Washington University School of Law

The Washington University School of Law is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1867, it is the oldest continuously operating law school west of the Mississippi River.
In 2025, WashU Law reported a median LSAT score of 175 for its incoming Class of 2028, which is the highest median of any law school in the United States. The school offers JD, LLM, MLS, and JSD degrees, along with a range of dual-degree programs in conjunction with other schools at the university, and graduates around 230 to 250 JD students each year.

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History

Founded in 1867, WashU Law is the oldest continuously operating law school west of the Mississippi River.
Washington University's law school was the first undergraduate division of the University to admit women and is believed to be among the first U.S. law schools to do so. In 1869, Lemma Barkeloo and Phoebe Couzins enrolled. Barkeloo passed the Missouri bar exam in her first year and did not complete the program, while Couzins earned her LL.B. in 1871, becoming one of the first women in the country to do so. The consistent admission of women did not take place until 17 years later.
The law school was originally located in downtown St. Louis and then relocated in 1904 to the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.
In January 1997, the Washington University School of Law moved into Anheuser-Busch Hall. Anheuser-Busch Hall architecturally mirrors the classic style of the Washington University Danforth Campus.

Admissions

For the class entering in fall 2025, there were 258 matriculants. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2025 entering class were 165 and 176, respectively, with a median of 175. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.58 and 4.00, respectively, with a median of 3.96. The acceptance rate for JD candidates in 2025 was 18.96% and 24.23% of accepted applicants enrolled. Three enrollees were not included in the acceptance rate.

Employment

According to WashU Law's official 2023 ABA-required disclosures, 98.2% of 2023 graduates had secured full-time employment within nine months of graduation. A total of 63.7% had found employment in firms of more than 250 lawyers or had secured federal judicial clerkships.
According to U.S. News & World Report, the median starting salary for WashU Law's Class of 2023 graduates in the private sector was $205,000.

Costs

The total cost of attendance at WashU Law for the 2022–2023 academic year was $89,678.

Category	Per Annum
Tuition	$64,488
Room	$8,910
Board	$5,958
Books	$1,500
Misc	$5,000
University Health & Wellness Fee	$576
Student Bar Association Fee	$70
Legal LAUNCH Week Fee	$70
University Health Insurance	$2,232
Yellow Zone 3 Parking Permit	$874
Total	$89,678

Journals

The Washington University School of Law sponsors four student-run scholarly legal journals.Washington University Law Review began as the St. Louis Law Review in 1915 and was re-titled the Washington University Law Quarterly in 1936.Washington University Journal of Law and Policy originated in 1968 as the Urban Law Annual and focused entirely on issues surrounding land use, urban development, and other legal concerns of urban communities.Washington University Global Studies Law Review is a student-edited international legal journal dedicated to publishing articles by international, foreign, and comparative law scholars.Washington University Jurisprudence Review was formed in 2008 and is the only student-edited, in-print journal of law and philosophy.

Rankings and honors

The 2025 edition of U.S. News & World Report Best Grad Schools ranked WashU Law:

tied for #14 overall

Law School Specialty Rankings:

tied for #20 in Business/Corporate Law
tied for #19 in Clinical Training
#18 in Constitutional Law
#18 in Contracts/Commercial Law
tied for #21 in Criminal Law
tied for #29 in Dispute Resolution
tied for #64 in Environmental Law
tied for #40 in Health Care Law
tied for #31 in Intellectual Property Law
tied for #19 in International Law
#21 in Law Schools with the Most Graduates at Big Law Firms
tied for #11 in Law Schools with the Most Graduates in Federal Clerkships
tied for #35 in Tax Law
tied for #34 in Trial Advocacy

The 2022 edition of The Princeton Review Best Law Schools ranked WashU Law:

6th in Best for Federal Clerkships

Leiter's Law School Rankings placed the law school:

10th in where elite litigation boutiques hire

The Above the Law 2022 law school rankings ranked WashU Law:

6th in the country overall

Degree programs

Juris doctor program

JD students are required to take 86 semester hours of credit in order to graduate. In the first year of law school all students are required to take one semester each of Contracts, Property, Torts, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, and Criminal Law. Additionally, in fall of their first year all students are required to take Legal Practice I and Legal Research Methodologies I, and in spring of their first year students are required to take Legal Practice II and Legal Research Methodologies II. The second and third year offer more flexibility in planning the student's curriculum as there are only two mandatory classes.

Joint degree programs

The School of Law offers five joint degree programs :

Master of Laws program

The Washington University School of Law offers an LL.M. in U.S. Law for international students, an LL.M. in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, an LL.M. in Intellectual Property & Technology Law, and an LL.M. in Taxation. An Online Master of Laws in U.S. Law program and an Online Master of Legal Studies program are also available. The school also offers a Dual LL.M. Degree with the Tecnológico de Monterrey's Escuela de Gobierno y Transformación Pública in Mexico.

Master of legal studies program

This program is a graduate program designed for non-lawyers.

Juris scientiae doctoris program

The JSD program emphasizes original research and writing culminating in the preparation of a significant and extensive dissertation of publishable quality.

Online law programs

In January 2013, the Washington University School of Law started to offer an online LL.M. in U.S. Law degree for international students. The school also offers an online Master of Legal Studies degree and a dual LL.M. degree.
Online program in taxation
The Washington University School of Law offers an online LL.M. degree in Taxation for U.S. candidates who already possess a J.D. degree, and for foreign lawyers.

Online program

The Master of Laws in U.S. Law program at the Washington University School of Law is an online degree offering meant for international lawyers. The LL.M. curriculum consists of live online classes with weekly coursework.

Online master of legal studies program

The curriculum focuses on appropriate legal procedure with regard to contracts, intellectual property, business associations, negotiation, immigration law, and cyber security.