New England School of Law (NESL) was founded in 1908 as the first evening school of law in Massachusetts. It was established by a group of prominent Boston attorneys to provide legal education to working people who could not attend traditional day classes. In its early years, NESL was primarily a part-time school, with students attending classes at night and studying during the day. By the 1940s, NESL had become an accredited full-time law school and began offering its own degree program. Over the next several decades, NESL continued to expand its curriculum and student body, eventually becoming one of the most prestigious law schools in New England.
In 1988, NESL merged with Suffolk University School of Law, forming a new legal institution that offered students access to both part-time and full-time programs. This merger allowed NESL to offer courses that were traditionally only available at larger universities. The new combined program also allowed students to take advantage of joint degree programs and other unique opportunities such as internships with top law firms in Boston. Today, New England School of Law is ranked among the top 50 law schools in the country and is highly regarded for its commitment to providing quality legal education for all students regardless of their background or financial means.
New England School of Law is located in the state of Massachusetts. As one of the leading law programs, New England School of Law has a high average LSAT score of 151-154 when recruiting new students. As a return, the median starting salary for law graduates reaches $61,750 per year. See the following table for detailed admissions information and career profiles of New England School of Law.
Admissions: New England School of Law
New England School of Law is a private law school located in Boston, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1908 and has since grown to become one of the top law schools in the country. According to US News and World Report, New England School of Law is ranked #136 out of 202 ABA-accredited law schools. The school offers both full-time and part-time programs, as well as an accelerated two-year JD program. In 2019, the school admitted a total of 645 students with an acceptance rate of 53%. The average LSAT score for incoming students was 150 while the median GPA was 3.40. In addition to these traditional metrics, New England School of Law also considers other factors when making admissions decisions such as professional experience and community service. The school’s faculty is composed of distinguished scholars who are dedicated to providing students with a top-notch legal education. With its rigorous curriculum and renowned faculty, New England School of Law offers students a unique opportunity to pursue their dreams in the field of law.
| Fall 2019 Admissions and Enrollment Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total number of full- and part-time applicants | 3,163 |
| Total number of full- and part-time acceptances | 1,851 |
| Overall acceptance rate | 58.5% |
| Total number of full- and part-time first-year students enrolled | 403 |
| Number of full-time program applicants | 2,678 |
| Number of full-time program acceptances | 1,599 |
| Full-time acceptance rate | 59.7% |
| Number of first-year full-time students enrolled | 296 |
| Number of part-time program applicants | 765 |
| Number of part-time program acceptances | 391 |
| Part-time acceptance rate | 51.1% |
| Number of first-year part-time students enrolled | 107 |
| Fall 2019 GPA and LSAT Scores | |
| 25th-75th percentile GPA scores for all students | 2.97-3.45 |
| 25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for all students | 150-154 |
| 25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for full-time students | 3-3.45 |
| 25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for full-time students | 151-154 |
| 25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for part-time students | 2.8-3.4 |
| 25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students | 149-155 |
Careers: New England School of Law
| Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2018 administrations) | |
|---|---|
| State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar | MA |
| School’s bar passage rate for first-time test takers | 90.8% |
| Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers | 89.0% |
| Class of 2018 Graduates | |
| Total graduates | 318 |
| Graduates employed at graduation | N/A |
| Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation | 81.2% |
| Starting Salaries of 2018 Graduates Employed Full-time | |
| 25th percentile private sector starting salary | $50,625 |
| Median private sector starting salary | $61,750 |
| 75th percentile private sector starting salary | $95,000 |
| Percent in the private sector who reported salary information | 16% |
| Median public service starting salary | $46,983 |
| Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2018) | |
| Percent employed in academia | 1.7% |
| Percent employed in business and industry | 26.6% |
| Percent employed in government | 15.0% |
| Percent employed in all judicial clerkships | 13.3% |
| Percent employed in law firms | 39.1% |
| Percent employed in public interest | 4.3% |
| Percent employed in an unknown field | 0.0% |
| Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge | 3.2% |
| 2018 Graduates Employment Location | |
| Graduates employed in-state | 63% |
| Graduates employed in foreign countries | 0.4% |
| Number of states where graduates are employed | 28 |
| New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) | 67.9% |
| Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) | 11.6% |
| East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) | 1.7% |
| West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) | 1.3% |
| South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) | 9.4% |
| East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) | 1.7% |
| West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) | 1.7% |
| Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) | 3.0% |
| Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) | 1.3% |
| Employment location unknown | 0.0% |
| Career Services | |
| (Data appear as originally submitted by this school) | |
| Career services operations | Career Services provides career counseling, job search resources, on campus recruitment programs, and career workshops. The office maintains a library of directories of legal employers, practice areas, and periodicals. The website features a searchable job-posting database, employer recruitment programs, an alumni networking/mentoring program, and postings of career development programs. |
| Job Type | |
| Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks) | 73.0% |
| J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent) | 16.3% |
| 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) | 16.7% |
| 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) | 1.7% |
