Law Schools in Washington, D.C.: All 6 Compared, and How to Choose

How many law schools are in Washington, D.C.?

There are six ABA-accredited law schools in Washington, D.C. Five are private (Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, American, and Catholic), and one is public (the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law).

That density is rare. Only a handful of U.S. cities offer six accredited options inside a single job market, and in D.C. that market is unusually rich in federal agencies, courts, international organizations, and public-interest employers.

It also means the six are not really competing for the same applicant. They sit at sharply different selectivity tiers and chase different missions, so the practical question is not “which is best” but “which is best for the career you want.”

Why study law in Washington, D.C.?

D.C. is the densest legal job market in the country relative to its size, and proximity is a genuine advantage. Students extern at federal agencies (the SEC, FTC, FCC, NLRB, and dozens more), at the federal courts, on Capitol Hill, and at international bodies like the World Bank and the Organization of American States, often during the school year rather than only over summers.

That access shapes what each school is good at. Regulatory, administrative, international, national-security, and public-interest law all run deeper here than the raw rankings suggest, because the employers sit minutes from campus and routinely hire local students into term-time roles.

The flip side is concentration. Many graduates compete for the same regional positions, so the school you pick, and the alumni network it plugs you into, matters more in D.C. than in a less saturated market. A mid-ranked school with a strong niche can out-place a higher-ranked generalist for the specific jobs it feeds.

The tiers: How D.C.’s six schools break down

The District’s schools fall into four rough bands. At the top sits Georgetown, the only nationally elite option and the one school here with true coast-to-coast reach.

The second band is GW, just outside the top tier on rank but elite on employment, especially for federal and IP work. The third band holds the specialists and value plays: American, Catholic, and Howard, each strong for a defined purpose rather than for blanket prestige. The fourth is UDC, the public, mission-driven school built for access and public interest.

Reading the six this way matters because their U.S. News numbers (from #18 down to the bottom tier) flatten real differences. Two schools ranked twenty places apart can be the right and wrong choice for the same student depending on the career target.

D.C. law schools compared

The table orders the six by U.S. News rank and uses each school’s 2025 ABA 509 admissions data. The “best for” column is the fastest route to your shortlist.

Note the quirk: Howard’s 24% acceptance rate is tighter than GW’s or American’s even though its median LSAT is lower. That reflects Howard’s holistic, mission-aligned admissions, where the record as a whole carries real weight alongside the numbers.

Which D.C. law school is right for you?

Match the school to your goal rather than to the rank order. Each of the six wins clearly for a different kind of applicant, and the detail below shows why.

Georgetown, if you want prestige and national reach

Georgetown is the District’s highest-ranked school, a traditional T14 institution ranked #18 in the 2026 U.S. News edition, and the only one of the six with genuine coast-to-coast pull. At a 15.75% acceptance rate, a 171 median LSAT, and a 3.93 median GPA, it is also by far the hardest to enter.

Its scale is a feature, not a footnote. Georgetown enrolls the largest JD class in the T14 (just under 2,000 students), which builds a vast alumni network and the broadest BigLaw and federal-clerkship pipeline in the city. It is also the perennial national leader in transfer admissions, taking around 120 transfers a year.

Specialty depth seals it: Georgetown runs one of the largest and most respected tax LLM programs in the country, and its international, constitutional, and government offerings are elite, supported by a 93% first-time bar pass rate. The catch is cost, it is the most expensive school in D.C., so weigh the price against the optionality it buys.

George Washington, if you want federal outcomes

GW Law ranks #26, but it hires like a top-15 school: 98.6% of graduates are employed within ten months, 95.1% in bar-required jobs, and 9.5% land federal clerkships, with a $215,000 median private-sector salary. That outcome strength, not the ordinal rank, is the reason to choose it.

The engine is location and specialization. GW sits blocks from the White House and near the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, feeding national-leading programs in intellectual property, government procurement, and national security law. Its 90.2% first-time bar pass rate clears the District average.

