UC Law San Francisco
San Francisco, California · Public · ABA-approved since 1943 · Data updated November 2, 2026
UC Law San Francisco is a public law school in San Francisco, California, approved by the American Bar Association since 1943. It admitted a fall 2025 class with a median LSAT of 161, higher than 57% of ABA-approved schools, saw 86.2% of its first-time bar takers pass in 2025 and placed 87% of its 2025 graduates in full-time lawyer jobs.
Admissions: LSAT, GPA and acceptance rate
For the class that entered in fall 2025, UC Law San Francisco received 4,593 completed applications and made 1,262 offers, an acceptance rate of 27.5%. 380 students enrolled in the first-year class. The typical ABA school accepted 35.8%.
| Entering class, fall 2025 | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSAT | 158 | 161 | 163 |
| Undergraduate GPA | 3.55 | 3.71 | 3.83 |
A quarter of the class scored 158 or lower on the LSAT and a quarter scored 163 or higher. An applicant at or above the median, 161, 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.
4 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 $54,329 a year for California residents and $63,015 for everyone else. That is more than 59% of ABA schools charge. The school estimates living costs of $34,466 a year off campus.
| Annual cost, 2025-26 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition, full-time, resident | $53,087 |
| Fees, full-time, resident | $1,242 |
| Tuition, full-time, nonresident | $61,773 |
| Fees, full-time, nonresident | $1,242 |
| Living costs, on campus | $34,466 |
| Living costs, off campus | $34,466 |
| Living costs, at home | $34,466 |
In 2024-25, 86% of full-time students received a grant or scholarship from the school. The median award was $20,000, and the middle half of awards ran from $10,000 to $25,000. Subtract the median award from the full-time tuition and fees above and a typical recipient pays about $34,329 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 | 66% |
| Half to full tuition | 19% |
| Full tuition | 0% |
| More than full tuition | 1% |
Scholarships that can be cut. UC Law San Francisco awards some conditional scholarships, which shrink or end if a student's grades fall below a set mark. Of 304 students who entered in 2024-25 with one, 50 had it reduced or eliminated (16%). For students who entered in 2023-24 the figure was 43 of 250. Ask any school that offers you one exactly what you must do to keep it.
Three years, roughly. At 2025-26 prices, three years of full-time tuition and fees at the in-state rate plus off-campus living costs come to about $266,385. With the median scholarship every year, about $206,385. Tuition usually rises each year, so treat this as a floor.
Bar passage
Of 349 graduates who took a bar exam for the first time in 2025, 301 passed: 86.2%. The average for the same exams, weighted by where its graduates sat, was 82.7%, so the school finished 3.5 points above that average.
| Where they sat, 2025 | Takers | Passed | School | State average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 other jurisdictions | 15 | 14 | 93.3% | 80.7% |
| California | 334 | 287 | 85.9% | 82.7% |
The ABA also follows each class for two years. Of the 337 members of the class of 2023 who took a bar exam, 324 had passed one within two years: 96.1%.
Jobs after graduation
The ABA counts where each class is working ten months after graduation. Of 354 2025 graduates, 308 (87%) had full-time, long-term jobs that require bar passage, and 15 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. 5 (1.4%) were unemployed and looking for work. 17 of the full-time, long-term jobs were funded by the school.
Law firm jobs by firm size
Shares are of all 354 graduates. Firms of more than 250 lawyers, the usual sense of “Big Law,” hired 99 (28%).
Where graduates work
Most employed graduates stayed in California (311), followed by New York (8) and Unknown (6).
Students who leave
In 2024-25, 20 first-year students left UC Law San Francisco: 15 for academic reasons (4%) and 5 for other reasons, such as transferring to another school (1%).
Transfers run both ways: 31 first-year students transferred out and 3 transferred in from other law schools.
Classes, clinics and faculty
UC Law San Francisco offered 211 upper-level course titles beyond the first-year curriculum in 2024-25. Of its upper-level class sections, 82% had fewer than 25 students and 5% had 75 or more.
| Hands-on learning, 2024-25 | Number |
|---|---|
| Law clinic seats available | 145 |
| Law clinic seats filled | 120 |
| Field placement (externship) positions filled | 312 |
| Simulation course seats filled | 794 |
| Co-curricular offerings (journals, moot court, etc.) | 14 |
The school reports 74 full-time faculty and 205 more who teach part-time or in other roles. With 1,048 J.D. students, that is about 14 students per full-time faculty member.
How UC Law San Francisco compares in California
California has 17 ABA-approved law schools. Among them, UC Law San Francisco ranks 11th in median LSAT, 9th in first-time bar passage, 8th in share of graduates in lawyer jobs and the 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 UC Law San Francisco'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Law San Francisco | 161 | 3.71 | $54,329 | 86.2% | 87% |
| Seton Hall University Newark, NJ | 161 | 3.71 | $71,550 | 87.1% | 87% |
| Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL | 161 | 3.70 | $59,666 | 85.7% | 79.7% |
| Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago, IL | 161 | 3.72 | $54,080 | 79.7% | 75.4% |
| University of Missouri Columbia, MO | 161 | 3.72 | $25,503 | 86.2% | 86.4% |
| Catholic University of America Washington, DC | 161 | 3.68 | $63,280 | 90.4% | 79.6% |
Frequently asked questions
What LSAT score do you need to get into UC Law San Francisco?
There is no cutoff, but the class that entered in fall 2025 had a median LSAT of 161, with the middle half scoring 158 to 163. The median undergraduate GPA was 3.71. The school accepted 27.5% of applicants.
What is the bar passage rate at UC Law San Francisco?
86.2% of UC Law San Francisco graduates taking a bar exam for the first time in 2025 passed, against a weighted state average of 82.7%. Within two years of graduating, 96.1% of the class of 2023 who took a bar exam had passed.
How much does UC Law San Francisco cost?
Full-time tuition and fees for 2025-26 are $54,329 a year for California residents and $63,015 for nonresidents. Most students pay less: 86% of full-time students received a grant, with a median award of $20,000.
Do UC Law San Francisco graduates get jobs?
Ten months after graduation, 87% 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. 1.4% were unemployed and seeking work.
Is UC Law San Francisco ABA-accredited?
Yes. UC Law San Francisco has been approved by the American Bar Association since 1943, so its graduates can sit for the bar exam in every state.