Part-time J.D. law programs play a vital role in legal education. According to the American Bar Association, in fall 2008 about 16 percent of all J.D. students were enrolled part time. For many working adults, attending part time is the only way they can afford to go to law school and meet their other commitments. Fewer than half of all law schools have part-time programs, which may be offered either in the evening or the day. Part-time programs generally take four years to complete instead of three years for full time programs. This year, U.S. News presents its second annual ranking of the top among the 84 accredited law schools with part-time J.D. programs. This year's part-time J.D. program ranking is improved because it is now based on four factors of academic quality.
Rank |
College name |
Part-time score |
Peer assessment score (5.0 highest) |
25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students |
Part-time acceptance rate |
Total part-time enrollment |
1 |
Washington, DC |
100 |
4.2 |
163-168 |
20.2% |
354 |
2 |
Washington, DC |
84 |
3.5 |
162-167 |
16.9% |
304 |
3 |
New York, NY |
72 |
3.3 |
161-165 |
17.4% |
309 |
4 |
New York, NY |
68 |
2.8 |
158-161 |
26.6% |
101 |
5 |
Baltimore, MD |
67 |
3.0 |
154-161 |
20.7% |
230 |
6 |
Arlington, VA |
64 |
2.8 |
157-163 |
8.7% |
217 |
7 |
American University (Washington) Washington, DC |
63 |
3.0 |
159-162 |
21.2% |
290 |
Brooklyn, NY |
63 |
2.7 |
157-160 |
18.6% |
180 | |
9 |
Philadelphia, PA |
62 |
2.7 |
156-161 |
28.9% |
192 |
10 |
Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent) Chicago, IL |
61 |
2.7 |
155-160 |
38.2% |
179 |
Houston, TX |
61 |
2.6 |
156-161 |
13.6% |
183 | |
San Diego, CA |
61 |
2.9 |
156-160 |
22.3% |
184 | |
13 |
Southern Methodist University (Dedman) Dallas, TX |
60 |
2.7 |
153-160 |
20.5% |
379 |
Hartford, CT |
60 |
2.9 |
156-160 |
25.7% |
191 | |
15 |
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey--Camden Camden, NJ |
57 |
2.5 |
157-161 |
22.7% |
191 |
16 |
Los Angeles, CA |
56 |
2.6 |
155-163 |
4.4% |
285 |
Santa Clara, CA |
56 |
2.5 |
156-159 |
26.8% |
252 | |
18 |
Denver, CO |
55 |
2.5 |
154-158 |
29.3% |
232 |
19 |
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey--Newark Newark, NJ |
53 |
2.6 |
154-159 |
18.1% |
242 |
20 |
Seattle, WA |
51 |
2.4 |
153-159 |
40.9% |
228 |
21 |
Catholic University of America (Columbus) Washington, DC |
50 |
2.5 |
154-158 |
29.8% |
316 |
University of Nevada--Las Vegas (Boyd) Las Vegas, NV |
50 |
2.3 |
152-158 |
21.2% |
118 | |
Detroit, MI |
50 |
2.2 |
154-160 |
21.2% |
112 | |
24 |
Orange, CA |
49 |
1.9 |
151-160 |
19.4% |
37 |
Hempstead, NY |
49 |
2.4 |
152-158 |
11.6% |
170 | |
Milwaukee, WI |
49 |
2.4 |
151-158 |
33.0% |
180 | |
Jamaica, NY |
49 |
2.4 |
147-155 |
27.2% |
178 | |
28 |
Chicago, IL |
48 |
2.3 |
154-157 |
47.0% |
255 |
Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern) Portland, OR |
48 |
2.4 |
153-160 |
31.1% |
194 | |
St. Louis, MO |
48 |
2.5 |
152-155 |
35.6% |
196 | |
University of Hawaii--Manoa (Richardson) Honolulu, HI |
48 |
2.4 |
147-154 |
14.2% |
41 | |
32 |
Chicago, IL |
47 |
2.5 |
153-158 |
22.5% |
188 |
San Francisco, CA |
47 |
2.1 |
153-160 |
21.4% |
132 | |
34 |
University of Louisville (Brandeis) Louisville, KY |
46 |
2.3 |
151-155 |
35.5% |
67 |
35 |
Newark, NJ |
45 |
2.5 |
150-156 |
38.4% |
367 |
36 |
Indiana University--Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN |
44 |
2.5 |
147-155 |
55.3% |
319 |
Gulfport, FL |
44 |
2.1 |
151-156 |
21.6% |
208 | |
38 |
University of Arkansas--Little Rock (Bowen) Little Rock, AR |
43 |
2.2 |
148-156 |
34.3% |
155 |
39 |
Cleveland State University (Cleveland-Marshall) Cleveland, OH |
42 |
2.0 |
151-158 |
25.6% |
157 |
New York, NY |
42 |
2.3 |
149-155 |
39.5% |
448 | |
41 |
Atlanta, GA |
39 |
2.4 |
158-161 |
25.2% |
193 |
Hamden, CT |
39 |
1.9 |
151-154 |
12.5% |
124 | |
43 |
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH |
38 |
2.8 |
150-157 |
13.8% |
22 |
Boston, MA |
38 |
2.1 |
151-156 |
57.5% |
603 | |
University of the Pacific (McGeorge) Sacramento, CA |
38 |
2.1 |
151-157 |
39.4% |
377 | |
46 |
New Orleans, LA |
36 |
2.1 |
149-155 |
66.0% |
156 |
47 |
California Western School of Law San Diego, CA |
35 |
1.8 |
148-154 |
30.1% |
101 |