| George Washington University Law School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent school | George Washington University |
| Established | 1865[1] |
| School type | Privatelaw school |
| Parent endowment | $2.8 billion |
| Dean | Dayna Bowen Matthew[2] |
| Location | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Enrollment | 1,646 (2016)[3] |
| Faculty | 371 (2016)[3] |
| USNWR ranking | 31st (tie) (2025)[4] |
| Bar pass rate | 97.19%[5] |
| Website | law.gwu.edu |
| ABA profile | Standard 509 Report |
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TheGeorge Washington University Law School (GW Law) is thelaw school ofGeorge Washington University, aprivateresearch university inWashington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest law school in Washington, D.C.[6][7]
GW Law has an alumni network that includes notable people within the fields of law and government, including the formerU.S. Attorney General, the formerU.S. Secretary of the Interior, foreignheads of state, judges of theInternational Court of Justice,ministers of foreign affairs, aDirector-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization,a Director of the CIA, members ofU.S. Congress,U.S. State Governors, fourDirectors of the FBI, and numerousFederal judges.
The George Washington University Law School was founded in the 1820s but closed in 1826 due to low enrollment.[6] The first two professors wereWilliam Cranch, chief justice of the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia and William Thomas Carroll, a descendant ofCharles Carroll the Settler and clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1827 until his death in 1863.[8] The law school was reestablished in 1865 and was the first law school in the District of Columbia.[6]
Law classes resumed in 1865 in the OldTrinity Episcopal Church, and the school graduated its first class of 60 students in 1867.[1] TheMaster of Laws degree program began in 1897.[1]
In 1900, the school was one of the founding members of theAssociation of American Law Schools.[1][9]
GW Law has one of the oldest intellectual property programs in the US. Its alumni have contributed to various technological advancements, including involvement in the patent for theWright brothers' flying machine, granted on May 22, 1906.[10]
The school was accredited by theAmerican Bar Association in 1923.[11]
In 1954, it merged withNational University School of Law.[1] The law school operated under the nameNational Law Center for the 37 years from 1959 to 1996, when it was renamed George Washington University Law School.[12]
For the class entering in the fall of 2019, 2,488 out of 8,019 J.D. applicants (31%) were offered admission, with 489 matriculating. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2019 full-time entering class were 160 and 167, respectively, with a median of 166.[13] The 25th and 75th undergraduateGPA percentiles were 3.40 and 3.84, respectively, with a median of 3.74.[14]
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In 2025,U.S. News & World Report ranks GW Law as tied for the 31st top law school out of 195 in the United States.[4]
GW Law offers numerous summer programs, including a joint program with theUniversity of Oxford for the study of international human rights law atNew College, Oxford each July.[15]
Instead of supplying students with individual class rankings, the top 1–15% of the class are designated asGeorge Washington Scholars, while the top 16–35% of the class are designated asThurgood Marshall Scholars.[16]
GW Law publishes ten journals:[17]
In the 2018–19 academic year, GW Law had 1,525 J.D. students, of which 25% were minorities and 51% were female.[14][needs update]
Students enrolled in the J.D. program come from 206 colleges and 11 countries.[18] The law school also enrolls students from approximately 45 countries each year in its Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degree programs.[19]
GW Law is located in Washington'sFoggy Bottom neighborhood.[20]
The Jacob Burns Law Library holds a collection of more than 700,000 volumes.[21]
The law school currently occupies nine buildings on the main campus of The George Washington University. The law school's main complex comprises five buildings anchored byStockton Hall (1924) located on the University Yard, the central open space of GW's urban campus. Renovated extensively between 2001 and 2003, these buildings adjoin one another, have internal passageways, and function as one consolidated complex. Three townhouses directly across from the main complex house the Community Legal Clinics, Student Bar Association, and student journal offices.
According to GW Law's official 2023 ABA-required disclosures, 90.0% of the Class of 2023 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage-required, non-school funded employment ten months after graduation.[citation needed]
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The total cost of full-time attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at GW Law for the 2024-2025 academic year was $106,471.[22] GW Law's tuition and fees on average increased by 4.1% annually over the past five years.[23]
The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $328,263.[23] The average indebtedness of the 76% of 2013 GW Law graduates who took out loans was $123,693.[24]
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