Drake University Law School is based in Des Moines, with a First-Year Trial Practicum built around a real jury trial. Its distinctive offerings include agricultural law, legislative practice, constitutional law, and supervised client representation.
This guide walks you through how to get into Drake Law.
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1. Drake Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
Drake Law Class of 2029:
- LSAT: 75th: 160 | Median: 156 | 25th: 154
- GPA: 75th: 3.88 | Median: 3.71 | 25th: 3.56
Drake Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 159 | Median: 156 | 25th: 153
- GPA: 75th: 3.89 | Median: 3.67 | 25th: 3.38
The fall 2026 entering profile includes 138 students, compared with 141 in fall 2025. The LSAT median stayed at 156 while both surrounding quartiles rose one point. The GPA median increased 0.04, and the lower quartile increased 0.18.
Aim to be at or above at least one median to be competitive. Above both puts you in a stronger position. Below both medians, this is a prayer, not a reach.
For context on how medians affect your strategy, see How to Build a Smart Law School List.
2. Drake Law Application Essays
Personal Statement (required)
The personal statement cannot exceed two pages. Drake invites discussion of leadership, work, community engagement, resilience, cross-cultural experiences, professional goals, and the perspective you would contribute. Its prompt also asks how Drake would further those goals.
For more on how to write a personal statement, see my Personal Statement Examples and Personal Statement Guide.
Background and School Fit Within the Statement
The personal statement itself can explain a background or perspective that shaped you. School fit is also part of the required statement, not an additional required essay.
For more on how to write a Why X essay, see my Why X Essay Guide.
For more on how to write a diversity or perspective statement, see my Diversity Statement Examples and Diversity Statement Guide.
Justice Chester Cole Public Service Scholarship
The separate application requires a statement of purpose of no more than 600 words addressing your public-service commitment and career interests. It also requests a service record, service-focused recommendations, relevant coursework, and additional reasons for selection.
For more on making all of these essays work together, see my Cohesive Narrative Guide.
Addenda
Drake welcomes relevant addenda. An affirmative character-and-fitness response requires a detailed explanation.
I'll be publishing a guide to addenda and character and fitness.
3. Drake Law Resume Requirements
A resume is optional, but submit one that makes your education, employment, leadership, and service easy to understand. Describe responsibilities and results rather than relying on position titles. Use it to supply the broader record behind the experience developed in your statement.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. Drake Law Letters of Recommendation
Drake requires one letter of recommendation and accepts up to three. Academic letters are strongly encouraged. The Cole scholarship separately requests recommendations addressing your service commitment.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. Drake Law Interview Process
Drake contacts selected Opperman and Fleck scholarship candidates for interviews. Prepare to discuss your academic work, leadership, and professional direction with the same specificity as your written application. This scholarship process is distinct from the ordinary JD application.
6. Drake Law Deadlines and Decision Options
Testing Policy
Drake accepts the LSAT; GRE applicants must contact admissions to use that route. Its LSAT policy uses the highest score from the past five years and accepts tests through June of the entering year. For GRE applicants, an existing or later pre-enrollment LSAT score will still be considered.
If you're considering the GRE, read my LSAT vs. GRE guide before deciding.
Application Dates and Fees
- Fall 2027 applications open: September 2026
- Admission and financial-aid priority deadline: April 1, 2027
- Cole scholarship priority date: March 15
- Domestic online application fee: $0
Drake uses rolling admission and accepts applications after April 1.
Program Formats
The Career Opportunity Day Program is a part-time daytime option, not an evening or online JD. Students ordinarily take six to nine credits per semester and can later move into full-time study.
7. Drake Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Merit Scholarships
Full-time JD applicants receive automatic consideration for general merit scholarships. Drake's 2025 ABA report shows 82% of students receiving grants, with a $31,000 median award. It reports no scholarships conditioned on grades above good academic standing. Limited need-based aid is available for first-generation students who previously received Pell Grants; FAFSA information matters for that assessment.
Opperman Scholarships
Up to three students receive full tuition and a $10,000 annual stipend.
Fleck Scholarship
One student receives full tuition and a $10,000 annual stipend; financial need is considered.
Justice Chester Cole Scholarships
Up to two awards cover full tuition through a separate application. Cole scholars have meetings, service responsibilities, and two internship or clinical experiences. Recipients must complete one year of qualifying public-service employment after graduation for each funded year. Those who do not fulfill the commitment or complete law school must repay all grants as loans.
Cost of Attendance
For 2026-27, annual full-time tuition is $52,448, fees are $520, and the published total budget is $76,587, including living expenses, books, and loan fees. Part-time tuition is $1,809 per credit below ten credits; the scholarship page limits its awards to full-time JD students.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. Drake Law Dual Degree Programs
Drake's joint-degree options extend beyond its own campus:
- JD/MBA and JD/MPA: With Drake's Zimpleman College of Business; each can be completed in six semesters and two summers.
- JD/MA in Political Science: With Iowa State University.
- JD/MSW: With the University of Iowa, including social-work coursework in Des Moines.
- JD/MPH and JD/MHA: With Des Moines University.
- JD/PharmD: With Drake's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; an eight-year combined route rather than nine years separately.
- JD/PhD or EdD in Education: With Drake's School of Education; approximately five to six years, depending on dissertation progress, with separate admission to both programs.
