Ave Maria School of Law was founded in 1999 by Michigan lawyer and philanthropist Thomas S. Monaghan. With the goal of providing a legal education grounded in faith and morals, Ave Maria was the first law school to be established with a Catholic mission since the 19th century. The school opened its doors to its first class of students in August 2000, with an inaugural class of 117 students. From the beginning, Ave Maria has been devoted to providing an education that is faithful to Catholic teachings while also preparing students for success on the bar exam and in their legal careers.
The school has continued to grow and evolve over the years, expanding its curriculum to include courses on business law, international law, trial advocacy, and more. In addition, Ave Maria has become an innovator in legal education, pioneering online classes and providing students with the opportunity to explore special topics in law. The school has also become a leader in pro bono work, encouraging students to get involved in community service and public interest law. In 2017, the school earned full accreditation from the American Bar Association (ABA), making it one of the few fully accredited Catholic law schools in the country. Ave Maria School of Law is now a thriving institution that provides its students with an excellent legal education while remaining true to its Catholic mission.
Ave Maria School of Law is located in the state of Michigan. As one of the leading law programs, Ave Maria School of Law has a high average LSAT score of 147-155 when recruiting new students. As a return, the median starting salary for law graduates reaches $60,000 per year. See the following table for detailed admissions information and career profiles of Ave Maria School of Law.
Admissions: Ave Maria School of Law
Ave Maria School of Law is a private, Catholic law school located in Naples, Florida. It was founded in 1999 and is the only law school in the state of Florida that provides an exclusively Catholic legal education. The school has a total enrollment of about 600 students, with approximately 500 full-time and 100 part-time students. The average LSAT score for admitted students is 155, and the median GPA is 3.3. Additionally, the school has an acceptance rate of about 43%. Ave Maria has a diverse student body with students from over 25 states and more than 30 countries. It also offers programs to accommodate part-time and international students who are unable to attend classes on campus. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and offers both full-time and part-time J.D., LL.M., M.C.L., and S.J.D degrees as well as a variety of joint degree programs with other universities across the country including Georgetown University, Duke University, University of Notre Dame, Harvard Law School, Northwestern University School of Law among others
| Fall 2019 Admissions and Enrollment Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total number of full- and part-time applicants | 1,775 |
| Total number of full- and part-time acceptances | 885 |
| Overall acceptance rate | 49.9% |
| Total number of full- and part-time first-year students enrolled | 210 |
| Number of full-time program applicants | 1,775 |
| Number of full-time program acceptances | 885 |
| Full-time acceptance rate | 49.9% |
| Number of first-year full-time students enrolled | 210 |
| Number of part-time program applicants | N/A |
| Number of part-time program acceptances | N/A |
| Part-time acceptance rate | N/A |
| Number of first-year part-time students enrolled | N/A |
| Fall 2019 GPA and LSAT Scores | |
| 25th-75th percentile GPA scores for all students | 2.91-3.53 |
| 25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for all students | 147-155 |
| 25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for full-time students | 2.91-3.53 |
| 25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for full-time students | 147-155 |
| 25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for part-time students | N/A |
| 25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students | N/A |
Careers: Ave Maria School of Law
| Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2018 administrations) | |
|---|---|
| State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar | MI |
| School’s bar passage rate for first-time test takers | 79.5% |
| Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers | 82.0% |
| Class of 2018 Graduates | |
| Total graduates | 115 |
| Graduates employed at graduation | N/A |
| Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation | 81.5% |
| Starting Salaries of 2018 Graduates Employed Full-time | |
| 25th percentile private sector starting salary | $45,300 |
| Median private sector starting salary | $60,000 |
| 75th percentile private sector starting salary | $81,000 |
| Percent in the private sector who reported salary information | 29% |
| Median public service starting salary | $57,500 |
| Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2018) | |
| Percent employed in academia | 2.4% |
| Percent employed in business and industry | 19.0% |
| Percent employed in government | 17.9% |
| Percent employed in all judicial clerkships | 7.1% |
| Percent employed in law firms | 46.4% |
| Percent employed in public interest | 7.1% |
| Percent employed in an unknown field | 0.1% |
| Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge | 4.0% |
| 2018 Graduates Employment Location | |
| Graduates employed in-state | 38% |
| Graduates employed in foreign countries | 1% |
| Number of states where graduates are employed | 25 |
| New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) | 2.5% |
| Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) | 7.4% |
| East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) | 45.7% |
| West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) | 3.7% |
| South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) | 18.5% |
| East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) | 6.2% |
| West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) | 0.0% |
| Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) | 4.9% |
| Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) | 9.9% |
| Employment location unknown | 0.0% |
| Career Services | |
| (Data appear as originally submitted by this school) | |
| Career services operations | The individualized approach of the Career Services Office is geared toward helping students obtain meaningful and rewarding employment that is well suited to their interests and skills. The CSO annually coordinates a series of presentations and programs that are designed to broaden students’ knowledge of employment options and to help them through the various stages of the job-search process. |
| Job Type | |
| Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks) | 63.2% |
| J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent) | 10.4% |
| Professional/other (jobs that require professional skills or training but for which a J.D. is neither preferred nor particularly applicable; e.g., accountant, teacher, business manager, nurse) | 6.0% |
| Nonprofessional/other (job that does not require any professional skills or training or is taken on a temporary basis and not viewed as part of a career path) | 1.2% |
