Loyola University New Orleans School of Law

By | January 6, 2023

Loyola University New Orleans School of Law was founded in 1914 as the College of Law of Loyola University. It was the first Jesuit law school in the United States, and one of only two Jesuit law schools in the world. The school is located on a 36-acre campus in Uptown New Orleans, adjacent to Audubon Park, and is part of a larger university campus that includes Loyola’s main campus and several other colleges.

The College of Law initially offered a two-year curriculum leading to a Bachelor of Laws degree. In 1934, it became an accredited four-year program leading to the Juris Doctor degree. During this time, the school also established itself as a leader in legal education and was home to some of the nation’s most influential legal scholars.

Loyola University New Orleans School of Law

In 1969, Loyola created its first clinical legal program – The Legal Assistance Program – which provided legal services to low-income residents in New Orleans. This program has since grown into one of the largest clinical programs at any law school in the United States.

In 1989, Loyola opened its new state-of-the-art law building – John Giffen Weinmann Hall – which houses classrooms, faculty offices, student offices, a library, and other facilities for teaching and research. Since then, Loyola has continued to expand its academic offerings with new joint degrees such as JD/MBA or JD/MPH programs; Certificate Programs; LLM degrees; and international exchange programs with universities around the world. Today, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law is one of only two ABA accredited law schools in Louisiana and is consistently ranked among the top tier law schools nationally by U.S News & World Report.

Loyola University New Orleans School of Law is located in the state of Louisiana. As one of the leading law programs, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law has a high average LSAT score of 151-155 when recruiting new students. As a return, the median starting salary for law graduates reaches $90,000 per year. See the following table for detailed admissions information and career profiles of Loyola University New Orleans School of Law.

Admissions: Loyola University New Orleans

The admissions statistics for Loyola University New Orleans School of Law are quite impressive. For the incoming class of 2021, the school received a total of 2,731 applications and admitted only 654 students. This resulted in an acceptance rate of 24%, which is significantly lower than the national average acceptance rate for law schools. The school also reported that the median LSAT score for the incoming class was 153, which is slightly below the national median LSAT score for law schools. Furthermore, the median undergraduate GPA for accepted students was 3.24 and this is above the national median GPA for law school applicants. This demonstrates that Loyola University New Orleans School of Law admits only highly qualified applicants with excellent academic credentials. Additionally, it should be noted that 25% of accepted applicants identified as being from underrepresented minority groups such as African American, Hispanic or Latino American, or Native American descent. This indicates that Loyola University New Orleans School of Law has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion in its student body.

Fall 2019 Admissions and Enrollment Statistics
Total number of full- and part-time applicants 1,827
Total number of full- and part-time acceptances 928
Overall acceptance rate 50.8%
Total number of full- and part-time first-year students enrolled 323
Number of full-time program applicants 1,671
Number of full-time program acceptances 825
Full-time acceptance rate 49.4%
Number of first-year full-time students enrolled 254
Number of part-time program applicants 156
Number of part-time program acceptances 103
Part-time acceptance rate 66.0%
Number of first-year part-time students enrolled 69
Fall 2019 GPA and LSAT Scores
25th-75th percentile GPA scores for all students 3.01-3.51
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for all students 150-155
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for full-time students 3.05-3.52
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for full-time students 151-155
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for part-time students 2.84-3.46
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students 149-155

Careers: Loyola University New Orleans

Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2018 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar LA
School’s bar passage rate for first-time test takers 67.4%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers 65.5%
Class of 2018 Graduates
Total graduates 246
Graduates employed at graduation 60.0%
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation 94.6%
Starting Salaries of 2018 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary N/A
Median private sector starting salary $90,000
75th percentile private sector starting salary N/A
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information N/A
Median public service starting salary $61,000
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2018)
Percent employed in academia 1.0%
Percent employed in business and industry 11.0%
Percent employed in government 12.0%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships 10.0%
Percent employed in law firms 62.0%
Percent employed in public interest 4.0%
Percent employed in an unknown field N/A
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge N/A
2018 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state 69%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 3%
Number of states where graduates are employed 19
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 0.3%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 1.7%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 1.3%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 1.3%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 6.8%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 2.7%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 79.5%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 1.7%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 1.7%
Employment location unknown 0.0%
Career Services
(Data appear as originally submitted by this school)
Career services operations Individual Counseling; On-Campus and Off-Campus Interviews; Job Postings; Mock Interviews; Job Bulletin; Exchange/Reciprocity with other schools; Workshops/Programs; Law Link Network; Faculty/Alumni Career Success Luncheon; Students-Mentoring-Students: Career Mentor Network; Law Practice Specialty Series; Job Fairs; OCS Ambassador Committee and SBA Career Services Liaison; Interactive Website
Job Type
Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks) 82.0%
J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent) 8.0%
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) 9.0%
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) 0.0%