The University of Illinois Chicago School of Law is Chicago's only public law school, based in the Loop. Its strengths include intellectual property, fair housing, business transactions, and trial advocacy, with seven community legal clinics.
This guide walks you through how to get into UIC Law.
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1. UIC Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
UIC Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 156 | Median: 153 | 25th: 150
- GPA: 75th: 3.64 | Median: 3.40 | 25th: 3.13
UIC Law Class of 2027:
- LSAT: 75th: 154 | Median: 152 | 25th: 149
- GPA: 75th: 3.61 | Median: 3.38 | 25th: 3.12
The LSAT median rose one point and the GPA median rose 0.02 between the 2024 and 2025 annual entering cohorts. Enrollment increased from 342 to 379. These are combined full-time and part-time profiles.
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. UIC Law Application Essays
Statement of Purpose / Personal Statement (required)
UIC calls its personal statement a Statement of Purpose. Submit two to four double-spaced pages. The prompt is open-ended, with room to discuss leadership, community involvement, talents, or achievements that distinguish your candidacy.
For more on how to write a personal statement, see my Personal Statement Examples and Personal Statement Guide.
For more on making your whole application 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. UIC Law Resume Requirements
A resume is required. Present your education, work, activities, and service clearly, with dates that make your experience easy to follow.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. UIC Law Letters of Recommendation
UIC requires one letter of recommendation, encourages two or three, and accepts no more than four. Submit letters through LSAC's Credential Assembly Service.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. UIC Law Interview Process
An interview is not listed among UIC's required application components.
6. UIC Law Deadlines and Decision Options
Testing Policy
UIC accepts the LSAT or GRE and requires CAS. Scores are valid for five years. When an applicant has both tests, UIC primarily considers the LSAT. A pending future test can delay review until the score arrives.
If you're considering the GRE, read my LSAT vs. GRE guide before deciding.
Application Dates and Fees
- Priority Deadline: March 1.
- Standard Deadline: April 1.
- Entry Term: Fall, beginning in August.
- Application Fee: Waived.
- Review: Rolling, with later applications considered as space permits.
UIC's current admissions page invites applications for fall 2027. Its published guidance encourages testing in February or earlier for fall admission; later scores depend on space. Submit electronically through LSAC rather than sending a paper application.
Program Formats
Part-Time Evening JD: The program generally takes four to five years. During the first two years, students attend two evenings on campus and a third live online class. Finishing in four years requires summer study. Students can move to daytime study after completing the initial two-year sequence.
7. UIC Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Merit Scholarships
Entering students receive automatic scholarship consideration. UIC publishes separate merit policies for students entering before fall 2026 and those entering in fall 2026 or later. An older class's renewal terms should not be treated as the terms of a new award.
After the first year, additional scholarships can consider financial need, academic achievement, and service. Current students use a common scholarship application available each February. These awards are separate from the initial admissions offer.
Cost of Attendance
For students entering in fall 2025 or later, 2026-27 tuition is $1,248 per credit for Illinois residents and $1,560 for nonresidents. Tuition is only part of the cost: students also pay applicable fees and living expenses, and summer enrollment adds to a part-time student's annual bill.
Barrister's Scholarship and Dean's Scholarship
UIC lists both among its school-funded scholarships. Compare the amount and renewal terms in the actual offer rather than treating the scholarship name as a promise of full tuition or uninterrupted funding.
Michael Schlesinger Education Fund for Community Legal Clinics
This fund recognizes clinic students who provide exceptional direct client service. It is a continuing-student opportunity connected to clinical work, not an automatic incoming award.
Lucy Sprague Public Service Award
UIC also lists this donor-funded public service award. It should not be confused with an institutional loan repayment assistance program.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. UIC Law Joint Degree Programs
UIC offers four joint degrees within the university:
- JD/MPH: With the School of Public Health's Health Policy and Administration concentration. The full-time program takes four years, including one summer course, with 120 total credits and 13 shared credits.
- JD/MPA: With the Department of Public Administration in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs. The full-time sequence takes four years.
- JD/MPP: Also with the Department of Public Administration, combining law with public policy study over four full-time years.
- JD/MUPP: With the Department of Urban Planning and Policy, combining the JD and Master of Urban Planning and Policy in four full-time years.
Applicants need admission to both participating programs. The MPA, MPP, and MUPP arrangements generally allocate one of the first two years to each school, followed by law study and a shared final year. Part-time arrangements receive individual consideration. JD/MPH students must enter the joint arrangement before completing 36 JD credits and meet both programs' academic standards.
