Stanford Law School
Stanford, California · Private · ABA-approved since 1923 · Data updated November 2, 2026
Stanford Law School is a private law school in Stanford, California, approved by the American Bar Association since 1923. It admitted a fall 2025 class with a median LSAT of 173, higher than 95% of ABA-approved schools, saw 99.4% of its first-time bar takers pass in 2025 and placed 86.8% of its 2025 graduates in full-time lawyer jobs.
What stands out
- Harder to get into than 99% of schools: it accepted 6.1% of applicants.
- A median scholarship of $52,797, larger than at 98% of schools.
- First-time bar passage 14.8 points above the average for the states where its graduates sat.
Admissions: LSAT, GPA and acceptance rate
For the class that entered in fall 2025, Stanford University received 5,526 completed applications and made 337 offers, an acceptance rate of 6.1%. 193 students enrolled in the first-year class. The typical ABA school accepted 35.8%.
| Entering class, fall 2025 | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSAT | 171 | 173 | 176 |
| Undergraduate GPA | 3.87 | 3.96 | 4.00 |
A quarter of the class scored 171 or lower on the LSAT and a quarter scored 176 or higher. An applicant at or above the median, 173, is in the stronger half of this class; one below the 25th percentile is a long shot unless something else in the file stands out.
11 of the entering students were admitted on a GRE score instead of the LSAT.
Where would your numbers fall in this class?
Enter an LSAT score and undergraduate GPA. We compare them with the class that entered in fall 2025. This shows where your numbers sit, not your chances: admissions offices read the whole file.
Tuition, living costs and scholarships
Full-time tuition and fees for 2025-26 are $79,707 a year. That is more than 94% of ABA schools charge. The school estimates living costs of $51,102 a year off campus.
| Annual cost, 2025-26 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition, full-time, resident | $77,454 |
| Fees, full-time, resident | $2,253 |
| Living costs, on campus | $49,719 |
| Living costs, off campus | $51,102 |
In 2024-25, 50% of full-time students received a grant or scholarship from the school. The median award was $52,797, and the middle half of awards ran from $34,240 to $72,247. Subtract the median award from the full-time tuition and fees above and a typical recipient pays about $26,910 a year in tuition and fees, before living costs. That is a rough guide, since awards vary and some students get nothing.
| Size of grant, all students | Share of students |
|---|---|
| Less than half tuition | 14% |
| Half to full tuition | 25% |
| Full tuition | 0% |
| More than full tuition | 11% |
Scholarships that can be cut. The school reports that it does not award scholarships that are reduced or ended because of grades, other than for failing to stay in good academic standing.
Three years, roughly. At 2025-26 prices, three years of full-time tuition and fees plus off-campus living costs come to about $392,427. With the median scholarship every year, about $234,036. Tuition usually rises each year, so treat this as a floor.
Bar passage
Of 176 graduates who took a bar exam for the first time in 2025, 175 passed: 99.4%. The average for the same exams, weighted by where its graduates sat, was 84.7%, so the school finished a full 14.8 points above that average.
| Where they sat, 2025 | Takers | Passed | School | State average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 other jurisdictions | 22 | 21 | 95.5% | 80% |
| California | 71 | 71 | 100% | 82.7% |
| District of Columbia | 32 | 32 | 100% | 87.5% |
| New York | 51 | 51 | 100% | 87.3% |
The ABA also follows each class for two years. Of the 172 members of the class of 2023 who took a bar exam, 172 had passed one within two years: 100%.
Jobs after graduation
The ABA counts where each class is working ten months after graduation. Of 190 2025 graduates, 165 (86.8%) had full-time, long-term jobs that require bar passage, and 8 more (4.2%) had full-time, long-term jobs where a law degree is an advantage. At the typical ABA school, 83.4% were in lawyer jobs. 1 (0.5%) were unemployed and looking for work. 15 of the full-time, long-term jobs were funded by the school.
Law firm jobs by firm size
Shares are of all 190 graduates. Firms of more than 250 lawyers, the usual sense of “Big Law,” hired 88 (46.3%).
Where graduates work
Most employed graduates stayed in California (70), followed by New York (36) and District of Columbia (28).
Students who leave
In 2024-25, 2 first-year students left Stanford University: 0 for academic reasons (0%) and 2 for other reasons, such as transferring to another school (1%).
Transfers run both ways: 1 first-year students transferred out and 8 transferred in from other law schools. The students who transferred in had a median first-year law school GPA of 3.99.
