Washington and Lee University

Sydney Lewis Hall
Lexington, VA 24450-0303
(540) 458-8503

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National Comparison: Overview of Facts

#29 in Acceptance Rate

W&L Law ranks #29 in terms of student selectivity with an acceptance rate of 28.7% among those who applied for admission.

#29 in Median LSAT

W&L Law is tied for #29 in terms of the median LSAT score (163) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students. The LSAT measures reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning.

#35 in Employment Rate at Graduation

#50 in Employment Rate at 10 Months
W&L Law ranks #35 in terms of graduates employed at the time of graduation (61.6%) and #50 in terms of graduates employed ten months after graduation (82.8%).

#52 in Bar Passage Rate

W&L Law ranks #52 in terms of bar passage rate among first-time test takers (86.7%), and it outperforms by +11.2% the state of Virginia’s overall bar passage rate of 75.5%. (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.)

#53 in Private Sector Salary

W&L Law is tied for #53 in terms of the median starting salary among graduates working in private practice as law firm associates ($85,000).

#68 in Library Size

W&L Law ranks #68 in terms of library size with 497,250 volumes or equivalents.

#69 in Highest Tuition

W&L Law ranks #69 in terms of highest tuition among full-time law students ($49,355). 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.

#73 in Median Undergraduate GPA

W&L Law ranks #73 in terms of highest median undergraduate GPA (3.51) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students.

#89 in Student to Faculty Ratio

W&L Law is tied for #89 in terms of lowest student to faculty ratio (6.9:1).

#119 in Public Sector Salary

W&L Law is tied for #119 in terms of median starting salary among graduates working in government jobs or judicial clerkships at the federal or state level ($51,450).

#141 in Presence of Minority Students

W&L Law ranks #141 in terms of the highest percentage of students who are racial or ethnic minority (24.7%).

#141 in Presence of Minority Faculty

W&L Law ranks #141 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are racial or ethnic minority (9.8%).

#172 in Presence of Female Faculty

W&L Law is tied for #172 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are female (31.5%).

Fall 2020 Application Information

Application Deadline: July 15
Application Fee: $0

Admissions Statistics

2020 2017
Acceptance Rate 28.7% 48.6%
LSAT Score (Median) 163 160
LSAT Score (25th-75th percentile) 158-164 158-162
GPA (Median) 3.51 3.33
GPA Range (25th-75th percentile) 3.21-3.68 3.08-3.58

Bar Exam Statistics

2020 2017
State in which most graduates took bar exam: VA VA
School's bar passage rate: 86.7% 89.2%
State overall bar passage rate: 75.5% 72.3%
School bar pass rate vs. state bar pass rate: +11.2% +16.9%

Employment Statistics

2020 2017
Graduates employed at graduation: 61.6% 45.7%
Graduates employed 10 months after graduation: 82.8% 74.8%

Tuition and Expenses

2020 2017
Tuition: $49,355 $46,497
Room and Board: $15,625 $15,113
Proportion of full-time students receiving grants: 99.5% 100.0%
Median grant amount among full-time students: $27,500 $22,500
Average indebtedness of those who incurred debt: $99,559 $110,067
Proportion of graduates who incurred debt: 71.9% 75.6%
View National Comparison

Students & Faculty

2020 2017
Total Students: 396 314
Men: 52.3% 57.0%
Women: 47.7% 43.0%
Student Racial Demographics:

White: 75.3% N/A
Black: 5.1% N/A
Hispanic: 4.5% N/A
Asian: 6.8% N/A
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 6.9 : 1 N/A
Total Faculty: 92 N/A
Male: 68.5% N/A
Female: 31.5% N/A
Minority: 9.8% N/A

Full-Time Starting Salaries

2020 2017
Private Sector (Median): $85,000 $92,500
Public Sector (Median): $51,450 $52,000
View National Comparison

Library Resources

2020 2017
Volumes and equivalents: 497,250 483,204