Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1984. The school was established to provide a legal education accessible to a diverse student population. It was the first law school in the Pacific Northwest to offer a full-time day program and part-time evening program. The college has since grown to become one of the most respected law schools in the region, producing graduates who go on to successful careers in law and public service. As an institution, Lewis & Clark Law School is committed to providing students with an exemplary legal education that emphasizes critical thinking, problem solving, and professional development. The faculty are highly qualified and diverse, bringing expertise from multiple disciplines including business law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international law, and more. Students have access to numerous resources such as career services offices and clinics which provide them with real-world experience while also helping them make informed decisions about their future career paths. Additionally, the school offers numerous scholarships for those who demonstrate financial need or academic excellence. In recent years Lewis & Clark Law School has expanded its offerings by introducing new joint degree programs with other universities such as Portland State University and the University of Oregon. These programs are designed to give students an even broader range of opportunities after they graduate from Lewis & Clark Law School.
Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law is located in the state of Oregon. As one of the leading law programs, Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law has a high average LSAT score of 158-164 when recruiting new students. As a return, the median starting salary for law graduates reaches $80,370 per year. See the following table for detailed admissions information and career profiles of Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law.
Admissions: Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern)
Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law is a highly competitive law school with an acceptance rate of just over 50%. Each year, the school receives thousands of applications from prospective students, and only around 500 are accepted. The median GPA for accepted students is 3.7, and the median LSAT score is 156. The entering class typically consists of approximately 250 full-time students and 50 part-time students, who come from all over the United States and abroad. The student body is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, and socioeconomic background. Additionally, Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law offers a variety of merit-based scholarships to help make attending law school more affordable for its students. The scholarships range from full tuition to partial tuition awards. In addition to these scholarships, Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law also offers need-based grants to help defray the cost of attendance for those who demonstrate financial need.
Fall 2019 Admissions and Enrollment Statistics
Total number of full- and part-time applicants
3,181
Total number of full- and part-time acceptances
1,107
Overall acceptance rate
34.8%
Total number of full- and part-time first-year students enrolled
231
Number of full-time program applicants
2,946
Number of full-time program acceptances
1,034
Full-time acceptance rate
35.1%
Number of first-year full-time students enrolled
176
Number of part-time program applicants
235
Number of part-time program acceptances
73
Part-time acceptance rate
31.1%
Number of first-year part-time students enrolled
55
Fall 2019 GPA and LSAT Scores
25th-75th percentile GPA scores for all students
3.2-3.71
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for all students
157-164
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for full-time students
3.21-3.72
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for full-time students
158-164
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for part-time students
3.12-3.68
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students
153-160
Careers: Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern)
Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2018 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar
OR
School’s bar passage rate for first-time test takers
80.5%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers
78.5%
Class of 2018 Graduates
Total graduates
229
Graduates employed at graduation
N/A
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation
94.3%
Starting Salaries of 2018 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary
$65,000
Median private sector starting salary
$80,370
75th percentile private sector starting salary
$105,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information
65%
Median public service starting salary
$50,000
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2018)
Percent employed in academia
1.0%
Percent employed in business and industry
20.0%
Percent employed in government
17.0%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships
6.0%
Percent employed in law firms
45.0%
Percent employed in public interest
11.0%
Percent employed in an unknown field
0.0%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge
1.0%
2018 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state
64%
Graduates employed in foreign countries
2%
Number of states where graduates are employed
19
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
0.5%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA)
1.0%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)
3.5%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD)
0.0%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)
5.0%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)
0.5%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX)
0.5%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA)
81.5%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY)
5.5%
Employment location unknown
0.0%
Career Services
(Data appear as originally submitted by this school)
Career services operations
Mentors available for every student; mock interviews; on-campus interviews; one-on-one counseling; panels on practice areas and on how to succeed in clerkships, panels occur on average once a week during each semester. Free long distance telephone for career search; career services library; extensive job posting service for student and graduate positions, cover letter and resume review.
Job Type
Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks)
84.0%
J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent)
10.0%
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)
1.0%
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)
