Offering part-time law school courses has played a vital role in the education of future attorneys. The American Bar association estimates roughly 18,450 students (approximately 14%) were enrolled part time in the Fall of 2013. Part-time class options help working adults return to school without the worry that they will not be able to fulfill all of their commitments. However, only half of the law schools in the United States offer part time programs.
The U.S. News ran a poll to see which law schools offered the best part time programs based on the following methodology:
reputation among deans & faculty at peer law reviews
breadth of each school’s part time programs
LSAT scores
Undergraduate GPAs of students entering in Fall 2014
Each school’s scores were standardized, weighed and totaled so the highest ranking school received a 100, and the following received a percentage of the top score. Which schools ranked the highest? Here is the list of the top 10 part time law school programs:
- Georgetown University, Washington, DC
- George Washington University, Washington, DC
- Fordham University, New York, NY
- George Mason University, Arlington, VA
- University of Maryland (Carey), Baltimore, MD
- University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT
- Southern Methodist University (Dedman), Dallas, TX
- Temple University (Beasley), Philadelphia, PA
- Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern), Portland, OR
- University of Denver (Sturm) Denver, CO
The complete list is here.
Going to law school part time may take longer to complete and obtain a JD, approximately 4 years. Nevertheless, this option works out for the better for many working adults with aspirations to become an attorney. If you are planning on going to law school, but still need to work also, be sure to do research of different programs near you that offer accredited part-time (and full time) options to best fit your needs.
