Saint Louis University School of Law offers full-time and part-time programs in downtown Scott Hall. Its Jesuit identity accompanies strengths in health law, employment law, and client representation, with the Center for Health Law Studies supporting specialized study.
This guide walks you through how to get into Saint Louis Law.
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1. Saint Louis Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
Saint Louis Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 161 | Median: 157 | 25th: 154
- GPA: 75th: 3.84 | Median: 3.63 | 25th: 3.38
Saint Louis Law Class of 2027:
- LSAT: 75th: 160 | Median: 156 | 25th: 153
- GPA: 75th: 3.89 | Median: 3.66 | 25th: 3.42
These are the full-time fall 2025 and fall 2024 entering classes. Each LSAT quartile increased by one point, while the GPA median fell from 3.66 to 3.63. Full-time enrollment grew from 179 to 199 students. The shift was not a uniform increase in both measures: SLU enrolled a larger class with a higher LSAT distribution and a slightly lower GPA distribution.
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. Saint Louis Law Application Essays
Personal Statement (required)
The school's instructions:
“Used as a way for students to set themselves apart, the personal statement is an important part of the application process. With the additional information provided in the statement, the Admission Committee looks beyond LSAT scores and undergraduate GPA to gain insight into a student's life experiences, individual character, and writing ability. As such, information regarding personal or professional goals, academic, career and life experiences is helpful. Attention is given to brevity and clarity of thought and expression. Please limit the personal statement to two pages or less.”
The school’s instructions also state: “The personal statement provides the Admissions Committee with information about how the applicant would contribute to the diverse exchange of ideas in the classroom.”
For more on how to write a personal statement, see my Personal Statement Examples and Personal Statement Guide.
For more on discussing your contribution to the diverse exchange of ideas within this personal statement, see my Diversity Statement Examples and Diversity Statement Guide.
Supplemental Essays (optional)
SLU accepts optional supplemental essays, each limited to two pages, about lived experiences and its mission.
For more on how to write a Why X essay, see my Why X Essay Guide.
For more on making all of these essays work together, see my Cohesive Narrative Guide.
Addenda and Character & Fitness Resources
I'll be publishing a guide to addenda and character and fitness.
3. Saint Louis Law Resume Requirements
SLU requires a resume. Present education, employment, leadership, and service clearly, with dates and concrete responsibilities. Keep descriptions focused on what you actually did. The personal statement carries the narrative; the resume should make your record easy to understand.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. Saint Louis Law Letters of Recommendation
SLU requires two recommendations and accepts up to four. Choose writers who can assess your intellectual ability, motivation, character, and readiness for legal study. Strong letters of recommendation use specific examples from someone who knows your work, rather than relying on the writer's title.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. Saint Louis Law Interview Process
SLU offers individual admissions appointments and virtual or in-person visits. Use those conversations to discuss the JD format, academic interests, and questions about studying in Scott Hall. A focused conversation about your goals is more useful than reciting the personal statement.
6. Saint Louis Law Deadlines and Decision Options
Testing Policy
SLU accepts applications through LSAC and requires an LSAT taken within the previous three years. The application includes a CAS report, transcripts, recommendations, personal statement, and resume.
Application Dates and Fees
- Application Opens: September 1 for the following fall.
- Review Begins: November, with the first decisions usually in early December.
- Merit Scholarship Priority Deadline: February 1, including consideration for the 1843 Scholars Program.
- International Applicant Deadline: February 15.
- Summer Institute Conditional Acceptance Program Deadline: February 15.
- Application Fee: None.
SLU uses rolling admission. Submit a complete application early enough to receive scholarship consideration, not merely an application form while the recommendations or CAS report remain outstanding. February 1 matters particularly when the 1843 full-tuition award is part of your plan.
Program Formats
The JD is available full-time and part-time, with daytime and evening part-time options. Part-time study generally takes four to five years. Evening classes run Monday through Thursday between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.; upper-level course availability can affect scheduling.
7. Saint Louis Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Merit Scholarships
SLU considers applicants automatically for merit scholarships. Dean's Scholar and Dean's Select Scholar awards accompany admission and renew while students remain in good academic standing. The 1843 Scholars Program provides a limited number of full-tuition awards for three years of full-time study, including tuition increases. Nominations arrive with admission offers.
Continuing-Student and Public Interest Awards
The Dean's Honor Scholarship serves students who received no entering merit award and finish the first year in the top 10% of their class. It is not an award to build into an entering budget. The Irvin and Maggie Dagen Public Interest Fellowships, supported by the Public Interest Law Group's auction, help fund qualifying summer work.
Cost and Need-Based Aid
For 2026–2027, full-time tuition is $58,860, with $930 in fees and an estimated total attendance budget of $86,460. Part-time tuition is $42,940, with $560 in fees. FAFSA-based aid and emergency funds are separate from merit awards. Compare the remaining cost over the full program, especially when choosing between full-time and part-time study.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. Saint Louis Law Joint Degree Programs
SLU offers several combinations with its other graduate schools:
- JD/MPH: The College for Public Health and Social Justice pairs law with public health and a health management and policy concentration. The program takes roughly four years and includes a public-health internship.
