The University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia combines a small entering class with a broad public university. Its strengths include dispute resolution, tax, intellectual property, and veterans' advocacy, supported by clinical training.
This guide walks you through how to get into Missouri Law.
Jump to a section
1. Missouri Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
Missouri Law Class of 2029:
- LSAT: 75th: 164 | Median: 162 | 25th: 159
- GPA: 75th: 3.95 | Median: 3.82 | 25th: 3.68
Missouri Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 162 | Median: 161 | 25th: 156
- GPA: 75th: 3.91 | Median: 3.72 | 25th: 3.47
The fall 2026 class enrolled 131 students, compared with 129 in fall 2025. The LSAT median rose one point and the GPA median rose 0.10. The lower quartiles also increased substantially, so an application built around last year's numbers needs a fresh look.
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. Missouri Law Application Essays
Personal Statement (required)
The personal-statement response has a two-page maximum. In reviewing applications, Missouri evaluates qualities including initiative, resilience, written expression, and your capacity to contribute to its community. Legal, educational, or other issues requiring explanation belong in a separate attachment, not in the personal statement.
For more on how to write a personal statement, see my Personal Statement Examples and Personal Statement Guide.
Additional Information (optional)
Missouri permits additional information about educational, socioeconomic, disability-related, or other relevant circumstances. It also welcomes written context about military service, leadership, public service, career objectives, and connections to Missouri or the university.
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.
For more on making all of these essays work together, see my Cohesive Narrative Guide.
Addenda and Character & Fitness (if applicable)
Missouri requires separate disclosures and immediate updates when relevant information changes, including after enrollment. Its disclosure policy includes dismissed or expunged matters.
I'll be publishing a guide to addenda and character and fitness.
3. Missouri Law Resume Requirements
A resume is required and is not limited to one page. Include education, employment, activities, and community service. Show responsibilities and results rather than filling space with adjectives. Dates and sustained commitments should be easy to follow.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. Missouri Law Letters of Recommendation
Submit two letters of recommendation, with a maximum of four, through CAS. Current undergraduates and applicants who graduated within five years need at least one instructor who evaluated their undergraduate coursework.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. Missouri Law Interview Process
Missouri does not require a personal interview, but Admissions may contact you at the committee's request.
6. Missouri Law Deadlines and Early Decision
Testing: The LSAT is required, and Missouri considers your highest score. JD-Next may supplement an application but cannot replace the LSAT. Submit transcripts through CAS from every undergraduate and graduate institution attended, including institutions providing dual-credit coursework.
Application Dates and Fees
- Applications open: September 1; rolling review begins in early October.
- Early Decision Round 1: November 15, complete file required.
- Early Decision Round 2: January 15, complete file required.
- Regular application deadline: March 15.
- Seat deposit: April 1 for students admitted before that date.
- Application fee: $60, nonrefundable.
Early Decision
First-year admission is fall only. Binding early decision means committing to attend Missouri and immediately withdrawing other pending applications upon admission. You may have only one binding early-decision application pending. Decisions can be admission, denial, or deferral to regular review. Scholarship consideration accompanies acceptance and is not withheld because of the binding commitment, but an award is not promised.
Use early decision because Missouri is your first choice, not because you are trying to avoid building a balanced list or comparing costs.
For a full breakdown of early decision strategy, see Should You Apply Early Decision to Law School?.
7. Missouri Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Merit Scholarships
Admission brings automatic merit consideration. Applicants admitted by November 1 receive priority in the first scholarship review, with later awards made as funding remains.
Some awards are conditional on remaining in the top 50% of the class. Falling below that line leads to committee review and possible maintenance, reduction, or revocation after a petition. Do not treat a class-rank condition as ordinary good standing. Compare the cost of keeping the award with the cost of losing it.
Tiger Scholarship
Eligible admitted students without an automatic award may submit a Tiger Scholarship supplement.
Tuition and Financial Aid
For 2026–27, first-year tuition and fees are $26,307 resident and $32,928 nonresident, based on 30 credits. Accepted nonresidents receive a first-year waiver of the nonresident tuition difference. The resident nine-month budget is $43,633 using the Thrifty Budget or $48,637 using Standard Living Expenses. First-year aid awards use the Thrifty Budget unless the student requests the standard option.
Shortridge Loan Program
Shortridge offers qualifying public-sector summer workers a $4,000 interest-free loan. It is repayable funding, not a scholarship or postgraduation loan-forgiveness program.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. Missouri Law Dual Degree Programs
Missouri's combinations connect law with other university departments and professional schools:
- JD/MA in Atlantic History & Politics: Kinder Institute; three years including two summers.
- JD/MBA: business school; four years.
- JD/MA in Economics: Department of Economics; four years.
- JD/MEd in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis: College of Education, Higher Education concentration; four years.
