There are various law schools across the country that provide students with the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education that will enable them to find work after graduation. These law schools, or better yet, colleges, are recognized for their demanding admissions process, which is why you should examine whether you can meet Cumberland School of Law Requirements if you believe you will be able to graduate there.

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Are you thinking of applying to Cumberland School Of Law? If so, then read this article for details on the admission requirements.

Most schools require that applicants have a minimum GPA of 3.0. They will be more relaxed about those whose GPA doesn’t exceed the national or even state average. They might also check the average GPA accepted students have. I wonder about cumberland school of law.

Any student currently enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school may be eligible to apply for transfer to Cumberland School of Law. Applicants must be in good standing at their current law school, rank in the top 50% of their current law school class, and have a current law school GPA of at least 2.70.

GPA & LSAT

References to the lowest, median, and highest GPA and LSAT scores reflect those of the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile, respectively, among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students in fall 2018.

Acceptance Rates

The acceptance rate is that of applicants granted admission as full-time students for classes commencing in fall 2018. The acceptance rate of the applicants does not reflect actual enrollment rates, a subset figure.

Student-to-Faculty Ratios

The student-to-faculty ratio shows the number of students for that class per faculty member. This ratio reflects the applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students in fall 2018.

Bar Passage Rates

The bar passage rates reflect those among first-time test takers for the winter and summer 2017 administrations of the bar examinations. The state noted is that in which the greatest number of the law school’s graduates took the bar exam for the reported period.

Employment Rates

The employment rates shown are those of the 2017 full-time graduates at the time of graduation and ten months after graduation.

Law Library Volumes

The data indicate the number of print and microform volumes, as well as volume equivalents.

Gender, Race & Ethnicity

The data shown indicate the percentage of the faculty that are male and female, respectively, and the percentage of the faculty and students that are racial or ethnic minority (Hispanics of any race, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, multiracial, non-resident alien, or unknown race).

Salaries

The salary statistics are those of full-time, long-term employed law graduates for the class of 2017 at the time of graduation and within ten months after graduation (approximately spring 2018 ), as self-reported by the graduates.

The salaries indicated for “Median Salary Private” reflect those salaries of the 50th percentile, among those graduates working in private practice as law firm associates. The salaries indicated for “Median Salary Public” reflect those salaries of the 50th percentile, among those graduates working in government jobs or judicial clerkships at the federal or state level.

In determining median salaries, jobs classified as “JD advantage” have been excluded (i.e., positions in which the employer requires a JD or considers it an advantage to hold such a degree, but in which admission to the bar is not required).

Cumberland School Of Law Requirements

Is Cumberland a good law school?

Samford University’s Cumberland School of law was again included among the United States’ top law schools and was ranked third in the nation for “Best Quality of Life.” The publication’s law school rankings for 2019 factored in data from its surveys of 17,700 students attending 165 law schools.

What LSAT score do I need for Alabama?Admissions Statistics

Admissions Statistics	2020	2017
LSAT Score (Median)	164	160
LSAT Score (25th-75th percentile)	157-165	156-164
GPA (Median)	3.88	3.61
GPA Range (25th-75th percentile)	3.42-3.95	3.29-3.93

Application Requirements

Applicants for the Juris Doctor degree must meet the following qualifications:

1. Possess a bachelor’s degree from a college or university with institutional accreditation prior to entering law school.
   • In light of the decision by the U.S. Department of Education to no longer differentiate between institutional and regional accrediting agencies, Samford will no longer require regional accreditation for transfer credits or prior degrees for admission into graduate programs. Rather, Samford will require these institutions hold institutional accreditation. A list of institutional accrediting agencies authorized by the U.S. Department of Education can be found here. 
2. Take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) within the last five years.
3. Register with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and register for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) at lsac.org. Make arrangements for LSAC to receive and compile letters of recommendation, transcripts from all the colleges and universities attended, and LSAT score in a CAS report.
4. Complete Cumberland School of Law’s official application and all that is entailed in the application instructions by the required deadlines. A completed application includes a personal statement, a résumé and any required addendum(s), and a CAS report.

Entering J.D. Student Admission

Application Checklist

A complete application that is ready for review includes the following:

• Application (no application fee)
• Résumé
• Personal statement
• Explanations and additional documentation (as needed)
• LSAC law school report, including
  • LSAT score(s)
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • College and graduate school transcripts 

Please direct any questions to the Office of Law Admission.
Phone: 800-888-7213, Fax: 205-726-2057
lawadm@samford.edu

Office of Law Admission
Cumberland School of Law
Samford University
800 Lakeshore Drive
Birmingham, AL 35229

Application Instructions and Admission Policy

The application is for students pursuing admission to Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law as a first-year law student. Separate application instructions are available for transfer and visiting students below.

