California Western School of Law

225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA 92101-3090
(619) 525-1401

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National Comparison: Overview of Facts

#5 in Public Sector Salary

Cal Western Law is tied for #5 in terms of median starting salary among graduates working in government jobs or judicial clerkships at the federal or state level ($66,812).

#26 in Presence of Minority Students

Cal Western Law ranks #26 in terms of the highest percentage of students who are racial or ethnic minority (53.0%).

#46 in Highest Tuition

Cal Western Law ranks #46 in terms of highest tuition among full-time law students ($52,470). We rank from a total of 283 tuition rates from 194 law schools, ranking twice those law schools that have different in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.

#55 in Presence of Female Faculty

Cal Western Law is tied for #55 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are female (43.5%).

#81 in Presence of Minority Faculty

Cal Western Law ranks #81 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are racial or ethnic minority (13.7%).

#114 in Library Size

Cal Western Law ranks #114 in terms of library size with 369,879 volumes or equivalents.

#116 in Private Sector Salary

Cal Western Law is tied for #116 in terms of the median starting salary among graduates working in private practice as law firm associates ($67,500).

#157 in Median LSAT

Cal Western Law is tied for #157 in terms of the median LSAT score (150) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students. The LSAT measures reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning.

#158 in Acceptance Rate

Cal Western Law ranks #158 in terms of student selectivity with an acceptance rate of 59.6% among those who applied for admission.

#164 in Median Undergraduate GPA

Cal Western Law ranks #164 in terms of highest median undergraduate GPA (3.17) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students.

#171 in Bar Passage Rate

Cal Western Law ranks #171 in terms of bar passage rate among first-time test takers (59.5%), and it outperforms by +1.2% the state of California’s overall bar passage rate of 58.3%. (A national comparison on this metric should be taken in a qualified sense and with caution, because every state has a different bar passage rate.)

#173 in Student to Faculty Ratio

Cal Western Law is tied for #173 in terms of lowest student to faculty ratio (9.5:1).

Fall 2020 Application Information

Application Deadline: July 1
Application Fee: $0

Admissions Statistics

2020 2017
Acceptance Rate 59.6% 69.8%
LSAT Score (Median) 150 150
LSAT Score (25th-75th percentile) 148-152 147-153
GPA (Median) 3.17 3.14
GPA Range (25th-75th percentile) 2.91-3.39 2.87-3.41

Bar Exam Statistics

2020 2017
State in which most graduates took bar exam: CA CA
School's bar passage rate: 59.5% 71.4%
State overall bar passage rate: 58.3% 60.2%
School bar pass rate vs. state bar pass rate: +1.2% +11.2%

Employment Statistics

2020 2017
Graduates employed at graduation: N/A N/A
Graduates employed 10 months after graduation: 64.5% 56.6%

Tuition and Expenses

2020 2017
Tuition: $52,470 $1,202
Room and Board: $16,320 $14,320
Proportion of full-time students receiving grants: 82.5% 82.9%
Median grant amount among full-time students: $30,312 $22,900
Average indebtedness of those who incurred debt: $139,211 $162,260
Proportion of graduates who incurred debt: 89.1% 89.0%
View National Comparison

Students & Faculty

2020 2017
Total Students: 676 514
Men: 40.7% 42.6%
Women: 59.3% 57.4%
Student Racial Demographics:

White: 47.0% N/A
Black: 5.5% N/A
Hispanic: 16.1% N/A
Asian: 7.4% N/A
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 9.5 : 1 N/A
Total Faculty: 124 N/A
Male: 56.5% N/A
Female: 43.5% N/A
Minority: 13.7% N/A

Full-Time Starting Salaries

2020 2017
Private Sector (Median): $67,500 $65,000
Public Sector (Median): $66,812 $62,000
View National Comparison

Library Resources

2020 2017
Volumes and equivalents: 369,879 370,191