Notre dame law school ranking
LexInter | May 5, 2023

Notre Dame Law School Ranking – A Good Law School Indeed

Every law school has its own set of ethical and legal principles, but this Catholic law school aims to polish its students by developing in them the discipline of mind and soul. Notre Dame law school provides legal education and training to its students that focus on professional services for others.

The faculty at Notre Dame work on making the law students skilled and vocational human beings in the field of law and teach them the art of giving back to society. Notre Dame law school ranking has been soaring high with its quality legal education and law journals.

Students can spend a year or a semester abroad in the other campuses of the Notre Dame law school to broaden their global legal knowledge.

Let us explore the law school, why Notre Dame law school ranking is so high, and life at this prestigious establishment.

Notre Dame Law School’s Ranking

CategoryRankingCategoryRanking
Best Law Schools27 (tie)Environmental Law13 (tie)
Part-time LawN/AHealth Care Law18 (tie)
Business/Corporate Law16 (tie)Intellectual Property Law20 (tie)
Clinical Training15 (tie)International Law14 (tie)
Constitutional Law11 (tie)Legal Writing14 (tie)
Contracts/Commercial Law10 (tie)Tax Law14 (tie)
Criminal Law13 (tie)Trial Advocacy14 (tie)
Dispute Resolution16 (tie)

Current Ranking

Notre Dame Law School is currently ranked 27th among the nation’s top law schools by U.S. News & World Report. This ranking is based on a variety of factors, including:

  • Admissions standards: Notre Dame Law School has a very selective admissions process. In the 2022-2023 admissions cycle, the school had an acceptance rate of 20.5%. The median LSAT score for incoming students was 168, and the median GPA was 3.85.
  • Bar passage rates: Notre Dame Law School students consistently achieve bar passage rates that are above the national average. In 2022, 95% of first-time test-takers passed the Indiana bar exam.
  • Job placement rates: Notre Dame Law School graduates have a strong track record of finding employment after graduation. In 2022, 97% of graduates were employed within 10 months of graduation.
  • Peer assessment: Notre Dame Law School is highly regarded by its peers. In a survey of law school deans, Notre Dame Law School was ranked 25th in the nation.

Historical Ranking Trends

Notre Dame Law School has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States over the past several decades. In the past five years, the school has been ranked between 24th and 27th by U.S. News & World Report.

Notable Achievements

Notable Achievements Of Notre Dame Law School

Notre Dame Law School has been recognized for a number of notable achievements, including:

  • High bar passage rates: Notre Dame Law School students consistently achieve bar passage rates that are above the national average. In 2022, 95% of first-time test-takers passed the Indiana bar exam. This is significantly higher than the national average of 75%.
  • Strong job placement rates: Notre Dame Law School graduates have a strong track record of finding employment after graduation. In 2022, 97% of graduates were employed within 10 months of graduation. This is well above the national average of 85%.
  • Selective admissions: Notre Dame Law School has a very selective admissions process. In the 2022-2023 admissions cycle, the school had an acceptance rate of 20.5%. This is much lower than the national average of 35%.
  • Distinguished faculty: Notre Dame Law School has a distinguished faculty of scholars and practitioners. The faculty includes a number of nationally and internationally renowned experts in their fields.
  • Strong alumni network: Notre Dame Law School has a strong alumni network of over 20,000 graduates. The alumni network includes judges, lawyers, politicians, and business leaders.

Comparative Rankings (Regional vs. National)

Notre Dame Law School is ranked 27th nationally by U.S. News & World Report. In the Midwest region, the school is ranked 3rd. This means that Notre Dame Law School is one of the top law schools in the Midwest.

Rankings in Specialized Areas (e.g., Tax Law)

Notre Dame Law School is ranked 11th nationally for tax law by U.S. News & World Report. This ranking is based on a variety of factors, including the school’s admissions standards, bar passage rates, and job placement rates for tax law students.

Notre Dame Law School Ranking – An Overview

No other university can beat Notre Dame law school ranking in being the most practical Catholic institute in the US. This law school has gained its popularity by being one of the toughest law schools to get into, especially in the state of Indiana.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Notre Dame law school ranking is considerably high. Apart from the formal legal education, students are given multiple opportunities for internships and exchange programs.

Located near the famous football ground of Notre Dame University, this law school holds several rankings with an impressive legal profile in the US law schools list. Here are some of the prominent Notre Dame law school rankings.

  • Notre Dame law school stands on the 27th number in the top law schools.
  • Notre Dame law school ranking for the acceptance rate is 20th among all the reputed law schools of the US. This Catholic law school has a student selectivity rate of 25.1%, out of all those who apply for admission each year.
  • The median LSAT scores determine the admission acceptance or rejection of an applicant, and Notre Dame law school is ranked number 25 regarding the median LSAT score for admission. LSAT is a tool for measuring the reasoning of candidates in the areas of logic, analytical abilities, and comprehension.
  • The tuition fee of this prestigious law school is the 24th highest fee for all the law schools in the US. For full-time law students at Notre Dame law school, the tuition fee is around $68000, which is twice the fee of many state law schools in the US.
  • The median GPA for the applying students at any law school matters a lot in their acceptance and rejection. The median GPA for the undergraduate students applying at Notre Dame law school is 3.77, which is the same as the median GPA for the Columbia law school. Notre Dame stands in 31st position in the highest average GPA for admission.