Before you complete your application, please consider the following:

Applicants must provide complete, accurate and truthful answers to each question. Providing false, incomplete or misleading answers may result in the revocation of your admission or disciplinary action by the law school. It also may result in denial of permission to practice law in the state in which you seek admission to the bar. In addition, Samford University reserves the right to revoke the admission of, expel, refuse to award any degrees to, and/or recommend revocation of any degree earned by applicants who submit inaccurate information in this application or omit information requested by this application.

Therefore, it is imperative that applicants read and follow the application instructions carefully. Doing so ensures that you are providing appropriate and complete responses. Applicants should note that some questions could require additional documentation.

Eligibility

Only eligible applicants will be considered for admission to Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. Eligible applicants are those who have or will obtain a bachelor’s degree from a college or university with institutional accreditation. The assistant dean of admission and enrollment management will determine the eligibility of those applicants who have enrolled in an ABA–accredited law school prior to applying for admission to the law school. Those applicants will be required to submit an official transcript and letter of good standing from any previously attended law school before their applications can be reviewed for admission. Please note students who are not in good standing or who have been academically dismissed from an ABA–accredited law school are ineligible to apply for admission.

The Application Process

Only complete applications will be reviewed for admission. The Office of Law Admission will contact applicants whose applications are missing any of the materials listed in the checklist above. Applicants will also be contacted if additional documentation is required to complete their applications. Applications can be submitted between Sept. 1 and May 1. Since admission decisions are made on a rolling basis, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their application, recommendations and all supplemental documents by the priority deadline of Dec. 31, as this will expedite the review of their application and give them greater opportunity to be considered for scholarship assistance, as noted below.

Once an application is submitted, a request for the applicant’s CAS report will be generated automatically. See the LSAT and CAS Report section for more information on the CAS report. Simply submitting your application online through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) does not mean that it is ready for review. Applicants must make sure that the Office of Law Admission has received all required supporting documentation via LSAC. The admission office staff will make every effort to email applicants in a timely manner when required documents are missing, but it is ultimately the applicant’s responsibility to confirm that their application is complete.

Notifications from the Office of Law Admission

Applicants will be contacted via email, phone, regular mail or SMS, as needed throughout the application process. Please note that electronic communication is the primary communication method used by Cumberland School of Law admission office. Therefore, it is imperative that applicants provide contact information that will be valid between September and August. Applicants should plan to update their contact information to ensure that they are receiving all notifications and announcements from the law school. All mailed correspondence will be sent to the current address as noted in the application.

Emergency contact information is vital to the health and safety of the students of Samford University and Cumberland School of Law. The information provided for parents and next of kin must be accurate and current. This information will be used only by authorized Samford University personnel and only in case of emergency.

Applicant Status

Applicants have the option to attend law school under full- or flextime status, which provides students an opportunity to take a reduced course load during law school. This option is ideally suited for those applicants with flexible work schedules, as students with flextime status attend classes during the day. While the admission process for applicants seeking flextime status is the same for those seeking full-time status, no scholarship assistance is available for flextime students.

LSAT and CAS Report

All applicants must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and register for the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS) through the LSAC website at lsac.org. Only LSAT scores earned within the past five years will be accepted. In the review process, the highest LSAT score will be considered. Applicants can elect to have their application withheld from review until a new LSAT score is received. Please note that without notification that the applicant will retake the LSAT, the admissions committee will consider the highest score on an applicant’s CAS report. Applicants should note that all admission decisions are final.

Transcripts

A complete application includes transcripts from all institutions of higher education, both graduate and undergraduate, at which an applicant has earned academic credit, regardless of the degree or certificate pursued. All transcripts must be sent to LSAC for inclusion in the applicant’s CAS report. Applicants will be notified when their application is missing a transcript. Applications that are missing transcripts are considered incomplete and will not be reviewed for admission until all missing transcripts are included in the applicant’s CAS report.

Recommendations

Two recommendations are required to complete an application but you may submit up to four. Letters of recommendation from family members, no matter how far removed in lineage, will not count towards the two that are required to complete an application. Recommenders should be advised to send letters of recommendation to LSAC and not to the law school. Evaluations do not count toward this requirement.

Applicants should take care to select recommenders who will provide the most compelling information in support of their application to law school. A meaningful recommendation will provide the admission committee with detailed accounts of an applicant’s academic ability, accomplishments and character. One letter of recommendation should be an academic reference from a faculty adviser or professor in one’s major field of study. Those applicants who have been in the military or workforce may substitute a letter from a commanding officer or employer. The other letter of recommendation should be a character reference from someone who has personal knowledge of the applicant’s integrity.

