Harvard University Law School was founded in 1817, making it the oldest law school in the United States. It was established by a group of prominent lawyers and politicians who believed a strong legal education would benefit their communities. The school originally offered a two-year program and then expanded to three years in 1823. In its early years, Harvard Law School focused on teaching practical legal skills such as contract law, equity, and evidence. In addition to teaching traditional legal topics, the school also began offering courses in other areas such as economics and public policy. Over the course of its history, Harvard Law School has produced some of the most influential lawyers and judges in the United States and around the world. The school has produced five Supreme Court justices—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, John Paul Stevens, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch—as well as numerous U.S. presidents including John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Additionally, many of its alumni have gone on to become leading figures in business including Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook). Harvard Law School continues to be one of the top-ranked law schools in the world today due to its rigorous curriculum taught by some of the most esteemed professors in their fields. Check andyeducation.com for primary schools, secondary schools and higher education in Arizona.
Harvard University Law School is located in the state of Massachusetts. As one of the leading law programs, Harvard University Law School has a high average LSAT score of 171-176 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 Harvard University Law School.
Harvard Law School (HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. It is a highly prestigious and respected American law school with about 1,800 students in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fourteen of the school’s graduates have served on the U.S. Supreme Court, more than any other law school, and another four justices attended the school. Six of the current nine members of the court attended HLS: Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer. (Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School and did not graduate from Harvard.) HLS routinely places first or second in various law school rankings and usually receives the highest reputation scores from judges, academics and practitioners. According to US News and World Report, its entering class boasts the highest LSAT scores in the nation and its graduates have a higher bar passage rate and average salary upon graduation than do graduates of its closest rivals Columbia, Stanford and Yale.
The school was established in 1817 and has operated continuously since then, affording Harvard bragging rights as the third oldest law school in the nation [The law schools at William and Mary (1779) and the University of Pennsylvania (1790) are older.]. The current dean of Harvard Law school is Elena Kagan, who took over for Robert Clark in 2003.
Harvard Law School has a highly selective admissions process. In 2019, the school received 7,926 applications and admitted 1,962 students for an acceptance rate of 24.7%. Of those admitted, 41.1% were women and 58.9% were men. The median LSAT score of admitted students was 173, while the median undergraduate GPA was 3.86. Additionally, 8.6% of admitted students identified as coming from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, while 11% identified as international students. Harvard Law School also has a strong commitment to creating an economically diverse student body; over 40% of the class of 2022 received need-based financial aid grants from the school and 50% graduated with no loans whatsoever due to scholarship support from Harvard Law School or outside organizations.
Fall 2019 Admissions and Enrollment Statistics
Total number of full- and part-time applicants
7,391
Total number of full- and part-time acceptances
833
Overall acceptance rate
11.3%
Total number of full- and part-time first-year students enrolled
559
Number of full-time program applicants
7,391
Number of full-time program acceptances
833
Full-time acceptance rate
11.3%
Number of first-year full-time students enrolled
559
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
3.76-3.96
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for all students
171-176
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for full-time students
3.76-3.96
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for full-time students
171-176
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for part-time students
N/A
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students
N/A
Careers: Harvard 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
98.2%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers
80.7%
Class of 2018 Graduates
Total graduates
590
Graduates employed at graduation
97.1%
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation
99.3%
Starting Salaries of 2018 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary
$160,000
Median private sector starting salary
$160,000
75th percentile private sector starting salary
$160,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information
N/A
Median public service starting salary
$55,000
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2018)
Percent employed in academia
1.0%
Percent employed in business and industry
4.4%
Percent employed in government
3.7%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships
19.0%
Percent employed in law firms
65.9%
Percent employed in public interest
6.1%
Percent employed in an unknown field
0.0%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge
15.5%
2018 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state
11%
Graduates employed in foreign countries
4%
Number of states where graduates are employed
35
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
12.0%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA)
32.9%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)
7.3%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD)
0.9%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)
17.6%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)
0.9%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX)
4.4%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA)
17.4%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY)
2.4%
Employment location unknown
0.4%
Career Services
(Data appear as originally submitted by this school)
Career services operations
HLS offers comprehensive career services for students seeking employment in settings ranging from law firms to law teaching to government to non-profits. The Office of Career Services operates the nation’s largest on-campus interviewing program. The Office of Public Interest Advising assists those seeking public service positions and helps students land highly sought-after public interest jobs.
Job Type
Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks)
93.6%
J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent)
5.2%
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)
0.7%
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)