Classes, clinics and faculty
Stanford University offered 301 upper-level course titles beyond the first-year curriculum in 2024-25. Of its upper-level class sections, 74% had fewer than 25 students and 2% had 75 or more.
| Hands-on learning, 2024-25 | Number |
|---|---|
| Law clinic seats available | 287 |
| Law clinic seats filled | 241 |
| Field placement (externship) positions filled | 63 |
| Simulation course seats filled | 471 |
| Co-curricular offerings (journals, moot court, etc.) | 11 |
The school reports 98 full-time faculty and 128 more who teach part-time or in other roles. With 570 J.D. students, that is about 6 students per full-time faculty member.
How Stanford University compares in California
California has 17 ABA-approved law schools. Among them, Stanford University ranks first in median LSAT, first in first-time bar passage, 9th in share of graduates in lawyer jobs and 16th-lowest tuition.
| School | Median LSAT | Tuition | Bar pass | Lawyer jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford University | 173 | $79,707 | 99.4% | 86.8% |
| University of California, Los Angeles | 171 | $61,862 | 96.7% | 94.3% |
| University of California, Berkeley | 170 | $66,374 | 94.8% | 96.8% |
| University of California, Irvine | 169 | $61,288 | 89.9% | 92.9% |
| University of Southern California | 169 | $85,948 | 94.1% | 94.3% |
| University of California, Davis | 165 | $59,870 | 93.2% | 91.7% |
| Pepperdine University | 164 | $73,550 | 90.7% | 91.8% |
| Chapman University | 163 | $63,201 | 80.3% | 76.2% |
| Loyola Marymount University (Loyola Law School) | 163 | $71,386 | 79.7% | 85.7% |
| University of San Diego | 163 | $67,751 | 86.7% | 88.6% |
| UC Law San Francisco | 161 | $54,329 | 86.2% | 87% |
| Santa Clara University | 159 | $65,777 | 82% | 75.3% |
| Southwestern Law School | 157 | $63,160 | 72.1% | 78.6% |
| University of the Pacific, McGeorge | 156 | $63,318 | 71.1% | 68.9% |
| California Western School of Law | 155 | $64,870 | 71.4% | 74.1% |
| University of San Francisco | 155 | $59,990 | 80.9% | 76.3% |
| Western State College of Law | 152 | $55,648 | 81.1% | 79.6% |
More on each, and on the California bar exam: law schools in California.
Schools with similar admissions numbers
These five schools admitted fall 2025 classes with the median LSAT and GPA closest to Stanford University's, so an applicant who fits here is likely to be a similar fit there. Compare what each costs and how its graduates fare.
| School | Median LSAT | Median GPA | Tuition | Bar pass | Lawyer jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford University | 173 | 3.96 | $79,707 | 99.4% | 86.8% |
| Northwestern University Chicago, IL | 173 | 3.96 | $80,633 | 91.8% | 92% |
| University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA | 173 | 3.95 | $84,492 | 94.4% | 97.2% |
| Harvard University Cambridge, MA | 174 | 3.96 | $82,352 | 97.9% | 93.2% |
| Yale University New Haven, CT | 174 | 3.96 | $78,961 | 98.5% | 87.2% |
| University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA | 173 | 3.99 | $77,900 | 95.1% | 98.1% |
Frequently asked questions
What LSAT score do you need to get into Stanford Law School?
There is no cutoff, but the class that entered in fall 2025 had a median LSAT of 173, with the middle half scoring 171 to 176. The median undergraduate GPA was 3.96. The school accepted 6.1% of applicants.
What is the bar passage rate at Stanford Law School?
99.4% of Stanford University graduates taking a bar exam for the first time in 2025 passed, against a weighted state average of 84.7%. Within two years of graduating, 100% of the class of 2023 who took a bar exam had passed.
How much does Stanford Law School cost?
Full-time tuition and fees for 2025-26 are $79,707 a year. Some students pay less: 50% of full-time students received a grant, with a median award of $52,797.
Do Stanford Law School graduates get jobs?
Ten months after graduation, 86.8% of the class of 2025 had full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar passage, and 4.2% more had full-time, long-term jobs where a law degree is an advantage. 0.5% were unemployed and seeking work.
Is Stanford Law School ABA-accredited?
Yes. Stanford Law School has been approved by the American Bar Association since 1923, so its graduates can sit for the bar exam in every state.