9. UIC Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
UIC Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 71.2%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 8.4%
- Federal clerkships: 0.4%
- Public service (including government): 21.9%
Illinois dominates placement, with Indiana and California the next most common destinations. Small and midsize firms account for much of the law-firm employment, while government and public interest together form a substantial part of the class's outcomes. UIC offers access to Chicago's legal market, but that should not be mistaken for a predominantly large-firm placement pattern.
10. UIC Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Intellectual Property: The Center for Intellectual Property, Information and Privacy Law connects coursework and programming with an IP concentration, separate patent and trademark clinics, and a student-edited specialty journal. Students can explore the differences between protecting inventions, managing brands, and studying copyright.
Business and Community Development: The Business Law concentration and Community Enterprise & Solidarity Economy Clinic connect transactional study with small businesses, cooperatives, and nonprofit organizations. The clinical setting adds a community-development dimension to the legal and commercial questions involved in representing an organization.
Health Equity, Law, and Policy: This concentration addresses health through legal and policy study. The JD/MPH provides a separate degree route for students seeking substantial public health training, including work within Health Policy and Administration rather than only a selection of health-related electives.
International Human Rights: A dedicated concentration and clinic combine legal analysis with fact investigation, client outreach, and advocacy. The clinic works with partner organizations in the United States and abroad, connecting international frameworks to specific projects and affected communities.
Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution: The concentration, honors activities, and litigation clinics give students different settings for developing advocacy skills. Fair housing cases and pro bono litigation offer client-centered applications beyond a simulated courtroom.
Students may complete only one formal JD concentration.
11. UIC Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
UIC's seven community legal clinics provide distinct kinds of representation:
- Community Enterprise & Solidarity Economy Clinic: Students advise nonprofits and business owners with limited resources on business and transactional matters.
- Fair Housing Legal Clinic: Students work on housing-discrimination litigation and conduct community education about fair housing rights.
- International Human Rights Clinic: Students research legal issues, investigate facts, conduct client outreach, and develop advocacy with partner organizations.
- IP Patent Clinic: Students draft patent applications, respond to office actions, and work on prosecution and appeals rather than patent litigation.
- IP Trademark Clinic: Students conduct clearance searches, prepare trademark applications, and respond to USPTO office actions. The clinic does not handle infringement litigation or licensing.
- Pro Bono Litigation Clinic: Students interview clients, draft pleadings and motions, negotiate, and appear in court or administrative proceedings under supervision.
- Veterans Legal Clinic: Students work on benefits appeals and discharge upgrades, including factual development and appellate representation for veterans and their families.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
JD students must complete at least three credits of clinic or externship fieldwork. First-time participants also take a seminar. This is an academic fieldwork requirement, not a stated number of voluntary pro bono hours.
Documented externship experiences include the Illinois Prison Project, the Circuit Court of Cook County's General Chancery Division, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the National Council on Disability. Judicial placements can involve research and case preparation; public interest placements connect that work to client advocacy. Placements require approval, and private-firm or existing-employer arrangements face additional review.
12. UIC Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Alicia Alvarez: Professor of Law. Community economic development and clinical education. A former director of Michigan's Community and Economic Development Clinic and a Fulbright Scholar at the University of El Salvador.
- Allison K. Bethel: Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Fair Housing Legal Clinic. Housing and civil rights. Former director of civil rights for the Florida Attorney General's Office.
- Megan Bess: Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Externship Program. Professional ethics and professional identity formation. A former co-chair of the AALS Clinical Section's Externship Committee.
- Yolanda M. King: Associate Professor of Law, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Strategy, and director of the intellectual property center. Copyright and property. Her Chicago practice included copyright and trademark matters at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione.
Journals
- UIC Law Review: The general-interest student law review publishes four issues annually.
- UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law: A student-run online journal focused on intellectual property, privacy, and technology scholarship.
13. UIC Law Culture and Student Life
The fall 2025 entering class included 77 part-time evening students within a class of 379. Working students therefore form a visible part of the community, not a small exception to a single daytime model.
The downtown campus puts Chicago's legal institutions near the classroom. Clinics, the Student Bar Association, journals, and advocacy honors programs provide different ways to participate beyond courses. Evening students can pursue honors opportunities after their second year. Their initial combination of campus evenings and live online instruction is a hybrid schedule, not a fully remote JD.
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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 UIC 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.
