State Guide · 8 ABA Schools · 509 data 2025
Pennsylvania law school requirements
Pennsylvania has 8 ABA-approved law schools, with LSAT medians from 150 to 173. Together they took 22,554 completed applications, made 5,488 offers and filled 1,628 first-year seats in 2025. Every number on this page comes from those schools' own ABA Standard 509 reports.
ABA schools
8
3 public, 5 private
LSAT median range
150 to 173
across the state
First-year seats
1,628
from 22,554 applications
Tuition range
$48,996 to $78,348
full time, non-resident
The 8 ABA-approved Pennsylvania law schools
| School | Type | LSAT | GPA | Accept | 1L | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Pennsylvania CareyPhiladelphia | Private | 173 | 3.95 | 8.1% | 265 | $78,348 |
| Temple University James E. BeasleyPhiladelphia | Public | 165 | 3.76 | 24.4% | 237 | $48,996 |
| Villanova University Charles WidgerVillanova | Private | 164 | 3.80 | 25.9% | 232 | $59,800 |
| Drexel University Thomas R. KlinePhiladelphia | Private | 160 | 3.76 | 29.6% | 181 | $57,000 |
| University of PittsburghPittsburgh | Public | 160 | 3.54 | 34.9% | 155 | $53,434 |
| Penn State Dickinson LawCarlisle | Public | 159 | 3.71 | 43.0% | 215 | $60,048 |
| Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne UniversityPittsburgh | Private | 157 | 3.62 | 43.2% | 184 | $58,898 |
| Widener University CommonwealthHarrisburg | Private | 150 | 3.33 | 60.4% | 159 | $1,875/cr |
What the state data shows
University of Pennsylvania Carey reports the highest LSAT median in the state at 173, with a 3.95 GPA median and a 8.1% acceptance rate on 8,074 applications. The spread of 23 LSAT points between the top and bottom of the state means a single score can be a stretch at one Pennsylvania school and comfortably above median at another. The national median of school medians is 159, so Pennsylvania's strongest reported median sits 14 points above it.
2 of the 8 schools charge residents less than non-residents, so residency status is worth checking before you apply. The lowest published resident tuition belongs to Temple University James E. Beasley at $32,588 a year, where the median full-time grant is $31,334. Across the state, published non-resident tuition runs from $48,996 to $78,348, a gap of $29,352 a year before fees, living costs or scholarship.
7 of the 8 schools reporting bar outcomes beat the weighted average pass rate in the jurisdictions where their graduates sat. University of Pennsylvania Carey reports the state's highest first-time pass rate at 96.70% from 303 first-time takers, against a 82.93% jurisdiction average. Bar admission is granted state by state, so the jurisdiction you intend to practise in matters as much as the school.
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Other state guides
Data: ABA Standard 509 Information Report (2025), published for consumer disclosure, retrieved from the ABA Required Disclosures portal on 2026-09-01, with bar passage figures from the same portal's Bar Passage Outcomes report for the class of 2024. Restated in our own structure; no ABA document or file is reproduced here.