highest percentage of students who are racial or ethnic minority (32.9%).

#113 in Presence of Female Faculty

Vanderbilt Law is tied for #113 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are female (38.3%).

#114 in Student to Faculty Ratio

Vanderbilt Law is tied for #114 in terms of lowest student to faculty ratio (7.4:1).

Fall 2020 Application Information

Application Deadline: April 1
Application Fee: $50

Admissions Statistics

2020 2017
Acceptance Rate 23.7% 38.1%
LSAT Score (Median) 167 165
LSAT Score (25th-75th percentile) 161-168 161-168
GPA (Median) 3.80 3.67
GPA Range (25th-75th percentile) 3.61-3.87 3.50-3.83

Bar Exam Statistics

2020 2017
State in which most graduates took bar exam: NY TN
School's bar passage rate: 95.0% 93.2%
State overall bar passage rate: 75.7% 72.2%
School bar pass rate vs. state bar pass rate: +19.3% +21.0%

Employment Statistics

2020 2017
Graduates employed at graduation: 79.8% 82.5%
Graduates employed 10 months after graduation: 88.3% 87.1%

Tuition and Expenses

2020 2017
Tuition: $57,558 $51,360
Room and Board: $15,710 $14,376
Proportion of full-time students receiving grants: 92.1% 90.9%
Median grant amount among full-time students: $25,000 $22,500
Average indebtedness of those who incurred debt: $120,622 $114,447
Proportion of graduates who incurred debt: 67.6% 69.7%
View National Comparison

Students & Faculty

2020 2017
Total Students: 577 538
Men: 48.9% 51.1%
Women: 51.0% 48.9%
Student Racial Demographics:

White: 67.1% N/A
Black: 10.1% N/A
Hispanic: 6.4% N/A
Asian: 7.5% N/A
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 7.4 : 1 N/A
Total Faculty: 133 N/A
Male: 61.7% N/A
Female: 38.3% N/A
Minority: 15.0% N/A

Full-Time Starting Salaries

2020 2017
Private Sector (Median): $180,000 $130,908
Public Sector (Median): $65,287 $56,000
View National Comparison

Library Resources

2020 2017
Volumes and equivalents: 656,173 654,986