Southern Illinois University

Lesar Law Building
Carbondale, IL 62901
(800) 739-9187

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National Comparison: Overview of Facts

#10 in Presence of Female Faculty

SIU Law is tied for #10 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are female (51.1%).

#88 in Library Size

SIU Law ranks #88 in terms of library size with 436,647 volumes or equivalents.

#114 in Acceptance Rate

SIU Law ranks #114 in terms of student selectivity with an acceptance rate of 50.4% among those who applied for admission.

#120 in Presence of Minority Faculty

SIU Law ranks #120 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are racial or ethnic minority (11.1%).

#154 in Presence of Minority Students

SIU Law ranks #154 in terms of the highest percentage of students who are racial or ethnic minority (23.0%).

#157 in Median LSAT

SIU Law is tied for #157 in terms of the median LSAT score (150) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students. The LSAT measures reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning.

#162 in Bar Passage Rate

SIU Law ranks #162 in terms of bar passage rate among first-time test takers (64.3%), and it underperforms by -14.7% the state of Illinois’s overall bar passage rate of 79.0%. (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.)

#173 in Private Sector Salary

SIU Law is tied for #173 in terms of the median starting salary among graduates working in private practice as law firm associates ($52,000).

#174 in Student to Faculty Ratio

SIU Law is tied for #174 in terms of lowest student to faculty ratio (9.6:1).

#175 in Public Sector Salary

SIU Law is tied for #175 in terms of median starting salary among graduates working in government jobs or judicial clerkships at the federal or state level ($43,750).

#176 in Median Undergraduate GPA

SIU Law ranks #176 in terms of highest median undergraduate GPA (3.10) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students.

#202 in Highest Tuition (out-of-state)

#244 in Highest Tuition (in-state)
SIU Law ranks #202 in terms of highest tuition among full-time law students for its out-of state tuition of $31,316, and it ranks #244 in terms of highest tuition among full-time law students for its in-state tuition of $22,564. 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. Room and board expenses average $14,272 per year.

Fall 2020 Application Information

Application Deadline: January 8
Application Fee: $0

Admissions Statistics

2020 2017
Acceptance Rate 50.4% 78.6%
LSAT Score (Median) 150 149
LSAT Score (25th-75th percentile) 147-151 145-152
GPA (Median) 3.10 2.99
GPA Range (25th-75th percentile) 2.70-3.48 2.66-3.32

Bar Exam Statistics

2020 2017
State in which most graduates took bar exam: IL IL
School's bar passage rate: 64.3% 85.5%
State overall bar passage rate: 79.0% 85.0%
School bar pass rate vs. state bar pass rate: -14.7% +0.5%

Employment Statistics

2020 2017
Graduates employed at graduation: N/A 22.9%
Graduates employed 10 months after graduation: 58.6% 70.5%

Tuition and Expenses

2020 2017
Tuition (In-State): $22,564 N/A
Tuition (Out-of-State): $31,316 N/A
Room and Board: $14,272 $13,380
Proportion of full-time students receiving grants: 98.4% 85.3%
Median grant amount among full-time students: $5,500 $5,500
Average indebtedness of those who incurred debt: $73,064 $90,727
Proportion of graduates who incurred debt: 89.9% 91.9%
View National Comparison

Students & Faculty

2020 2017
Total Students: 269 354
Men: 57.2% 57.1%
Women: 42.8% 42.9%
Student Racial Demographics:

White: 77.0% N/A
Black: 10.0% N/A
Hispanic: 3.0% N/A
Asian: 1.5% N/A
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 9.6 : 1 N/A
Total Faculty: 45 N/A
Male: 48.9% N/A
Female: 51.1% N/A
Minority: 11.1% N/A

Full-Time Starting Salaries

2020 2017
Private Sector (Median): $52,000 $47,500
Public Sector (Median): $43,750 $42,000
View National Comparison

Library Resources

2020 2017
Volumes and equivalents: 436,647 434,479