The William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a public law school with full-time and part-time study. Its strengths include gaming law, dispute resolution, community business representation, and immigration advocacy.
This guide walks you through how to get into UNLV Boyd Law.
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1. UNLV Boyd Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
UNLV Boyd Law Class of 2029:
- LSAT: 75th: 162 | Median: 160 | 25th: 155
- GPA: 75th: 3.88 | Median: 3.75 | 25th: 3.43
UNLV Boyd Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 162 | Median: 160 | 25th: 156
- GPA: 75th: 3.88 | Median: 3.76 | 25th: 3.39
These are the combined entering cohorts for fall 2026 and fall 2025, including part-time students. The 2026 profile, dated August 30, reports 130 students, down from 156 in 2025. The LSAT median held at 160, while the GPA median moved from 3.76 to 3.75. That is stability, not a meaningful easing of admission standards.
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. UNLV Boyd Law Application Essays
Personal Statement (required)
The school's instructions:
“A personal statement no longer than three typed pages (double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins) about the applicant's abilities, motivation, experiences, and specific interest in pursuing a Boyd Law degree.”
For more on addressing school interest within this personal statement, see my Why X essay guide.
For more on how to write a personal statement, see my Personal Statement Examples and Personal Statement Guide.
Optional Statement (Diversity / Perspective / Identity Statement)
The school's instructions:
“An optional statement no longer than two typed pages (double-spaced, 12 point font, one-inch margins) about the applicant's individual background and lived experiences.”
For more on how to write a diversity or perspective statement, see my Diversity Statement Examples and Diversity Statement Guide.
Part-Time Statement (required for part-time applicants)
The school's instructions:
“For part-time applicants, a brief statement explaining why they are applying to the part-time program.”
For more on making all of these essays work together, see my Cohesive Narrative Guide.
Addenda and Character & Fitness (if applicable)
Explain affirmative character-and-fitness responses separately and completely.
I'll be publishing a guide to addenda and character and fitness.
3. UNLV Boyd Law Resume Requirements
A resume is required. Include education, employment, honors, and community involvement. Show what you did, the scope of your responsibilities, and sustained commitments. Keep dates consistent with the application and essays.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. UNLV Boyd Law Letters of Recommendation
Boyd requires one letter and accepts up to four letters of recommendation through LSAC. An academic recommendation is strongly encouraged; professional supervisors or colleagues can also provide useful evaluations. Letters from friends, relatives, or social acquaintances are not considered.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. UNLV Boyd Law Interview Process
The committee may invite selected applicants to interview. Applicants cannot request an admissions interview. An informational meeting with admissions is separate from the application review. If you are invited, be ready to discuss your experiences, reasons for studying law, and specific interest in Boyd without reciting your essays.
6. UNLV Boyd Law Deadlines and Decision Options
Testing Policy
The standard route uses the LSAT, with scores valid for five years. Alternate admission is narrow. UNLV undergraduates need an ACT or SAT at or above the 85th percentile and an LSAC GPA of at least 3.85. They must be current UNLV students when admitted or have graduated within 12 months before matriculation.
Applicants to Boyd's approved dual degrees may qualify with a GRE or GMAT at or above the 85th percentile, taken within five years, and an LSAC GPA of at least 3.85. Both routes require official test reports, a testing addendum, and no prior LSAT. Dual-degree applicants need admission to both programs. Taking the LSAT before matriculation ends alternate eligibility and triggers regular reconsideration. Alternate admits cannot defer.
If you're considering the GRE, read my LSAT vs. GRE guide before deciding.
Application Dates and Fees
- Applications Open: October 1; the fall 2027 hybrid application opens October 1, 2026.
- Priority Deadline: March 15; later applications are considered as space permits.
- Review Begins: November, with initial offers generally in mid-to-late November.
- Timely LSAT: February for March 15 priority consideration.
- Application Fee: $50.
- Acceptance Deposit: $1,000, nonrefundable and credited toward tuition.
Boyd uses rolling admission. Apply early and choose one full-time or part-time application for the cycle.
Program Formats
The four-year Part-Time Hybrid JD begins in August 2027. Online classes meet Monday through Thursday evenings, with two-day campus sessions at the start of fall and spring during the first two years. Clinics generally require daytime, in-person work. Select the hybrid option in the JD application.
7. UNLV Boyd Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Merit Scholarships
All admitted students receive automatic merit-scholarship consideration without a separate application. Renewal requires a cumulative 2.3 GPA, the school's good-standing standard, rather than a separate class-rank condition. Submit the FAFSA for need-based aid consideration.
Cost of Attendance
For 2026–27, full-time tuition is $33,156 for Nevada residents and $48,432 for nonresidents, excluding summer and additional fees. Part-time tuition is $1,185 or $1,729 per credit, respectively. Boyd budgets another $35,746 for an off-campus resident's books, living expenses, transportation, personal expenses, and health insurance. Tuition plus that allowance is $68,902 for residents, before university and law school fees. Insurance may be waived with qualifying coverage.
