Our Students Say
Cost of Education | Location | Reputation | Faculty
Our Faculty and Staff Say
- Low student debt – $90,925 (WVU Law 2020) vs. $145,00 (national average)
- Individual Attention/Great Student to Faculty Ratio – 7.3:1
- High Graduate Employment Rate – 73.4%—including higher than national average for Private Practice, Clerkships and Public Interest jobs. (ABA, Class of 2020, full-time/long-term positions.)
Successful Employment Outcomes
Class of 2020 ABA data; full time/long term employment 10 months after graduation.
- Bar Passage Required – 66.6%
- J.D. Advantage – 6.7%
- Private Practice – 53.4% (higher than the national average)
- Judicial Clerkship – 15.1% (higher than the national average)
- Business & Industry – 4.6%
- Government – 5.8%
- Public Interest – 12.7% (higher than the national average)
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Education – 1.1%
Career Services Center
Average Salary
- Bar Passage Required – $61,218
- Salary range: $30,000 to $150,000 (all graduates, all jobs)
Clinical Law Opportunities Providing Experiential Learning
- Litigation and Advocacy (aka General Practice)
- Child & Family Law Clinic with Medical-Legal Partnership
- Entrepreneurship & Innovation
- Immigration
- Innocence Project
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Taxpayer Advocacy (part of Litigation and Advocacy clinic)
- Land Use & Sustainable Development
- United States Supreme Court Clinic
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Veterans Advocacy (part of Litigation and Advocacy clinic)
Clinical Law Program
Academic Support
Individual Attention
- Small college with access to all the amenities of a large research university in a vibrant, small city.
- Student-centered with accessible faculty and staff.
- Small first-year class size by design.
- Legal Analysis, Reading and Writing classes of just 15-20.
- All first-year (1L) students are assigned to small groups that have every class together. All 1Ls have every class together by the end of the first week.
Other Strengths
- Ultimate Bar Passage Rate of 93.46% (takers within two years of graduation) -- well-above the ABA requirement of 75%.
- As the only law school in the state, we prepare lawyers by providing exceptional practice-/client- ready learning opportunities and unparalleled access to leaders in the legal community.
- Leaders in public interest law and energy law and policy.
- Well-established college (founded 1878) with the 4th oldest student-published Law Review the country.
- Dual Degree Programs — JD/Executive MBA, JD/MPA (Master’s in Public Administration), JD/LL.M. in Energy and Sustainable Development
- Low cost of attendance.
- Scholarships for 79% of the fall 2020 entering class.
- J.D. concentrations: Energy & Sustainable Development, Public Interest, Labor & Employment, and International law.
What Others Say
- Top Law School for Business Law (A-) — preLaw Magazine (2021)
- Best Law School for Practical Training (A) — preLaw Magazine (2021, 2020)
- Top Law School for Environmental/Natural Resources Law (A) — preLaw Magazine (2021, 2020)
- #5 Best Law Schools for Public Interest Law — preLaw Magazine (2020)
- Top 100 Law Specialties: Environmental Law #73, Health Care Law #77 — U.S. News & World Report 2021 Rankings (2021)
- Top Law School for Trial Advocacy & Litigation Law (A) and Intellectual Property Law (A-)— preLaw Magazine (2019)
- Top 25 for federal clerkships, No. 8 in the South — law faculty research, Univ. of Iowa (2020)
- Best Law Schools: Energy and Environmental Law (grade A) — preLaw Magazine (2019, 2018)
- Best Law Schools: Employment (grade A) — preLaw Magazine (2019, 2018)
- Best Law School (tied for 111) — U.S. News & World Report 2020 Rankings (2020)
- Best Value Law School — preLaw Magazine/The National Jurist (2018, 2017, 2016, 2015)
- Best Specialties: Public Interest Law — preLaw Magazine (2018)
- Best Law Schools: Employment — preLaw Magazine (2018)
- #34 Most Affordable Law School — Student Loan Hero (2018)
- #31 Law School for Federal Clerkships — independent research, ABA data (2018)
- #2 Law School for Greatest Community Impact —The National Jurist (2017)
- #14 “Cheapest” Law School — law.com (2017)
- #28 Law School for State Attorneys/Solicitors General — Empiricalscotus.com (2017)
- #13 Law School for Lowest Student-Faculty Ratio — Internet Legal Research Group (2017)
- Top Law School for Public Interest Law (A) and Criminal Law (B+) — preLaw Magazine (2016)
- #44 for employment rate (80%)—The Faculty Lounge (2016)
- #42 “Go-To” Law School — National Law Journal, 2015
- Top 25 Law School for Corporate Leadership — SEC data of publicly traded companies, independent research, 2014
- Best Law School for Employment (A-) — preLaw Magazine, 2014
- 2012 Excellence in Pro Bono Award (Clinical Law Program) — Super Lawyer, 2013
Location
- WVU Law is within a day’s drive to over half the population of the United States.
