The University of Maryland School of Law was founded in 1813 and is the oldest law school in Maryland. Originally called the “Maryland Law Institute,” the school was established by a group of prominent Baltimore lawyers who wanted to provide legal education for their children. The first classes were held in a small building located on St. Paul’s Street, and the school had only five faculty members and twenty-five students. Over the years, the school’s faculty grew to include many prominent legal scholars, including Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney.
The University of Maryland School of Law has a long history of educating some of America’s most influential lawyers and legal scholars. In 1923, Charles Hamilton Houston became one of Maryland’s first African American graduates when he earned his LLB degree from the university. Houston went on to become an important civil rights lawyer, playing an important role in several cases that challenged segregation laws before they were abolished by Brown v Board of Education in 1954. In 1954, Thurgood Marshall became another famous graduate from Maryland Law when he earned his LLB degree from the university as well. Marshall would go on to become one of America’s most influential Supreme Court justices, playing a key role in many landmark civil rights cases throughout his career.
University of Maryland School of Law is located in the state of Maryland. As one of the leading law programs, University of Maryland School of Law has a high average LSAT score of 159-166 when recruiting new students. As a return, the median starting salary for law graduates reaches $109,999 per year. See the following table for detailed admissions information and career profiles of University of Maryland School of Law.
Admissions: University of Maryland
The University of Maryland School of Law is one of the most prestigious law schools in the country. It has a long history of producing successful lawyers and judges. The school offers a wide range of degree programs, including a Juris Doctor (JD), Master of Laws (LLM), and Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD). The school’s admissions statistics are impressive, with an acceptance rate in 2020 of 38%. This rate is slightly higher than the national average for law schools. The average GPA for accepted applicants was 3.69, with an average LSAT score of 164. The median undergraduate GPA was 3.75, while the median LSAT score was 166. In addition to strong academic credentials, applicants must demonstrate leadership skills and commitment to public service in order to be accepted into the university’s law program.
Fall 2019 Admissions and Enrollment Statistics
Total number of full- and part-time applicants
3,608
Total number of full- and part-time acceptances
699
Overall acceptance rate
19.4%
Total number of full- and part-time first-year students enrolled
298
Number of full-time program applicants
3,073
Number of full-time program acceptances
588
Full-time acceptance rate
19.1%
Number of first-year full-time students enrolled
226
Number of part-time program applicants
535
Number of part-time program acceptances
111
Part-time acceptance rate
20.7%
Number of first-year part-time students enrolled
72
Fall 2019 GPA and LSAT Scores
25th-75th percentile GPA scores for all students
3.21-3.66
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for all students
159-166
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for full-time students
3.29-3.67
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for full-time students
161-167
25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for part-time students
3.12-3.61
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students
154-161
Careers: University of Maryland
Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2018 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar
MD
School’s bar passage rate for first-time test takers
90.1%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers
85.4%
Class of 2018 Graduates
Total graduates
258
Graduates employed at graduation
89.2%
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
$65,000
Median private sector starting salary
$109,999
75th percentile private sector starting salary
$150,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information
52%
Median public service starting salary
$45,000
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2018)
Percent employed in academia
6.0%
Percent employed in business and industry
15.0%
Percent employed in government
15.0%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships
18.0%
Percent employed in law firms
40.0%
Percent employed in public interest
6.0%
Percent employed in an unknown field
0.0%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge
5.0%
2018 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state
58%
Graduates employed in foreign countries
0%
Number of states where graduates are employed
27
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
1.0%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA)
12.0%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)
1.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD)
0.0%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)
83.0%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)
0.0%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX)
1.0%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA)
1.0%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY)
1.0%
Employment location unknown
0.0%
Career Services
(Data appear as originally submitted by this school)
Career services operations
Personalized attention to students’ career goals is the hallmark of the law school’s Career Development Office (CDO). Capitalizing on the law school’s proximity and access to Washington, CDO excels in helping students find legal employment in the private sector and launch careers in public service. The fall recruitment program allows students to interview with leading firms from across the U.S.
Job Type
Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks)
83.0%
J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent)
6.0%
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)
10.0%
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)