Nonresident hybrid students do not become Nevada residents merely by enrolling online.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. UNLV Boyd Law Joint Degree Programs
Boyd offers three coordinated degrees:
- JD/MBA: With the Lee Business School, combining 80 law credits and 30 MBA credits.
- JD/MSW: With the School of Social Work, combining 80 law credits and 54 social-work credits.
- JD/PhD in Education: With the College of Education, with doctoral requirements depending on the education program.
Each requires separate admission to both programs. The first law-school year is devoted entirely to law courses. Credit-sharing reduces the combined requirements, but students must complete both programs to receive the coordinated degrees.
9. UNLV Boyd Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
UNLV Boyd Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 88.9%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 14.5%
- Federal clerkships: 2.6%
- Public service (including government): 16.2%
Nevada was the dominant employment destination, followed by Utah and Arizona. State and local clerkships were another meaningful part of the class's outcomes. Boyd has a concentrated Nevada network; large-firm positions account for a smaller share of its placement than local practice and public-sector work. Applicants targeting another state should connect their own ties, summer plans, and employer research to that goal before committing.
10. UNLV Boyd Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Gaming and Tribal Law: The Indian Nations Gaming and Governance concentration combines Federal Indian Law, Tribal Law and Governance, and Indian Gaming Law with research or practical work. It treats gaming as a legal and institutional field, not simply a Las Vegas industry label.
Dispute Resolution: The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution brings together research, events, courses, and skills competitions. The dispute-resolution concentration is relevant to future litigators as well as students interested in negotiation and mediation outside the courtroom.
Business and Commercial Law: The Business and Commercial Law concentration provides a curricular framework, while the Community Business Clinic connects legal analysis to entity formation, contracts, and clients with limited resources. That combination supports an interest in transactional work grounded in actual business needs.
Intellectual Property: Boyd offers an Intellectual Property concentration, and Dean Leah Chan Grinvald's scholarship includes trademarks and right-to-repair issues.
11. UNLV Boyd Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
The Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic and affiliated residency programs offer several distinct forms of client work:
- Community Business Clinic: Help small businesses, nonprofits, and artists with formation, contracts, licensing, and other transactional matters.
- Immigration Clinic: Work on representation involving detained adults and unaccompanied children, alongside the clinic's broader immigration services.
- Survivor Representation and Advocacy Clinic: Develop client-centered advocacy for survivors of traumatic violence, including protection-order and post-conviction matters.
- Tenants' Rights Legal Residency: Work with the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada on eviction-related representation, interviews, and court proceedings.
- Public Defender Residency: The six-credit program introduced in fall 2026 combines a seminar with supervised defense work at the Clark County Public Defender's Office.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
The Tribal Law Practicum is a separate experiential offering involving research and drafting through a partnership with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. The Samuel S. Lionel Externship Program places students with lawyers and judges. Partners in Pro Bono pairs students with attorney mentors on legal-aid matters.
The required Christine Smith Community Service Program involves teaching free public legal-education classes. Hybrid applicants should account for a practical limitation: clinics generally involve in-person, daytime work, even when doctrinal courses are online.
12. UNLV Boyd Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Leah Chan Grinvald, Dean and Richard J. Morgan Professor of Law, studies intellectual property, including trademarks and repair rights. Her background includes corporate counsel work for TaylorMade Golf.
- Benjamin Edwards, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research and Professor of Law, works on securities regulation, corporate governance, and professional ethics. He coauthored a treatise on Nevada business and commercial law.
- Courtney Cross, Co-Associate Dean for Experiential Practice and Professor of Law, directs the Survivor Representation and Advocacy Clinic. Her teaching and scholarship connect domestic violence, poverty, and the criminal legal system.
- Patience A. Crowder, Co-Associate Dean for Experiential Practice and Professor of Law, is the founding director of the Community Business Clinic. Her work focuses on community economic development and transactional clinical education.
Journals
- Nevada Law Journal: The flagship general-interest journal.
- UNLV Gaming Law Journal: Gaming law and policy.
13. UNLV Boyd Law Culture and Student Life
Boyd's fall 2026 entering class included 130 students, and 85% were Nevada residents. Student organizations include the Gaming Law Society, Dispute Resolution Society, and affinity groups such as La Voz. Full-time, part-time, and hybrid students have different schedules; participation requires planning around the track you choose.
Las Vegas provides the local institutions behind Boyd's clinical and public-service work. Partnerships with the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada connect students to community needs and practicing lawyers. The Christine Smith Community Service Program adds experience explaining legal issues to nonlawyers. Your professional relationships can develop through that recurring work, not just occasional networking events.
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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 UNLV Boyd 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.
