Ranking the 10 Best Law Schools in Florida
Anyone considering a career in law should consider the requirements for preparing to pass the bar exam for their respective states. If you’re planning to attend law school in Florida, it’s essential to choose a reputable law school that is fully accredited, but it goes beyond that. The school you attend can work for you or against you when applying for employment with the better firms. It can make a difference in your starting salary. We’ve prepared a guide for the ten best law schools in Florida. Several credible agencies and organizations ranked each school on the list. We put them on a convenient list that ranks them from good options to the most exceptional.
10. St. Thomas University Law School
According to US News, St. Thomas University Law School is one of the top-rated law schools in the state of Florida. The campus is in the city of Miami Gardens. The application deadline for this school is July 1, with an application fee of $40. Full-time tuition is $43,630. with a student-faculty ratio of 10.7:1. Small class sizes enhance the learning experience, allowing instructors more one-on-one time with students as needed. Students in the undergraduate program may choose from Business or Corporate Law, Clinical Training, Constitutional Law, Contracts and Commercial Law, Criminal Law, Environmental Law, Health Care Law, Intellectual Property Law, Trial Advocacy, Tax Law, International Law, or Legal Writing specialties. The school also offers a graduate program.
9. Florida Coastal School of Law
The College Gazette lists this institution as one of the top ten law schools in Florida with a campus in Jacksonville. This institution is the best school for those who prefer to complete their law degrees in a fully online environment. It is the first in Florida to offer this option. Multiple resources are available through the institution to deliver a thorough and unique college education. A Practitioner Clinic provides a hybrid program for clinical aspects of education and externship in partnership with practitioners in the legal field, allowing students to work on pro-Bono cases to gain further experience. Florida Coastal School of Law is one of the youngest law schools in the state, but it has already graduated over 6,000 students. Many of the alumni have practiced law at prestigious firms. It is a viable option for those who have a strong desire to forge a career in law, but who do not have the ability or desire to commit to physically attending classes or moving from their current living situations. Online education is becoming a new trend, particularly with Covid-19 cases on the rise. It provides an uninterrupted vehicle for preparing for the Florida bar exam. The school became fully accredited in 2002 and offers a JD curriculum with many certificate programs in areas such as sports law, international comparative law, environmental law, and others. The acceptance rate for applicants is 37.8 percent, so the competition is intense to gain admission. Bar passage for graduates is 42.5 percent, with 46.6 percent of graduates getting employment within ten months of graduation.
8. Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law
This law school is in Orlando, Florida. The school has an A+ rating as one of the most diverse institutions in the nation. They structure the curriculum to provide a high-quality learning experience that is rigorous and thorough. Graduates enjoy a high employment rate upon completing their studies, with multiple opportunities for professional development. This institution is best known for its mock trial and moot court teams, who have competed nationally and won multiple titles. This college is a woman established and led by the “Woman of the Year recipient, Leticia M. Diaz. The school is an ABA-accredited institution with a solid reputation for turning out high-quality graduates with high employment and bar exam pass rates.
7. Florida A&M University College of Law Orlando
This institution is in Orlando, Florida. It is a historically black college that maintains a firm commitment to providing the highest quality in education for underserved student populations. Over 80 percent of students who graduated from Florida A&M have gone forward and successfully pass their bar exams. They hold this college in high regard for its law faculty, who regularly publish research findings regarding social justice, business, entertainment, gender, and race law topics, among others. The institution’s graduate bar exam pass rate is over fifty percent. The program provides rigorous coursework along with clinical and hands-on experiential educational modules. It also offers simulation courses to provide a broad real-world experience for students with legal clinics in homelessness and legal advocacy to help those in low-income life situations understand and make their way through the legal system. FAMU has graduated many students who now sit in key professional positions, as judges and attorneys.
6. Florida International University College of Law
LSAT Max places the Florida International University College of Law as one of the top ten law schools in the state. It has a ranking of number 91 in the nation of the thousands of law schools fully accredited. The school became fully accredited in 2006, and although a new institution, the rate of improvement since its inception has been rapid. The school is known for providing intensely high-quality educational courses with rigorous academics. Many programs are designed to prepare emerging legal professionals to include its Intellectual Property Certificate program, a trial advocacy program, Internal law,- and comparative law, legal skills and values board, and several other options for students who wish to specialize in key areas of law practice. The institution is best known for its high bar exam pass rate for graduates. An incredible 87.5 percent achieve this goal after graduation.
