University Of Virginia School Of Law

The University of Virginia is one of the most prestigious law schools in the nation, and the top school in the Mid-Atlantic region. The public school is known for its high quality teaching, camaraderie and high quality of life. ''This is a real place of joy and a place of humanity,'' said Dean Risa Goluboff. ''From admissions through career placement and everything in between, we want our students to flourish as whole people. Our students go on to become leaders of nonprofits, prominent government officials, managing partners in law firms, and CEOs and in-house counsel at very high rates. That's not only because we've taught them analytical reasoning or how to take deposition, it's also because we've taught them how to think big and have perspective on the world, and how to be a team player.” Goluboff said the community’s openness to ideas and methodologies shows a commitment to true dialogue. ''The traffic in ideas that is a regular and crucial part of UVA Law enables our faculty to produce scholarship of the highest quality,'' she said. “Faculty in turn pass that knowledge on to students, through both teaching and mentoring.” The collegiality of the community is helped by the fact that 97 percent of students land employment after graduation, the median salary is $180,000, and 99 percent pass the New York bar exam, which is more than 15 points higher than the state average. For the Class of 2015, 99.44 percent passed the bar exam within two years, one of the highest pass rates in the nation and second highest in the Mid-Atlantic region. Annual tuition is $60,700 for residents and $63,700 for non-residents, which is higher than the national average. But the school has a generous loan forgiveness program for alumni who serve in public service or in underserved areas of Virginia. The school excels in environmental law, intellectual property, international law and human rights. It has 20 clinics with the most recent addition being the Civil Rights Clinic, where students work on civil rights cases involving such issues as policing and race, criminalization of poverty and mental health.

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