Character and Fitness Responses & Requirements

Every American jurisdiction in which you may practice law after graduation from law school requires each applicant for admission to the bar to meet character and fitness requirements as a condition of eligibility for admission. A character and fitness review will require truthful, accurate and complete reporting of all requested information related to past conduct that bar examiners may deem relevant to one’s fitness to practice law, in most jurisdictions including (but not limited to) all criminal arrests, charges, plea agreements, convictions, or instances of being taken into custody, as a juvenile or adult; all traffic violations except minor parking citations; involvement as a party to civil litigation; acts of fraud, dishonesty or lack of candor; educational discipline or misconduct; failure to pay financial obligations; and substance abuse. Many jurisdictions require disclosure of all criminal arrests, charges, plea agreements or convictions, as a juvenile or adult, even where the record has been expunged.

It should be noted, however, that while bar admission boards require complete disclosure of requested information, in many instances past relevant conduct, particularly if isolated and/or not recent, has not resulted in denial or delay of admission to the bar in a particular jurisdiction of interest. (This is not to suggest or predict how any jurisdiction’s bar admissions board would respond to any applicant’s particular conduct disclosures going forward).

A failure to truthfully, accurately and completely respond to a character and fitness inquiry, however, is commonly deemed a character and fitness violation in and of itself, and may be more detrimental to bar admission prospects than the undisclosed or incorrectly disclosed underlying conduct.

You are encouraged, as you go through the law school application process and before you enter law school, to determine the character and fitness requirements of the jurisdiction(s) where you intend to practice law. If you are uncertain where you will practice law, you may wish to review the Standard NCBE Character and Fitness Application, titled Request for Preparation of a Character Report, of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which is used by a number of jurisdictions’ bar admission authorities. Addresses for all relevant agencies are available at ncbex.org.

Applicants must attach separate addenda explaining in detail each instance that necessitates a “yes” response to these questions. It is not sufficient to simply attach court records. You must explain the circumstances that gave rise to each occurrence, any charges received and the outcome of those charges. Those who provide unclear responses will be asked for clarification and/or additional information.

Applicants should also be aware that this law school application is a “continuing application.” Continuing applications require applicants to update their responses to these questions as needed throughout the application process. Should an event occur, either before or after applicants receive their admission decision, that would change their response to a question in their application, they must immediately communicate the details of that event in writing to the assistant dean of admission and enrollment management.

Supplemental Documentation

Other than résumés, all supplemental documents must have the following format: double spacing, one-inch margins, 11-point Times New Roman font. Please remember to include your LSAC account number on all supplemental documents and addenda.

Résumé

Applicants must submit a résumé that chronicles their employment, educational, and extracurricular history during and after college. It is important that résumés highlight academic honors, leadership positions, and volunteer or community work completed, along with any professional licenses an applicant has obtained, whether currently active or not. All entries should include dates of involvement and a brief description as to the nature of the applicant’s participation. For employment held during and after college, please note whether your position was full- or part-time. Résumés should not be more than two pages.

Personal Statement

Our admission committee reviews many applications from candidates with strong credentials. Therefore, an applicant’s personal statement should set forth any additional information they feel should be considered by the committee when evaluating their application. Any experience an applicant has had that will enable them to contribute unique and enlightening perspectives to the law school is of interest to the committee. In addition, the reasons motivating your desire to study law and to attend Cumberland School of Law are also important to mention. Personal statements should not be more than three pages.

The Selection Process

Each year, the number of applications received by Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law far exceeds the openings available in the first-year class. The goal of the law school is to select the most qualified applicants possible and to award those applicants a seat in the entering class. It is our belief that we best serve the law school, our alumni and the current student body by choosing wisely those who will carry on the law school tradition.

Along with an applicant’s LSAT score and undergraduate GPA, the admission committee considers additional factors to measure an applicant’s potential to succeed in law school and the legal profession. Such factors include the difficulty of the undergraduate major pursued; upward trends in academic performance; the amount of time spent involved in extracurricular activities, athletics and/or employment while in undergraduate school; or any graduate studies completed. In addition, those applicants who because of their background bring to the school unique and enlightening perspectives will be recognized by the admission committee.

Financial Aid and Scholarship Assistance

Samford University’s Office of Financial Aid assists students with finding the appropriate federal financial aid. To be considered for federal student loans, applicants should file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the federal priority deadline of March 1. FAFSA applications can be found online at fafsa.ed.gov. Please list “Samford University” as one of the schools to receive your FAFSA information, as this will expedite the processing of your financial aid award. Samford University’s federal school code is 001036.

