The University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law is a public law school in downtown Dallas. Its daytime and evening programs accompany practical training through the Community Lawyering Center and Joyce Ann Brown Innocence Clinic.
This guide walks you through how to get into UNT Dallas Law.
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1. UNT Dallas Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
UNT Dallas Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 156 | Median: 153 | 25th: 151
- GPA: 75th: 3.71 | Median: 3.48 | 25th: 3.28
UNT Dallas Law Class of 2027:
- LSAT: 75th: 156 | Median: 153 | 25th: 150
- GPA: 75th: 3.73 | Median: 3.51 | 25th: 3.30
These figures cover full-time students entering in fall 2025 and fall 2024. The LSAT median held at 153; the upper quartile stayed at 156, and the lower quartile rose from 150 to 151. The GPA median fell from 3.51 to 3.48, and both GPA quartiles also declined. The entering class decreased from 99 to 86. The evening program has its own entering profile.
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. UNT Dallas Law Application Essays
Personal Statement (required)
Submit no more than three double-spaced pages. UNT Dallas invites evidence of the qualities you would bring to legal study, including maturity, work experience, leadership, civic engagement, and persistence through adversity.
For more on how to write a personal statement, see my Personal Statement Examples and Personal Statement Guide.
For more on discussing persistence through adversity within this personal statement, see my Diversity Statement Examples and Diversity Statement Guide.
Why UNT Dallas College of Law (optional)
The optional statement allows up to two double-spaced pages.
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 (if applicable)
Academic and LSAT addenda may each run up to three double-spaced pages. Character and fitness explanations have no stated page limit and use 12-point type.
I'll be publishing a guide to addenda and character and fitness.
3. UNT Dallas Law Resume Requirements
A resume is required and may not exceed three pages. Include employment, education, service, and leadership with clear dates and substantive responsibilities. Explain what you handled, not just your title. Work outside the legal field belongs here too.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. UNT Dallas Law Letters of Recommendation
Two letters are required. The application page caps submissions at three, while the April 2026 admissions policy permits up to four and strongly encourages an academic recommendation. Letters must be dated within three years. Choose people who can describe your work closely, not just endorse your ambitions.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. UNT Dallas Law Interview Process
The admissions committee may request an interview to clarify an application; interviews are not a universal step. A faculty committee member may discuss your background and interest in the school. Know your application, explain any issue directly, and be ready to discuss why UNT Dallas fits your plans.
6. UNT Dallas Law Deadlines and Decision Options
Application Dates and Fees
- Published recurring application deadline: March 15 for fall entry.
- Review: Rolling, after the required file is complete.
- Application fee: None.
- Required test: LSAT taken within three years of application submission.
- Seat deposit: $350, nonrefundable, due April 1; later admits receive an assigned deadline.
- Final official transcripts: July 1 for admitted, deposited students.
The application, CAS report, transcripts, recommendations, and required writing materials must arrive before review. Build your schedule around a complete file, not the day you press submit. The deposit is credited to your student account after matriculation.
Admitted students must report transcript delays so Admissions or the Registrar can address them. If the final official transcript still has not arrived by October 15, the student will be administratively withdrawn and may remain responsible for tuition and fees. Treat final-document delivery as part of enrollment, not as paperwork that stops mattering after acceptance.
7. UNT Dallas Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Entering Scholarships
Admitted applicants receive automatic consideration for a one-time, nonrenewable entering scholarship toward first-year tuition and fees. Summer is excluded. Selection can account for academic achievement, financial circumstances, first-generation background, and service. Do not multiply an entering award by three when comparing offers.
Named Awards
The Judge Ken Molberg College of Law Endowed Scholarship considers connections to working-class or union backgrounds and interests in employment or trial practice serving workers and lower-income clients. Other named funds include the Royal Furgeson Scholarship and Bedford Mentors scholarships. Eligibility and available funding differ by award.
Cost and Need-Based Planning
For 2026-2027, the school's chart for entering-2026 students lists semester tuition and mandatory-fee totals of $9,383.70 for residents and $15,944.25 for nonresidents at 15 credits. At 10 credits, the totals are $6,522.55 and $10,896.25. The overview page instead lists $15,993.60 for full-time nonresidents. Those are semester figures, not the entire cost of a degree.
