Fordham University School of Law was established in 1905, making it the second-oldest law school in New York City. It was originally established as St. John’s College Law Department and was the first law school in New York to offer night classes. It was also the first school to offer a part-time program allowing students to work while attending law school. In 1907, St. John’s College Law Department became Fordham Law School, named after its benefactor, Francis Lynde Stetson of the Fordham family. The first dean of the law school was Edward P. Fincke who served from 1907 to 1917 and made great strides in establishing the law school’s reputation for excellence and innovation.
In 1918, Fordham Law School moved from its original location on Franklin Street to its current location at 140 West 62nd Street in Manhattan where it has been ever since. During this time, it became one of the first American law schools to introduce a legal writing program as well as an extensive moot court program for students to hone their advocacy skills outside of the classroom setting. In addition, Fordham Law School has always been committed to social justice and public service, encouraging students to become involved with pro bono opportunities during their time at the university and beyond graduation. This commitment has remained strong throughout its history and continues today through programs such as “Public Interest/Public Service Scholarships” which provide tuition assistance for those committed to public interest work upon graduation from Fordham University School of Law.
Fordham University School of Law is located in the state of New York. As one of the leading law programs, Fordham University School of Law has a high average LSAT score of 164-167 when recruiting new students. As a return, the median starting salary for law graduates reaches $160,000 per year. See the following table for detailed admissions information and career profiles of Fordham University School of Law.
Admissions: Fordham University
Fordham University School of Law is one of the top law schools in the country. The school had 1,068 students enrolled in the 2019-2020 academic year, with 602 students enrolled in the full-time J.D. program and 466 students enrolled in the part-time J.D. program. In terms of gender, there were 836 male and 232 female students enrolled at Fordham Law School during this time period. In terms of race/ethnicity, there were 690 non-Hispanic white students, 98 Hispanic or Latino students, 135 Asian American students, 10 Native American or Alaska Native students, and 35 African American or Black students enrolled at Fordham Law School during this time period. The median LSAT score for full-time J.D. applicants was 166 and the median GPA was 3.69 for this same group of applicants. These statistics demonstrate that Fordham Law is a highly competitive school that attracts a diverse student body from across the country and around the world each year.
Fall 2019 Admissions and Enrollment Statistics
Total number of full- and part-time applicants
8,843
Total number of full- and part-time acceptances
1,904
Overall acceptance rate
21.5%
Total number of full- and part-time first-year students enrolled
476
Number of full-time program applicants
7,294
Number of full-time program acceptances
1,635
Full-time acceptance rate
22.4%
Number of first-year full-time students enrolled
318
Number of part-time program applicants
1,549
Number of part-time program acceptances
269
Part-time acceptance rate
17.4%
Number of first-year part-time students enrolled
158
Fall 2019 GPA and LSAT Scores
25th-75th percentile GPA scores for all students
3.37-3.74
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for all students
162-167
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for full-time students
3.44-3.77
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for full-time students
164-167
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for part-time students
3.28-3.66
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students
161-165
Careers: Fordham University
Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2018 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar
NY
School’s bar passage rate for first-time test takers
94.1%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers
80.7%
Class of 2018 Graduates
Total graduates
472
Graduates employed at graduation
85.3%
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation
95.1%
Starting Salaries of 2018 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary
$150,000
Median private sector starting salary
$160,000
75th percentile private sector starting salary
$160,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information
89%
Median public service starting salary
$52,900
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2018)
Percent employed in academia
0.7%
Percent employed in business and industry
9.7%
Percent employed in government
5.0%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships
4.4%
Percent employed in law firms
75.9%
Percent employed in public interest
3.4%
Percent employed in an unknown field
0.9%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge
2.8%
2018 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state
84%
Graduates employed in foreign countries
0.2%
Number of states where graduates are employed
14
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
2.8%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA)
87.6%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)
0.5%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD)
0.0%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)
1.4%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)
0.0%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX)
0.5%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA)
2.5%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY)
0.5%
Employment location unknown
4.0%
Career Services
(Data appear as originally submitted by this school)
Career services operations
The Career Planning Center’s mission: to support students and alumni in job search efforts and career development. The CPC coordinates on-campus interviews with more than 250 employers for internships, summer associate and post-graduate positions and hosts various career development programs focusing on practice areas, skills-based workshops, professional development and alternative legal careers.
Job Type
Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks)
88.5%
J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent)
7.1%
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)
3.7%
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)