- JD/LLM: Drake permits approved JD coursework to count toward its LLM, with up to nine eligible credits.
The Iowa and Des Moines University partnerships connect legal training with social work and health-system roles outside Drake's own graduate schools.
9. Drake Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
Drake Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 86.0%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 2.6%
- Federal clerkships: 0.9%
- Public service (including government): 15.8%
Iowa is by far the largest employment market, followed by much smaller groups in Illinois and Colorado. Small firms account for a substantial share of jobs, alongside government, public-interest work, and state judicial clerkships. Drake's employment picture fits an Iowa-centered practice strategy much more closely than a plan built around large national firms.
10. Drake Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Food and Agricultural Law: The Agricultural Law Center connects food-system and farm-sector study with research and internships. Its 21-credit certificate includes a substantial writing project and practical experience. Courses include Environmental Regulation of Agriculture and Food and the Law.
Legislative Practice: The Legislative Practice Center combines coursework with internships during Iowa's legislative session. Students work on bills, amendments, and policy analysis, progressing from placements with lawmakers to advocacy organizations or government institutions. The program leads to a Legislative Practice Certificate.
Constitutional Law and Civil Rights: This 21-credit certificate builds on courses such as Constitutional Litigation and Constitutional Theory. The Constitutional Law Center's symposium and lecture series bring scholars and practitioners to campus, connecting classroom study with sustained discussion of constitutional questions.
Artificial Intelligence Law: Drake includes an Artificial Intelligence Law Certificate among its twelve certificate options. Sayoko Blodgett-Ford's work in AI, privacy, and intellectual property adds a faculty connection for students interested in how emerging technologies affect legal practice and client counseling.
Business Law: The Business Law Certificate covers business associations, taxation, and commercial law. Students can pair that study with client work in the Macomber Entrepreneurial and Transactional Law Clinic, developing experience with organizational documents, contracts, and the needs of smaller enterprises.
11. Drake Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
Drake's active clinic offerings give students supervised responsibility for real clients:
- Children's Rights Clinic: Interviews, counseling, legal drafting, and representation in matters involving child welfare, education, guardianship, and juvenile proceedings.
- Criminal Defense Clinic: Court-appointed defense work, including investigation, negotiations, motion hearings, and trial preparation.
- General Civil Practice Clinic: Client intake, document drafting, negotiation, and litigation, with an economic-justice focus including debt, bankruptcy, and certain housing matters.
- Macomber Entrepreneurial and Transactional Law Clinic: Entity formation, governance documents, contracts, and tax-exempt applications for small businesses and nonprofits.
- Refugee Clinic: Immigration applications, removal defense, client counseling, and advocacy before agencies and courts.
The Wrongful Convictions Clinic is paused. It should not be the central opportunity in your application plan.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
The First-Year Trial Practicum lets 1Ls observe an actual jury trial from beginning to end and discuss the case with participants. Later internships include criminal appellate work in the Iowa Attorney General's Office, client representation with Iowa Legal Aid, and administrative work through the Insurance Law Internship.
The voluntary Public Service Certificate recognizes 60 hours of unpaid service. Qualifying work may be legal or nonlegal, but cannot also earn academic credit. This is separate from Cole scholarship obligations.
12. Drake Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Sayoko Blodgett-Ford: Associate Professor of Law and Sease Faculty Research Scholar. Works in AI, intellectual property, and privacy. Her professional background includes serving as Tetris Online's general counsel and senior intellectual-property counsel at Nintendo.
- Mark Kende: Professor of Law and James Madison Chair in Constitutional Law. Directs the Constitutional Law Center and studies comparative constitutional law and civil rights. His book Constitutional Rights in Two Worlds compares South Africa and the United States.
- Natalie Banta Lynner: Dwight D. Opperman Distinguished Professor of Law. Studies trusts, estates, property, and digital succession. Her scholarship includes The Price of Privacy at Death, examining privacy and the transfer of digital assets.
- Suzan Pritchett: Professor of Law and Executive Director of Clinical and Experiential Programs. Directs the Refugee Clinic and works in immigration and human rights. She received Drake's 2024 Principal Global Citizenship Award.
Journals
- Drake Law Review, the flagship, publishes general legal scholarship and the online forum Discourse.
- Drake Journal of Agricultural Law focuses on legal issues affecting agriculture.
13. Drake Law Culture and Student Life
Drake combines a university-campus setting with access to the courts, agencies, and employers of Des Moines. The trial practicum, clinics, and internships give students recurring contact with practicing lawyers. Its smaller entering class makes participation in that community a meaningful part of the school experience.
Student organizations include First-Generation Lawyers, the Drake Agricultural and Environmental Law Association, the Public Interest Law Association, and the Student Bar Association. They offer different ways to connect professional interests with classmates. For applicants planning to stay in Iowa, the relationships developed through class, service, and placements are part of the attraction.
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Related Reading
→ How to Build a Smart Law School List
→ Should You Apply Early Decision to Law School?
→ How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships
→ 6 Proven Steps to Get Off a Law School Waitlist
→ How to Get Into Law School Below Both Medians
→ What Holistic Law School Admissions Really Means
→ Blog Directory
Note: While I try to keep this guide up to date, always verify deadlines, requirements, and policies at the Drake Law website before applying.
Think you spotted an outdated requirement or something that doesn't look right? Email moshe@sharperstatements.com with the school and a link to the current information.