The published off-campus non-tuition budget is another $24,638 annually. Add your actual housing, transportation, and family costs to the tuition comparison, and complete the financial aid process early. Compare the three-year or four-year net cost, especially when one school's award renews and another school's award does not.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. UNT Dallas Law JD Formats and Interdisciplinary Learning
UNT Dallas offers a 90-credit JD through daytime and evening schedules. Interdisciplinary work is also available within the JD: the Joyce Ann Brown Innocence Clinic brings law students together with students studying forensic science and criminal justice. That collaboration is not itself a second degree. For applicants interested in another discipline, distinguish the training you need from the credential you need before building your application around a combined-degree plan.
9. UNT Dallas Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
UNT Dallas Law Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 71.7%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 6.7%
- Federal clerkships: 2.5%
- Public service (including government): 20.0%
Texas dominates the employment geography, with New York and California the next listed destinations. Small and midsize firms and government work are more prominent than large-firm hiring. Treat UNT Dallas primarily as a route into Texas practice, not as a national BigLaw pipeline. Connect the cost of attendance to the kinds of jobs you would actually pursue.
10. UNT Dallas Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Community Representation: The Community Lawyering Center connects legal training to housing, family, immigration, and estate-planning problems. It is a useful fit for applicants interested in the everyday legal needs of individuals rather than a practice defined only by major commercial clients.
Criminal Law and Innocence Work: Federal Criminal Procedure and the Joyce Ann Brown Innocence Clinic offer different ways to examine criminal cases. The clinic adds investigation and collaboration with other disciplines to the doctrinal study of criminal procedure and proof.
Advocacy and Dispute Resolution: Client Interviewing & Counseling and Negotiations & Conflict Resolution are part of the experiential requirements. Courtroom Advocacy and Appellate Advocacy Practicum provide additional routes to satisfying the school's advocacy requirement. The emphasis is on communicating and making decisions for clients.
Practice-Focused Legal Writing: Legal Writing III offers subjects such as Appellate Drafting, Civil Motions, Judicial Writing, and Transactional Drafting. Students work through multiple assignments and revisions. Pick the kind of writing you want to learn, then connect it to the work you hope to do.
11. UNT Dallas Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
Clinics
- Community Lawyering Center: At the Frazier and downtown Citywalk locations, students work with faculty and practicing lawyers on problems facing underserved clients. The program partners with Legal Aid of Northwest Texas and the Dallas County Public Defender's Office Legal Action Works. Matters can involve housing, family relationships, immigration, wills, and probate. The work requires listening, identifying legal issues, and helping clients navigate concrete next steps.
- Joyce Ann Brown Innocence Clinic: Students help evaluate and investigate claims of actual innocence. Collaboration with forensic-science and criminal-justice students broadens how a case is examined. This is post-conviction innocence work, not simply another trial advocacy class: the central task is investigating whether new evidence can establish a wrongful conviction.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
The JD requires Client Interviewing & Counseling, Negotiations & Conflict Resolution, and an externship or clinic. Community Engagement and the L.A. Bedford Mentorship Program are additional non-credit requirements. Community Conversations also give students a way to help explain legal topics to the public. These experiences combine client skills, professional relationships, and community participation rather than treating service as an optional line on a resume.
12. UNT Dallas Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Cheryl Brown Wattley: Professor of Law and Director of Experiential Education, with experience in criminal practice and civil rights. Her book on Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher's legal challenge to segregation won the Oklahoma Book Award for nonfiction.
- Brian L. Owsley: Associate Professor of Law whose work includes criminal procedure and electronic surveillance. He previously served as a United States magistrate judge in the Southern District of Texas.
- Loren Jacobson: Associate Professor of Law teaching health care, constitutional, and civil rights law. Her practice background includes False Claims Act litigation and clerkships in the Southern District of New York and Second Circuit.
- Christine M. Tamer: Associate Professor and Director of Legal Writing, teaching writing, professional responsibility, and Texas procedure. She has coauthored legal-writing textbooks and practiced appellate litigation before joining the faculty.
Journals
The UNT Dallas Law Review publishes two student-edited publications:
- On the Cusp: Practice-oriented legal analysis for lawyers and the broader legal community.
- Accessible Law: Public-facing explanations of legal issues, with an emphasis on making the law understandable to nonlawyers.
13. UNT Dallas Law Culture and Student Life
UNT Dallas's downtown setting and evening division make the school worth considering for applicants with established work and family responsibilities. The L.A. Bedford Mentorship Program adds structured contact with the profession, while the Community Engagement requirement places service within the educational experience rather than outside it.
Dallas also gives the clinical program concrete local connections through Legal Aid of Northwest Texas and the Dallas County Public Defender's Office. Texas dominates graduate employment. Plan your time around the relationships you want to build in that market, including clinic commitments and professional events alongside a commuter or working schedule.
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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 UNT Dallas 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.