The University of Massachusetts School of Law-Dartmouth in North Dartmouth is Massachusetts' public law school. Its public-interest fellowships, seven clinics, and evening study option accompany work in immigration, tribal representation, housing, and community development.
This guide walks you through how to get into UMass Law.
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1. UMass Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
UMass Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 156 | Median: 152 | 25th: 149
- GPA: 75th: 3.67 | Median: 3.37 | 25th: 3.13
UMass Law Class of 2027:
- LSAT: 75th: 155 | Median: 151 | 25th: 148
- GPA: 75th: 3.70 | Median: 3.42 | 25th: 3.07
These are the full-time entering cohorts from fall 2025 and fall 2024, each with 120 students. LSAT scores rose one point at every quartile. GPA moved differently: the median slipped from 3.42 to 3.37, while the lower quartile increased. Total enrollment across both entering divisions was 141 in 2025 and 142 in 2024.
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. UMass Law Application Essays
Personal Statement (required)
UMass requires a typed personal statement of two to three pages explaining why you want to study law and providing other information useful to the committee.
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. UMass Law Resume Requirements
A resume is required. Include your education, employment, service, and relevant activities, with clear dates and concrete responsibilities rather than descriptions of your personality.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. UMass Law Letters of Recommendation
UMass requires two letters of recommendation. Its application page says one should come from a college faculty member. Applicants applying directly from college may submit two academic letters; employed applicants should include an employer, preferably a supervisor.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. UMass Law Interview Process
UMass offers one-on-one admissions conversations about the application process, academics, and student life. The admissions committee reviews the completed application and supporting materials.
6. UMass Law Deadlines and Decision Options
Testing Policy
UMass accepts the LSAT, GRE, or JD-Next, with scores no more than five years old. All applicants use LSAC's Credential Assembly Service; GRE applicants must send all GRE scores directly to the school.
If you're considering the GRE, read my LSAT vs. GRE guide before deciding.
Application Dates and Fees
- Application Deadline: June 30.
- Application Fee: $50, nonrefundable.
- Decision Process: Rolling review after the file is complete. Some decisions are deferred until the committee can consider a larger applicant pool.
Program Formats
The full-time JD takes three years. The four-year part-time evening program includes summers, with classes generally between 6 and 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Students usually attend three evenings weekly during the first two years. Both divisions use the same application and admissions criteria.
Apply when your strongest complete application is ready rather than treating June 30 as a target. For working applicants, the evening schedule is only part of the planning: clinic and field-placement responsibilities can also involve business hours.
7. UMass Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Merit Scholarships
Entering applicants receive automatic merit consideration. UMass states that these awards remain available while students remain enrolled, without an elevated GPA or class-rank requirement.
Commonwealth Fellows
The Commonwealth Fellows award provides $15,000 across the degree, in addition to other merit or need-based assistance. Eligibility requires Massachusetts residency or a bachelor's degree from a Massachusetts public institution, a 3.2 GPA, and a qualifying test score: a 152 LSAT, equivalent GRE result, or 720 JD-Next score.
Public Interest Law Fellowships
Public Interest Law Fellowships cover 50% of tuition and fees for up to 25 entering students. Fellows complete 200 approved service hours, designated coursework, and program activities. The commitment includes four years of qualifying public-interest employment after bar admission. Failure to meet participation requirements results in dismissal from the program and loss of benefits.
Hoff Scholarship
The Hoff Scholarship supports qualifying Massachusetts residents who graduated from a UMass undergraduate program, enroll full time, and demonstrate financial need. It requires a separate application and an April 1 FAFSA deadline. The school's aid process also requires an annual financial-aid application.
Cost of Attendance
For 2026-2027, full-time resident tuition and mandatory fees total $34,468; nonresident charges total $44,610. Annual off-campus budgets are $69,296 and $79,438, respectively. Compare the full cost and the fellowship's service obligations, not just the award.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. UMass Law Joint Degrees
- JD/MBA: With UMass Dartmouth's Charlton College of Business. The published plan takes approximately three and a half years full time or five years part time with summers; each degree can recognize nine credits from the other.
- JD/MPP: With UMass Dartmouth's public policy program. The policy coursework is online. The JD can count up to six MPP credits, while the MPP can count up to nine JD credits.
- JD/MSW: With Bridgewater State University. The published full-time sequence takes four and a half calendar years, with potential summer acceleration; the part-time plan typically takes five to six and a half years.