Only those applicants admitted for full-time study will be considered to receive merit-based scholarship assistance from the law school. The Office of Law Admission will automatically contact all applicants who are being considered for scholarships or have been awarded scholarships. Competition is keen for these awards, and interested applicants are strongly encouraged to complete their applications by the law school’s priority deadline of Dec. 31. The law school’s additional merit, need-based, leadership and peer scholarships are reserved for current second- and third-year law students.

International Students

Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law welcomes applications from international students if the degree conferred is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree.

Please make note of the following if you are applying from outside the United States:

All transcripts from institutions outside the United States must be submitted through LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service and evaluated by World Educational Services (WES) or AACRAO. Those evaluations must then be sent to our office (Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, 800 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham, Alabama, 35229, Attention: Office of Admission) by the evaluating agency. Transcripts must indicate the successful completion of a bachelor’s degree-equivalent program.

Students from countries in which English is not the primary language and who have not earned a bachelor’s degree-equivalent from an English-language institution must satisfy one of the following requirements for English language proficiency:

iBT TOEFL: Total score of 90, minimum 20 on each sub-sector
IELTS: 7.0, minimum 6.0 on each sub-score

Equal Opportunity

In accordance with applicable federal and state laws, such as Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act and ADA Amendments, the University does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, race, color, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, religion, or any other protected status under federal, state or local law applicable to the University, in its education policies, programs, and activities, in its admissions policies, in employment policies and practices, and all other areas of the University. As a faith-based institution, the University is exempted from certain laws and regulations concerning discrimination.

Deferring Admission

Deferment is only offered to applicants called into active military duty or students in other extreme extenuating circumstances as determined by the Office of Admission. Outside of those situations, applicants who wish to attend Cumberland School of Law at a later date must reapply or reactivate their file. Applicants who reapply or reactivate their file are considered along with all other applicants for admission and are given no special preference.

cumberland school of law graduation requirements

Academic and Graduation Requirements

Each candidate for the Juris Doctor must:

• Complete ninety (90) credit hours of acceptable coursework with a passing grade in each course and cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher (at least 65 of which must be earned in regular law school classes).
  • Complete and earn a passing grade in all required courses, which include:
    • All first-year courses (Civil Procedure I&II, Contracts I&II, Criminal Law, Evidence, Lawyering & Legal Reasoning I&II, Real Property, and Torts);
    • Business Organizations; Constitutional Law Iⅈ Criminal Procedure; Professional Responsibilities; Secured Transactions; and Wills, Trusts & Estates.
  • Complete and earn a passing grade in six (6) credit hours of courses designated as “experiential learning” courses.
  • Complete and earn a passing grade in a course or seminar designated as satisfying the upper level writing requirement.
• Be of good moral character, according to the standards of personal and professional integrity traditionally associated with the profession of law.
• Receive the favorable recommendation of the faculty for the degree.
• Pay all financial obligations due to Samford University.

For details regarding required courses and their sequence, time limits for completing the degree, grades, and courses that satisfy experiential learning and upper level writing requirements, please consult the Cumberland School of Law Student Handbook and Faculty Policies on Academic Standards.

Curriculum

First-year Classes

During your first year at Cumberland School of Law, you will examine fundamental legal concepts applicable to all areas of practice— with an emphasis on legal analysis, legal writing, research and lawyering skills.

Second- and Third-year Classes

Second- and third-year students typically take 15–16 hours each fall and spring semester. Course selection offers more flexibility, allowing for selection of elective courses in specialized areas.

Areas of Specialization

• Business and Commercial Law
• Civil Litigation
• Civil Rights Law
• Criminal Defense and Prosecution
• Environmental Law
• Family Law 
• Health Law
• Intellectual Property
• International Law
• Municipal Law
• Skills Development
• Sports Law
• Taxation
• Trusts and Estates

cumberland school of law tuition

Charge	Amount
Tuition	$41,970 annually ($1,399 per credit hour)**
University Fee	$320/term
Digital Learning Fee	$100/course

*The tuition and fees listed may be subject to change in future academic years.
**Per semester full-time tuition is $20,985 for 10-16 credit hours. Course loads of nine credit hours or less are billed at $1,399 per credit hour. Credit hours above 16 also are billed at $1,399 per hour in addition to the per semester full time tuition.

Charge	Amount
Tuition	$42,390 ($1,413 per credit hour)**
University Fee	$320/term
Digital Learning Fee	$100/course

*The tuition and fees listed may be subject to change in future academic years.
**Per semester full-time tuition is $21,195 for 10-16 credit hours. Course loads of nine credit hours or less are billed at $1,413 per credit hour. Credit hours above 16 also are billed at $1,413 per hour in addition to the per semester full time tuition.

Other expenses associated with the cost of attendance are listed in the Student Budget.

Samford University’s Office of Financial Aid for Graduate School is committed to helping students make informed decisions as they review and discuss various financing options available for legal education.