Most notably, FIU College of Law provides unique clinics for students, including a focus on the death penalty, immigration, human rights, immigrant children and minor justice clinic, and more. Students at FIU average a G{A of 3.64, with a median LSAT of 157 points. It’s easy to get admission to FIU College of Law if your academic record meets these standards or above. They required a personal statement explaining the contributions you plan to make to the college and the community with your application. This school has a running track record of graduates achieving meaningful professional employment at a rate of 87 percent immediately upon graduation. This is impressive by any standards. Prepare for an intense program of study that fully prepares you to pass the Florida bar exam, and helps you earn credentials that make you an attractive candidate for some of the better law firms in the area.
5. Ave Maria School of Law
The Ave Maria School of Law is in Naples, Florida. This institution is the only Catholic law school in the state, providing a curriculum that embraces the intellectual traditions of the faith with a conservative focus. The school provides students with options for tort, Criminal Law, and contract specializations. First-year students must complete “The Moral Foundations of the Law” course. Notable law professionals contributed to the development of the curriculum for the Ave Maria School of Law, including Antonin Scalia, the late Supreme Court Justice. This school was first established in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and moved to Naples in 2009. We know this institution for its intense academic focus, with ample professional development experiential opportunities. Statistics show that the bar exam pass rate is at 74 percent and more than half of the graduates gain meaningful employment within ten months of graduation. Conical programs, moot court, and externships allow students more hands-on experience in areas, such as general practice, estate planning, and patent law through specialized clinics. This law school is one of the best options in the state of Florida for students who embrace traditional Catholic values and intend to practice law from within this framework.
4. Stetson University College of Law
Stetson University College of Law is one of the first law schools to emerge in the state of Florida. They established the institution in the year 1900. It gained membership in the Association of American Law Schools in 1931. Aspiring law students interested in writing and trial advocacy will find that Stetson University College is ranked the highest in these specializations. Students receive multiple opportunities to hone their budding legal careers in these specializations. Applicants must possess a median LSAT score of 155 with a grade point average of 3.36 or better, and continue to meet these requirements throughout study through graduation. The rigorous curriculum helps prepare students to pass the Florida state bar exam and has a graduate pass rate of 72.3 percent. The acceptance rate is fairly high at 45.55 percent of all applicants. It’s not that difficult to get into the school if you have an excellent past academic record. Graduates get meaningful employment within ten months of graduation at a rate of 77.2 percent.
3. University of Miami Law School
Magoosh lists the University of Miami Law School as one of the best institutions in the state. This school has an overall ranking at number 24 in the nation for its clinical training programs and it ranks as the 28th best in the country for tax law and number 29 for international law. The rigorous curriculum helps prepare students to take and pass the intense bar exam in Florida. The pass rate for graduates of this law school is a generous 82.7 percent, which speaks to the quality of education that students receive there. It’s not the easiest school to get into with an acceptance rate of just 33 percent of all applicants for 2021. The average cost of attendance after applicable financial aid is $47,000, which, for most, is highly affordable. The graduation rate for law school is 84 percent. Most students who attend full-time graduate within 6 years. The University of Miami Law School is in Coral Gables, Florida, in the Miami-Dade area.
2. Florida A&M University Tallahassee
Best Value Schools ranks in this law school as one of the best in Florida. The school is in Tallahassee. This is a public school with full accreditation. They founded the school in 1949 with the simple mission of graduating legal professionals committed to leading their communities with equal justice under the rule of law. Florida A&M Tallahassee embraces all people within the community with equal respect for national and racial backgrounds. It’s an affordable institution to attend, with a tuition rate of $14,132 for in-state students and $34,035 for non-residents. The bar passage rate for Florida A&M Tallahassee students is 70.6 percent.
1. University of Florida Levin College of Law
The College Gazette ranks the University of Florida Levin College of Law as the best law school in the state. The campus is in Gainesville, Florida. It is one of the most outstanding law schools in Florida with a ranking as number 21 in the nation, coming in as the twentieth best for its Environmental Law program and number two for its Environmental law program. It’s difficult to gain acceptance for admission to this prestigious law school. Besides being the best law school in Florida, it is also the hardest to get into. The admission acceptance rate is just 20 percent of all applicants. Competition is fierce for candidates. Applicants possessing the most impressive credentials have the best chance for admission. They give preference to applicants with strong grade point averages and evidence of commitment and dedication to learning and serving their communities. These are those first considered for admission to the programs offered. This school equips students to pass the Florida state bar exam through rigorous coursework and hands-on experiences in the practice of law. It’s second to none in faculty-supervised clinics and field placements.
