Do you want to know the various public and private law schools in Massachusetts, ranking and admission statistics? you should be interested in reading this article.
Public law schools in Massachusetts are intended for all sorts of students including those in the community who want to use their law degree for the benefit of the commonwealth. If you’re interested in pursuing a career where as a lawyer you help people and also fulfill a civic duty, such as public defense, public school teaching, or public interest litigation, then a public law school would be a good choice.
Take out time to visit our catalog right here on Collegelearners for up-to-date information on law schools in New England, UMass Amherst law, Massachusetts school of law acceptance rate, Southern New England school of law, and so much more.
law schools in massachusetts accredited
The University Of Massachusetts School Of Law is a public law school located in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the only public law school in Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts-School of Law offers three years with 90 credit hours Juris Doctor Degree Program. And for part time the degree will take 4 and half years. Other than this degree program, school of law offers Joint degree program with J.D.
The first one is 3 plus 3 degree program for 6 years. For 3 and half years for JD/ MBA Degree Program with 90 credit hours. School of law also offers the 4 years degree program of JD and Masters in Public Policy and for 4 and half years for JD and Masters in Social work. The application is $50, while the full time tuition is $28,626 and part-time is$21,563.
Harvard Law School
Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is one of the professional and prestigious graduate schools of Harvard University located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Law School offers 3 years Juris Doctor Degree Program along JD with joint degrees program. These programs include Joint degree program in Law and Business, Law and Urban Planning, Law and Government.
The World’s top Law Schools in Massachusetts, Harvard Law School and University of Cambridge offers J.D/LL.M. Joint Degree Program and Law and Public Health. Then the Law School offers one year LL.M Harvard’s LL.M. for students include lawyers working in firms, government officials, law professors, judges, diplomats, human rights activists, doctoral students, business men and women, and others.
The last one is the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.). This is Harvard Law School’s most advanced law degree. The full-time program application fee is $85 with tuition is $64,978.
Boston University School of Law
Ranked as 22nd in the country, Boston University School of Law is the law School of Boston University. It is located on the university’s campus on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts founded in 1872. Students can select from more than 200 courses and seminars, one of the widest selections of any law school.
It also offers three regular LL.M Degree Programs in Health Law, Tax Law, and Intellectual Property. Asides from these subjects law schools offers LL.M in executive LL.M in International Business Law, LL.M in Taxation, Masters In study of Tax Law, Two Years LL.M Program, Extended LL.M Program and online LL.M Programs.
This law school offers 85 credit hours, three years Juris Doctor Degree Program. The Boston University School of Law offers 17 different dual degree programs with 6 to 7 years of completion. Then there are some Graduate and certificates programs are offered for J.D and LL.M students. With April 1 the last date, the full-time program application fee at the School of Law at Boston University is $85 and is $55,076.
Sufflok University Law School
The Suffolk University Law School is a private, law school located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Sufflok University Law School offers three years full 84 credit hours and 4 years part time Juris Doctor Degree Program. Then school has designed accelerated students can get the degree in 24 months (full-time) or 36 months (part-time evening) with sane 84 credit hours.
And for those who already have law degree there is 24 credit hours LL.M Degree program. It offers LL.M Degrees in General LL.M, JD/LL.M in Taxation and Global Law & Technology LL.M. Law School has also designed 24 credit hours for one year Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) degree with rest years for research.
Students can get dual degrees in three years through law school accelerated degree programs in JD/ MBA or dual JD/ LL.M Degree in Taxation. One of the top law Schools in Massachusetts has designed joint degree programs in MBA 76 credit hours in 5-6 years. In Taxation for 96 credit hours in 4 years, Criminal Justice 80 credit hours in 4 years.
Besides that, for JD/Master of Science in Crime & Justice Studies (MSCJS) for 80 credit hours in 4 years and Masters in Public Administration for 80 credit hours in 3 years and 1 summer program.
New England School of Law
Located in Boston, the New England School of Law (NESL) has been active since its opening in 1908. The school is ABA accredited and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools.
NESL had an acceptance rate of 81% in 2018, which was among the friendliest acceptance rates in Massachusetts. The median GPA for 2018 applicants stood at 3.14, while the median LSAT was 147.
The school has a student to faculty ratio of 30:1, which is among the highest in the state. The school does not provide on-campus housing or graduate housing. Law-specific housing services are also not provided.
The 2018 bar passage rate was 77%, which is just 5% lesser than the state average. 83% of 2018 graduates secured jobs within the first ten months after graduating.