At a 27.2% acceptance rate and a 168 median LSAT, GW is a realistic reach for strong applicants who fall just short of Georgetown. For students who want federal or IP careers specifically, it is arguably the best value-for-outcome bet in the city.

Catholic (Columbus), if you want value plus a niche

Catholic’s Columbus School of Law is the lowest-priced of the District’s established private schools at about $61,580, and it ranks #71 in U.S. News. Its identity rests on two strong certificate programs: the Law and Technology Institute (telecommunications, privacy, cybersecurity, and IP) and the Securities and Corporate Law Program.

Both are built around externships at agencies like the FCC and SEC, turning the school’s location into a concrete career pipeline. At a 32.4% acceptance rate and a 161 median LSAT, it sits in the District’s accessible tier, with a first-time bar pass rate of 83.1% that edges the regional average.

Think of Catholic as the value door into legal Washington, best suited to applicants targeting tech, communications, or transactional work who do not need a top-25 name on the diploma.

American (WCL), if you want specialty depth

American’s Washington College of Law ranks #108 overall but elite by specialty: #5 in international law, top-3 in clinical training, #7 in intellectual property, and top-15 in trial advocacy. For an applicant with a defined specialty goal, that gap between the overall number and the program ranks is an opportunity, not a warning.

Founded in 1896 by Ellen Spencer Mussey and Emma Gillett as the first law school in the world founded by women, WCL carries a deep human-rights and public-interest identity, reinforced by the city’s dense network of embassies and international organizations.

The honest counterweight is its size and cost ($66,990 tuition) and solid-but-not-elite outcomes (about 80% first-time bar passage). A useful detail: American does not award conditional scholarships, so an award is not exposed to a first-year GPA renewal cliff.

Howard, if mission and network matter most

Howard is the nation’s preeminent historically Black law school and a cornerstone of American civil-rights history, the academic home of Charles Hamilton Houston and the training ground for the legal strategy that produced Brown v. Board of Education. Its alumni network across the judiciary, government, and civil-rights bar is unmatched for its mission.

The numbers reflect holistic admissions: a 24% acceptance rate that is tighter than GW’s or American’s, paired with a 156 median LSAT and a 3.63 median GPA. At about $39,780, it is also the most affordable of the District’s private schools, and the majority of its graduates land full-time, bar-required jobs.

The honest note is bar passage: Howard’s first-time rate was roughly 77% for the Class of 2024, below the average for its main jurisdictions, so strong bar preparation matters. (Lexinter does not yet have a dedicated Howard page; one is worth building, see the note below.)

UDC (David A. Clarke), if you want public interest at the lowest cost

UDC’s David A. Clarke School of Law is the District’s only public law school and one of six HBCU law schools in the country. It charges roughly $12,438 a year for D.C. residents, a fraction of every private option, and pairs that with a clinical-training program U.S. News ranks #13 nationally and a Reuters #2 ranking for public-interest placement.

The mission is built into the curriculum: every student completes 700 clinic hours serving low-income District residents, plus 40 hours of community service. Few schools in the country give students this much real client work before graduation.

The honest trade is a bottom-tier overall rank and a first-time bar pass rate around 66%, well below the jurisdictional average. UDC is a deliberate mission-and-value choice for public-interest applicants, not a prestige one.

Bar passage and employment across D.C. law schools

Bar passage tracks selectivity closely here, and it is one of the clearest dividing lines among the six. The table shows first-time pass rates for the Class of 2024.

Employment follows a similar gradient but rewards niche fit. GW leads on blanket outcomes at 98.6% employed, while schools like American and UDC place heavily into international, public-interest, and government roles that a pure employment percentage understates.

For applicants, the takeaway is simple: at the lower-ranked schools, the bar exam is a real hurdle to plan for, and the strongest career results come from leaning hard into each school’s signature programs and pipelines rather than treating the degree as generic.