Notre Dame Law School Admissions

The Notre Dame law school has been serving the best legal education in the US for decades. There are multiple degree programs offered at this law school, along with legal clinics and externships for the students to gain real-life experiences.

The admission deadline for each legal year application is March 15th. The tuition fee for the full-time students selected at Notre Dame is around $68,000, and the admission fee for the full-time law degree programs is $75. Notre Dame law school has seats for all minority groups based on gender, race, and ethnicity.

The applications for the law programs at Notre Dame can be submitted after providing a certificate of 3.77 GPA or more in the undergraduate program, and an LSAT score of above 170.

Notre Dame offers numerous opportunities in all legal sectors and recognized professional training. There are four major legal programs offered there; LLM degree, JD degree, JSD degree, and a dual degree.

JD is a foundation degree in law with a minimum of 90 credit hours, and you can opt for it after the basic program from any institute. JD degree lets you practice law in any of the branches of American law.

LLM degree is offered to already practicing lawyers or graduated law students, Notre Dame has LLM in many fields like International Human Rights and Criminal law.

A JSD degree is for the people who wish to seek their doctoral in law, after the LLM program. Dual degrees at Notre Dame law school allow the students to merge their legal degrees with other academic fields such as global affairs, political science, and technology.

Life At Notre Dame Law School

Life At Notre Dame Law School

Getting a law degree is a great trial, and it requires a large sum of students` time and effort to fulfill their dream of calling themselves, lawyers. Like many qualified law schools in the world, Notre Dame puts students’ educational needs on its top priority.

What makes the Notre Dame law degrees exceptional is not just the first-rate legal training but also its unique and friendly learning community.

Students Organizations

One thing that helps Notre Dame law school’s rankings rise higher and higher is their professional real-life training through the plenty of student organizations, across the school.

Despite being a holy institute with ancient Catholic roots, in Notre Dame, you will find a community or a student club for any interest you have.

There are multiple societies, and unions made for students and by the students that help create a united legal community there.

From the famous health law society to the food and beverage law club, Notre Dame offers a place for everyone to fit in, according to one’s interests.

Alumni Network

The Notre Dame student community has a motto of staying connected, regardless of where you are. This law school preserves every set of skills, experiences, and goals its students bring in with them at the start of their Notre Dame law school journey.

They respect the aspiring visions of their graduate students and help them find the best match for them in the legal world. Notre Dame alumni are appointed to some of the highest career positions in the market, some of them being the Supreme Court Judges and the CEOs of giant business organizations.

Catholic Church

Notre Dame University was founded in the 1800s by French missionaries to bring Catholic values to the educational sectors.

Notre Dame law school has a strong love and affiliation for the Catholic Church, which helps its students find goodness in what they are studying and serving the nation as a moral cause.

With a large majority of interracial and interreligious students in Notre Dame law school, this place provides peace, love, and spiritual support for all.

The faith and the belief in God of the Notre Dame students grow substantially due to such close association with the Catholic Church.

Dorm Life

Studying and living at Notre Dame is surprisingly affordable as compared to the living costs for the universities in big cities. The living expenses in South Bend are really low, which makes it feasible for the students to save up a lot of money during their legal degree.

A lot of people have heard the name of South Bend through its affiliation with Notre Dame University, students enjoy all life necessities in this small town.

The housing costs around the Notre Dame law school are the bare minimum and sharing the housing with other undergraduates makes them even lower and manageable for low-budget students.

Law Library

Notre Dame law school ranking for the largest law library stands at a respectable number, with hundreds of thousands of legal publications, documents, textbooks, and articles. Law students can easily access all the preserved volumes in the library through the digital database of the Notre Dame law school.

The law library at Notre Dame is famous for the huge Reading Room, which consists of three stories.

The first and second floors have large open-air archways in the ancient Catholic architecture, whereas on the third floor there is a balcony that goes around the building.

During the exam season, you will find the three-story Reading Room jammed with law students working on turning their dreams into reality.

Journals And Events

At Notre Dame school of law, you will find yourself occupied with different kinds of events like conferences, workshops, student meetings, faculty gatherings, and expos.

Faculty, as well as students from the renowned law, business, and technology schools, gather in those workshops to work on changing the world for the better.

Law students at Notre Dame actively participate in the events that lead up to them gaining the experience necessary for their future.

Notre Dame law school ranking for legal publications is among the top ten best legal publications. Students are encouraged to meet real-life law specialists and top-rated law firms for the editing and publishing of their legal journals. Notre Dame has an organization for legal journals that are made up of legal editors, administrators, authors, and publishers that are ready to guide their students on each step.

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