Boston College Law School
Boston College (B.C.) Law School is located in Newton, Massachusetts, and is regarded as one of the finest law schools in Massachusetts. B.C. Law specializes in social justice, public interest, and human rights law.
It is ABA-accredited and is also a member of the Association of American Law Schools. The U.S. News & World Report, in 2018, ranked B.C. Law as the 30th best law school in the U.S.
The title of a prestigious law school, as you must be aware, comes at the price of competitive applications. The school had an acceptance rate of 46% in 2018, meaning it rejected over half of its total applications.
In 2018, the median LSAT was 162, while the median GPA stood at 3.56, which points out the highly competitive nature of the institution. With a student to faculty ratio of 14:1, B.C. law students are well-placed to benefit from individualized professor attention.
Impressively, 92% of its 2018 graduates obtained well-paying jobs (average of $70,000) within the first ten months after graduating. The bar passage rate, as expected of a world-class institution, stood at 90% in 2018.
Northeastern University Law School
Northeastern University Law School in Boston differentiates itself as institution through its long-standing Cooperative Legal Education Program. The law school calendar is yearly, and every quarter, second and third year law students alternate between taking classes or completing co-ops at firms, agencies, corporations, and more. (Some experiences are paid, and some are located abroad.) By the time law students graduate, they will have completed four co-op experiences, and Northeastern reports that about 40 percent of graduates find jobs through past co-ops.
When not completing co-ops, students can still get hands-on legal training in clinical programs, which address civil rights and restorative justice, poverty law and practice, prisoners’ rights, and others. Northeastern Law students are not assigned grades; instead, they are given written feedback from both professors and employers. Therefore, there are no class ranks or GPAs, either.
New England Law
New England Law | Boston began in 1908 as Portia Law School, which offered a legal education exclusively to women at a time when most other institutions would not accept them at all. The early Portia Law School students were primarily from working-class and immigrant families and many had only a high school education, since the state did not require a college degree to study law. For decades, most of the women who passed the Massachusetts bar examination were Portia graduates.
There have been many dramatic changes over the past century, including new and updated physical facilities, name changes, a diverse student body of both men and women, and a curriculum that has expanded to include global issues. Through it all, the school has stayed true to its core value: a commitment to offering an excellent foundation for a legal career to those who seek opportunity for themselves and are willing to work for it.
1908: Portia Law School is founded as the only law school in the country exclusively for women.
1923: Blanche Braxton ’21 becomes the first African American woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts bar.
1938: Portia Law School becomes coeducational as men begin attending.
1962: Margaret H. Bauer, a graduate of Portia Law School, becomes its first female dean.
1965: The first edition of the Portia Law Journal launches. Today, the journal is the New England Law Review.
1969: The American Bar Association grants accreditation to Portia Law School (renamed New England School of Law).
1973: William O. Douglas is the first of eight Supreme Court justices to visit New England Law.
1980: New England School of Law moves to expanded facilities.
1990: The Charles Hamilton Houston Enrichment Program is established to address racial bias, promote law school diversity, and provide a supportive community for minority students.
1997: New England School of Law is a founding member of the Consortium for Innovative Legal Education, Inc.
1998: New England School of Law becomes a member of the Association of American Law Schools.
2008: Our second century begins with a new name: New England Law | Boston.
2014: New England Law | Boston launches concentrations in two growing fields—Immigration Law and Intellectual Property (IP) Law.
2018: The First Generation Student’s Program is established, providing additional support and resources for students who are the first in their family to attend law school
2019: New England Law | Boston expands their certificate offerings to include—Criminal Practice and Procedure, and Compliance and Risk Management
best law schools in massachusetts
There are 8 law schools in Massachusetts. Below are the admissions statistics for each of Massachusetts’s law schools.
School Name | US News Ranking | Acceptance Rate | Med.LSAT | Med.GPA | LSN Applications |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harvard University | 3 | 18% | 173 | 3.86 | 14261 |
Boston University | 20 | 38% | 163 | 3.67 | 11000 |
Boston College | 29 | 46% | 162 | 3.56 | 9892 |
Northeastern University | 67 | 35% | 161 | 3.55 | 3954 |
Suffolk University | 129 | 70% | 150 | 3.23 | 2097 |
New England School of Law | 147 | 81% | 147 | 3.14 | 1673 |
Western New England College School of Law | 147 | 70% | 147 | 3.1 | 821 |
The University of Massachusetts School of Law-Dartmouth | 147 | 66% | 148 | 2.97 | 142 |