These programs serve different goals: managing organizations, designing public policy, or combining legal and social-work practice.
9. UMass Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
UMass Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 68.4%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 2.0%
- Federal clerkships: 0.0%
- Public service (including government): 27.6%
Massachusetts was the largest employment market, followed by California and Rhode Island in a tie. Small firms, government, and public-interest organizations were more prominent destinations than large firms. Treat UMass primarily as a regional option, with public-service opportunities that are more visible in these results than a national large-firm recruiting path.
10. UMass Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Public Interest and Human Rights: The Public Interest Law Fellowship links financial support to sustained service. The Human Rights at Home Clinic works with organizations on domestic policy and advocacy projects affecting low-income people, giving that mission a practical curricular home.
Immigration: The Immigration Law Clinic combines supervised representation with community education. Its work includes removal defense, asylum, family reunification, and matters involving young people or survivors of violence, connecting classroom study to clients in the South Coast region.
Business and Community Development: The Community Development Clinic serves small businesses and nonprofit organizations through transactional work. Students encounter entity formation, contracts, and organizational legal needs; the Charlton JD/MBA adds a separate route into business study.
Tribal Law: The Mashpee Wampanoag Legal Services Clinic serves eligible tribal members and families. Work can involve tribal-court representation and civil legal needs, connecting legal-services practice with the institutions and circumstances of a specific community.
Privacy and Information Law: Shaun Spencer's information-privacy work and Richard Peltz-Steele's freedom-of-information scholarship provide faculty depth in access, information governance, and related legal questions. These interests complement the school's broader legal-research and writing curriculum.
11. UMass Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
UMass lists seven clinics with distinct practice settings:
- Community Development Clinic: Students help small businesses and nonprofits with contracts, organizational documents, filings, and legal reviews, developing transactional judgment through supervised client work.
- Criminal Prosecution Clinic: Placements with the Bristol County District Attorney's Office involve research, discovery, litigation preparation, and supervised courtroom work alongside a seminar.
- Housing Eviction Clinic: Students work with legal-services attorneys representing low-income tenants. Bristol County Housing Court responsibilities connect research and client preparation to live eviction proceedings.
- Human Rights at Home Clinic: Students support organizations pursuing domestic human-rights advocacy, using legal research and policy projects to address problems affecting low-income communities.
- Immigration Law Clinic: Students handle supervised immigration matters, including asylum and removal-related work, and participate in community education connected to the needs of local immigrant communities.
- Mashpee Wampanoag Legal Services Clinic: Based with South Coastal Counties Legal Services, students assist eligible tribal members with matters such as housing, benefits, and tribal-court representation.
- State Attorney General's Office Clinic: Students work on-site with Massachusetts assistant attorneys general, researching and writing on matters that can include consumer protection, tax, and litigation.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
Graduation requires six practice credits, including at least three in a clinic or field placement, plus 30 hours of unpaid, noncredit pro bono work. The fellowship's 200 service hours are separate. The Legislative Practicum places students with legislators at the Massachusetts State House or constituent offices. Legal Skills instruction also addresses interviewing, negotiation, research, writing, and oral advocacy.
12. UMass Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Richard Peltz-Steele: Chancellor Professor with interests in torts, comparative law, and freedom of information; his publications include tort and information-access teaching materials.
- Margaret Drew: Associate professor working in human rights, domestic violence, and professional responsibility; she coedited Challenging Parental Alienation and practiced law in Massachusetts before teaching.
- Hillary Farber: Professor focused on criminal law, evidence, policing, and privacy; she contributed to an ABA volume on unmanned aircraft and the national airspace.
- Shaun Spencer: Associate dean for academic affairs whose work includes information privacy and legal writing; he coauthored Massachusetts Legal Research.
Journals
- UMass Law Review: The school's student-edited law review publishes legal scholarship and gives participating students experience in editing, source work, and publication.
13. UMass Law Culture and Student Life
The fall 2026 entering class included 148 students, with an average age of 26 and ages ranging from 19 to 70. That range, together with the evening division, brings different career stages into the school. Student organizations and the Student Bar Association provide involvement beyond class, and evening students can participate in the same organizations.
North Dartmouth places the law school within the South Coast rather than inside Boston's legal district. The local setting matters: community organizations, Bristol County courts, and regional employers recur throughout the clinical and professional opportunities. Students also have access to UMass Dartmouth's main-campus resources.
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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 UMass 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.