- JD/MHA: College of Health Sciences; four years.
- JD/MA or JD/MS in Human Development & Family Studies: HDFS; four years.
- JD/MA and JD/PhD in Journalism: School of Journalism; four years or as few as five, respectively.
- JD/MLIS: School of Information Science and Learning Technologies; four years.
- JD/MPA: Truman School of Government and Public Affairs; four years.
The JD/MHA requires separate applications and admission to both programs, plus permission to pursue the combination. Its first year is law, followed by primarily health-administration study in year two.
9. Missouri Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
Missouri Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 86.4%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 14.4%
- Federal clerkships: 0.8%
- Public service (including government): 24.8%
Missouri is the dominant destination. Large-firm and federal-clerkship shares are much smaller than the overall legal-employment figure, so price the degree against the Missouri practice you actually intend to pursue. Tax, prosecution, small-business counseling, and veterans' representation point toward different courses and summer work.
10. Missouri Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution: The JD certificate requires at least 12 credits, including Lawyering: Problem Solving and Dispute Resolution, Negotiation, a skills course, and electives. The progression develops client counseling and ways to resolve disputes beyond litigation alone.
Center for Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship: The center connects intellectual property with innovation, business, and STEM fields through coursework, events, and career support. Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic work adds business formation, intellectual-property analysis, and contracts to that academic foundation.
Tax Law Program: The 16–19-credit concentration combines federal income tax, business organizations or estates and trusts, additional tax courses, and a Tax Planning or Estate Planning capstone. Students can also participate in MU Extension's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
Veterans Law: The Veterans Clinic combines benefits representation and discharge-upgrade work with appellate briefing and rural outreach. The Missouri Law Veterans Society adds speakers and appellate-advocacy opportunities. Military service is not required for membership, making this a concrete service pathway for civilian applicants too.
11. Missouri Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
Missouri has four client-serving clinics:
- Child and Family Justice Clinic: Rule 13-certified second- and third-year students counsel clients, prepare cases, and appear in court under supervision in matters including protection orders, custody, and family violence.
- Criminal Practice Clinic: Students analyze evidence, draft motions, interview clients or witnesses, and develop advocacy skills. Placements include the Missouri State Public Defender's Columbia and Fulton trial offices and prosecutors in Boone, Callaway, and Randolph counties.
- Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic: Students assist startups and small businesses with entity selection, formation, governance, contracts, intellectual-property issues, and regulatory questions. Client counseling is part of the work, not just document drafting.
- Veterans Clinic: Students help with VA disability claims and discharge upgrades, develop supporting records and legal arguments, and participate in appellate or amicus work under attorney supervision.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
Externships are available after 1L with courts, agencies, nonprofits, prosecutors, and defenders. The final-semester Semester in Practice permits up to nine credits for 450 hours of fieldwork. The Judge Lawrence G. Crahan Judicial Fellowship gives selected first-year students an eight-week judicial experience.
The voluntary Pro Bono Program recognizes ten hours for 1Ls and twenty for upper-level students. It does not itself provide direct legal assistance; students need licensed-attorney supervision to represent clients. Hours already earning course credit do not count toward the recognition.
12. Missouri Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Carli N. Conklin: Associate Professor of Law and director of the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution; her book The Pursuit of Happiness in the Founding Era received a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title award.
- Dennis D. Crouch: Judge C.A. Leedy Professor of Law; creator and primary author of Patently-O, with patent-drafting and moot-court work integrated into his teaching.
- David Gamage: Law School Foundation Distinguished Professor of Tax Law & Policy; former Treasury special counsel and author of the casebook Taxation: Law, Planning, and Policy.
- Brent Filbert: Associate Clinical Professor and Veterans Clinic director; former appellate defense counsel and judge on the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals.
Journals
- Missouri Law Review: Articles, comments, and analysis of statutes and recent decisions.
- Journal of Dispute Resolution: Scholarship on developments in dispute resolution.
- Business, Entrepreneurship & Tax Law Review: Analysis of legal matters involving business, entrepreneurship, and tax.
13. Missouri Law Culture and Student Life
Hulston Hall sits within Mizzou's Columbia campus, near the student and recreation centers. A class of roughly 130 creates a university-centered setting. The Student Bar Association represents students on school committees, while the Board of Advocates runs skills competitions. Nearly two dozen organizations include the Women's Law Association, OUTLaw, and Tax & Transactional Law Society.
Columbia connects that campus environment with the surrounding legal community. Criminal Practice Clinic placements include local prosecutors and the Missouri State Public Defender's Columbia and Fulton offices. Nearby Jefferson City adds a state-capital setting to the regional practice opportunities.
Want Help Getting Into Missouri Law?
I work with applicants one-on-one on the whole application process, from strategy through essays and submission.
Explore my services | Request a consultation
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 Missouri 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.