- JD/MBA: The Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business combination starts with the first law year, followed by summer, fall, and spring business study, then three additional law semesters. That sequence spans approximately three and a half years.
- JD/MSW: The School of Social Work combination can be completed in four years of full-time study, beginning with the first-year law curriculum.
Each requires admission to both participating programs. The public-health combination is particularly relevant to SLU's health-law curriculum, while the MSW adds training relevant to family representation and indigent defense.
9. Saint Louis Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
Saint Louis Law's Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 87.6%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 24.3%
- Federal clerkships: 0.0%
- Public service (including government): 12.4%
Missouri was the leading employment state, followed by Illinois and Texas. The large-firm share is meaningful, but the broader pattern remains strongly connected to Missouri practice. SLU's health-law opportunities can support a specialized search beyond that market. Build that search around the practice you want, while weighing the school's regional employment concentration against your geographic preferences and scholarship offer.
10. Saint Louis Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Health Law: The Center for Health Law Studies combines a concentration, research, practical experience, and a distinguished-speaker colloquium. Courses include Drug and Device Regulation and Health Care Financing and Business Planning. The Health Law Semester in Washington, D.C. adds intensive agency experience.
Employment Law: The William C. Wefel Center for Employment Law supports an eleven-credit concentration involving foundational coursework, a substantial research paper, events, and practical exposure. Labor Law, Employment Law, and Employment Discrimination give students different entry points into workplace practice.
Intellectual Property: The Intellectual Property Law Concentration combines survey and core courses with writing and practice requirements. Yvette Joy Liebesman's copyright and trademark work connects to offerings such as Copyright and New Media and IP of Creative Businesses.
International and Comparative Law: The Center for International and Comparative Law ties a ten-credit concentration to practical experience, research, and speaker events. The Summer Law Program in Madrid and international internships provide additional ways to develop a cross-border legal focus.
11. Saint Louis Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
SLU's clinics give students primary responsibility for client matters under faculty supervision:
- Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic: Launched in spring 2026 with SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, students assist patient families with housing, education, benefits, and family-law needs while working with health professionals.
- Children's Permanency Clinic: Students represent children, parents, and other caregivers in family, juvenile, and municipal proceedings involving issues such as guardianship and protective orders.
- Civil Advocacy Clinic: Students handle civil-rights, consumer, landlord-tenant, and municipal matters, developing litigation in municipal, state, and federal courts.
- Criminal Defense Clinic: Students prepare criminal cases, investigate records, negotiate pleas, and prepare for trial, including representation of clients with serious mental illness alongside a social worker.
- Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic: Students advise entrepreneurs and nonprofits on formation, contracts, and compliance, including matters involving neighborhood development and affordable housing.
- Human Rights at Home Litigation Clinic: Students interview clients, draft pleadings, and participate in hearings, with opportunities involving domestic courts and international human-rights bodies.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
The JD requires at least six experiential credits. Judicial field placements include the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Missouri and Southern District of Illinois, with spring opportunities in the Missouri Court of Appeals and Eighth Circuit. The Public Interest Law Group supports summer service, and Street Law students teach local teens about law.
12. Saint Louis Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Sidney D. Watson: Scholar in Residence and Jane and Bruce Robert Professor. Her work focuses on health-care access, Medicaid, and low-income communities. She edited Representing the Poor and Homeless: Innovations in Advocacy and received the Jay Healey Health Law Professor award.
- Marcia L. McCormick: Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Her fields include employment discrimination, labor law, and federal courts. She coauthors an employment-discrimination casebook and previously litigated civil appeals for the Illinois Attorney General's Office.
- Yvette Joy Liebesman: Professor and faculty adviser for the Intellectual Property Concentration. Her scholarship examines copyright and trademark law alongside art, science, and technology. Her work as a law student was cited in a federal appellate dissent.
- Dana M. Malkus: Professor and Director of the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic. She teaches transactional drafting and works on contracts, nonprofits, and real estate. Before joining the faculty, she practiced business and commercial real-estate law at Lewis, Rice & Fingersh.
Journals
- Saint Louis University Law Journal: Legal articles by scholars, practitioners, and students.
- Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law and Policy: Analysis of emerging issues in health law and policy.
- ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law: Analysis of current developments in labor and employment law.
13. Saint Louis Law Culture and Student Life
Scott Hall brings law students together downtown rather than on SLU's main residential campus. The Health Law Association, Employment Law Association, and Public Interest Law Group connect academic interests to speakers, service, and professional relationships. The Evening Law Student Association provides programming for part-time evening students.
St. Louis supplies the daily setting for clinics, judicial placements, and professional events. Nearby courts and firms make local engagement practical, while the school's Jesuit service tradition appears in client representation and volunteer work. For a student planning to remain in Missouri, those relationships can begin well before graduation.
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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 Saint Louis 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.