How much do D.C. law schools cost?

Tuition spans an enormous range, which is often the single most decisive factor for applicants choosing among these schools.

The gap between UDC and Georgetown is roughly six to one for D.C. residents, and that math drives outcomes. For a public-interest career, where starting pay is modest, UDC or a well-funded Howard offer makes the debt manageable; for a BigLaw track out of Georgetown or GW, the higher salary reshapes the equation.

Two details cut the sticker price. Scholarships are common (around half of students receive grant aid at several of these schools), and Georgetown and American do not use conditional scholarships, removing the renewal-cliff risk that catches students elsewhere. Several schools also run loan-repayment assistance programs for graduates in lower-paying public-interest jobs. Model your real number with our guide to the cost of law school and weigh it against placement before committing.

Part-time and evening JD options in D.C.

D.C. is one of the best cities in the country for working students, because most of its schools offer an evening or part-time path. Georgetown, GW, American, Catholic, and UDC all run part-time or evening JD programs, letting students keep agency, Hill, or firm jobs while earning the degree over four years instead of three.

That flexibility is a real differentiator from many markets, and it matters in D.C. specifically: a daytime job at a federal agency can double as the career on-ramp the degree is meant to provide. If you need to work through school, the part-time options here are deep, and several are nationally ranked.

D.C. law school application tips

Apply early. Most of the District’s schools use rolling admissions, so a complete application in the fall competes against a smaller, fresher pool than one submitted near the late-winter deadline. Early files also tend to see better scholarship outcomes.

Know what your numbers mean here. Georgetown and GW are numbers-driven reaches that reward a high LSAT; American, Catholic, and Howard weigh the whole file more heavily, and Howard explicitly prioritizes mission fit. UDC reads for commitment to public-interest work as much as for scores.

Finally, write to the specific school. A D.C. applicant who can tie a real interest (international law for American, IP for GW, civil rights for Howard, public interest for UDC) to that school’s actual programs gives the committee a concrete reason to admit. Generic “I want a top D.C. legal education” essays are the weakest approach in a city with six options.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many law schools are in Washington, D.C.?

Six ABA-accredited law schools: Georgetown, George Washington (GW), Howard, American (WCL), Catholic (Columbus), and the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law. Five are private and one (UDC) is public.

What is the best law school in Washington, D.C.?

Georgetown is the highest-ranked, at #18 nationally and a traditional T14 school. But “best” depends on your goal: GW for federal outcomes, American for international law and clinics, Howard for civil-rights mission, Catholic for value, and UDC for low-cost public interest.

What is the easiest law school to get into in Washington, D.C.?

UDC’s David A. Clarke School of Law is the most accessible, with an acceptance rate near 37% and a 151 median LSAT. American and Catholic follow in the low-30s percent range.

Which D.C. law school is the most affordable?

UDC is by far the cheapest, at roughly $12,438 a year for D.C. residents, since it is the District’s only public law school. Among private options, Howard (about $39,780) is the most affordable.

Is Georgetown the only T14 law school in D.C.?

Yes. Georgetown is the only Washington, D.C. school in the traditional T14, ranked #18 in the 2026 U.S. News edition. GW is the next-highest, just outside the top tier at #26.

Which D.C. law school has the best bar passage rate?

Georgetown leads at about 93% first-time, followed by GW at 90.2%. Catholic (83.1%), American (~80%), Howard (~77%), and UDC (~66%) follow, so bar passage closely tracks selectivity here.

Which D.C. law school is best for international law?

American University’s Washington College of Law, ranked #5 in the nation for international law. Georgetown is also elite in the field, and both benefit from the city’s embassies and international organizations.

Can you study law part-time in Washington, D.C.?

Yes. Georgetown, GW, American, Catholic, and UDC all offer evening or part-time JD programs, typically over four years, which suits students working at agencies, on the Hill, or at firms.