Columbia Law School is a private law school in New York. In the most recent ABA Standard 509 cycle it reported a 95.8% first-time bar passage rate (state average 85.0%). 97.4% of graduates landed full-time, long-term JD-required or JD-advantage jobs, and 77.5% joined large firms of 251+ attorneys. Resident tuition is $85,368 per year; a median grant of $32,000 brings median net tuition to about $53,368. The median LSAT is 173 with a 11.8% acceptance rate.
No placements reported (0%): Solo, Academia. These shares count where every employed graduate landed, by sector and firm size, across all job types; they can total more than the full-time long-term (FTLT) employment headline, which counts only the stricter full-time, long-term, JD-required or JD-advantage subset.
Bar passage · first-time
This school95.8%
State avg85.0%
first-time +10.9 pts vs state · 2-yr ultimate 99.0% · class of 2025 first-time 94.7% (reported early 2026) · Different cohort than the admissions class above.
Admissions · 25 / 50 / 75
LSATmedian 173
169175
uGPAmedian 3.92
3.853.98
Applications to offers to enrolled
Applied9,463
Offered1,120
Enrolled 1L444
Offer rate 12% · yield 40%.
Grant distribution
No grant 46.2%Under half 35.9%Half to full 12.8%Full 5.0%Stipend 0.1%
Demographics
Women 54%Men 46%
White
512
Black
141
Hispanic
148
Asian
400
Two or more
26
Other / unreported
150
Cost detail
Resident tuition
$85,368
Non-resident
$85,368
Mandatory fees
$3,022
Living estimate
$31,554
Median grant
$32,000
Grant 25 / 75
$20,000 / $48,000
Cond. schol. loss
—
Faculty & market
Total faculty
482
Full-time faculty
120
Faculty of color
105
Total JD enrollment
1,377
Graduates
458
Mean attorney salary · state
$208,480
Trajectory
Trajectory since 2011
LSAT · 25-75 band
LSAT scoreup 1 since 2011
Middle-50% LSAT band by entering class.
uGPA · 25-75 band
Undergraduate GPAup 0.20 since 2011
Middle-50% uGPA band by entering class.
First-time bar passage
First-time bar passage ratedown 2% since 2011
First-time bar passage rate by year.
Full-time resident tuition
Resident tuitionup $32k since 2011
Sticker resident tuition by year.
Total JD enrollment
Students enrolledup 33 since 2011
Total JD enrollment by year.
Admissions
Admissions
LSAT (25 / 50 / 75)
169 / 173 / 175
uGPA (25 / 50 / 75)
3.85 / 3.92 / 3.98
Acceptance rate
11.8%
Applications received
9,463
Offers extended
1,120
1L enrollment
444
Total JD enrollment
1,377
GRE-only takers
37
GRE Verbal (25 / 50 / 75)
164 / 166 / 169
GRE Quant (25 / 50 / 75)
160 / 164 / 168
GRE Analytical (25 / 50 / 75)
5 / 5 / 5.5
1L attrition (academic / other)
0 / 4
Transfers in / out
50 / 4
Cost
Cost & scholarships
Resident tuition
$85,368
Non-resident tuition
$85,368
Mandatory fees
$3,022
Living-expense estimate
$31,554
Median grant
$32,000
Grant 25 / 75 percentile
$20,000 / $48,000
No-grant share
46.2%
< half-tuition grants
35.9%
Half-to-full grants
12.8%
Full-tuition grants
5.0%
Above-full grants (stipend)
0.1%
Conditional-scholarship loss rate
—
Bar passage
Bar passage
First-Time Bar (2024 cohort)
95.8%
Two-Year Ultimate Bar
99.0%
State average (same exam)
85.0%
Difference vs. state
+10.9 pts
Different cohorts: first-time bar passage reflects graduates who entered law school about three years before the current admissions class shown above. Read the two as separate snapshots, not a single pipeline.
What is the first-time bar passage rate at Columbia Law School?
Columbia Law School reported a 95.8% first-time bar passage rate in the most recent ABA Standard 509 disclosure, versus a 85.0% state average.
How much does Columbia Law School cost?
Resident tuition at Columbia Law School is $85,368 per year (about $256,104 over three years). The median grant is $32,000, bringing median net tuition to roughly $53,368 per year.
What LSAT and GPA do you need for Columbia Law School?
The median (50th-percentile) LSAT at Columbia Law School is 173 and the median GPA is 3.92; the acceptance rate is 11.8%.
What are the job outcomes at Columbia Law School?
97.4% of Columbia Law School graduates held full-time, long-term JD-required or JD-advantage jobs about ten months after graduation. 77.5% joined large firms of 251+ attorneys. 1.3% were still seeking employment.
Consult
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Data from the ABA Standard 509 disclosures, self-reported by law schools and not guaranteed (raw data may have errors or omissions). State attorney-salary context: U.S. BLS OEWS 2024 (SOC 23-1011); cost-of-living: U.S. BEA Regional Price Parities. How the data is sourced & validated: Methodology. Unfamiliar with a term (FTLT, net tuition, bimodal)? Glossary. Copyright basis & permitted use: Terms.