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 – 8:1
  • High Graduate Employment Rate – 86.5% — higher than national average overall; also higher than national average for Government, Clerkship and Public Interest jobs; same as national average for Private Practice jobs. (ABA, Class of 2021, full-time/long-term positions.)

Successful Employment Outcomes

Class of 2021 ABA data; full time/long term employment 10 months after graduation.

  • Bar Passage Required – 79.8%  (higher than the national average)
  • J.D. Advantage – 6.7%
  • Private Practice – 51% 
  • Judicial Clerkship – 15.9% (higher than the national average)
  • Business & Industry – 5.3% 
  • Government – 10.6% (higher than the national average)
  • Public Interest – 11.7% (higher than the national average)
  • Education – 1% 

    Career Services Center

Average Salary


Class of 2021 NALP data, full time, 10 months after graduation. 

  • Bar Passage Required – $68,876
  • JD Advantage – $59,047 

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
  • Taxpayer Advocacy (part of Litigation and Advocacy clinic) 
  • Land Use & Sustainable Development
  • United States Supreme Court Clinic
  • 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

What Others Say

  • Top Public Service School (#11 Public Interest, #23 Federal Clerkships) — preLaw Magazine (2021)
  • Top Law School for Business Law (A-) — preLaw Magazine (2021)
  • Best Law School for Practical Training (A) — preLaw Magazine (2022, 2021, 2020)
  • Top Law School for Environmental/Natural Resources Law (A) — preLaw Magazine (2022, 2021, 2020)
  • Top Law School for Intellectual Property Law (B+) — preLaw Magazine (2022)
  • #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.