An Overview of the Law Schools in North Carolina

An Overview of the Law Schools in North Carolina

Thinking about being a lawyer and are looking at schools in North Carolina? If so, you are in the right place. North Carolina has five main law schools ranked in the top 200 law schools, based on smart rank. Smart rank is calculated by combining traditional law school rankings with other statistical data, such as, admission selectivity, employment rate, and bar exam performance. The five schools include, North Carolina Central University (NCCU), Campbell University, Wake Forest University, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC), and Duke University. The attorney team at Kelly and West attended Campbell University in Raleigh, NC.

Duke University

The law school at Duke University is located in Durham, NC. Based on the smart rank calculations, Duke is ranked number 5 and according to US News & World Report law school rankings Duke is tied at #8 with UC-Berkeley and UVA. Duke has an acceptance rate of 23.3%, and average LSAT score of 169 and average undergraduate GPA of 3.76. The average cost per year for a full time student attending Duke is $55,588.

University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina is located in Chapel Hill, NC. Using the smart rank system, Chapel Hill is ranked #28 with an acceptance rate of 44.6%, an average LSAT score of 161, and average undergraduate GPA of 3.49. UNC is currently tied at #34 with five other schools across the U.S. based on the 2016 rankings from US News & World Report. For an in-state student tuition runs around $22,560 per year and for an out-of-state student the tuition is about $39,191 per year.  

Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University is located in Winston-Salem, NC. According to the 2016 rankings from US News & World Report, Wake Forest is tied at #47 with University of Florida (Levin) and University of Maryland (Carey). Based on the smart rank system, UNC is ranked #52 with a 55.6% acceptance rate, an average LSAT score of 161, and an average undergraduate GPA of 3.60. Wake Forest is a private university with tuition running around $42,276 per year for a full-time student regardless of residence.     

Campbell University

The law school at Campbell University is located in Raleigh, N.C. The tuition for a full-time student is around $38,645 per year. Using the smart rank, Campbell in ranked #105 with an acceptance rate of 62%, an average LSAT score of 152, and undergraduate GPA of 3.24.  

North Carolina Central University

North Carolina Central is located in Durham, NC. NCCU is ranked #167 with an acceptance rate of 47.2%, an average LSAT score of 145, and an undergraduate GPA of 3.24, based on the smart ranking system. Tuition runs around $12,655 per year (in-state, full time) and $27,696 per year (out-of-state, full time).

While Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, Campbell, and NC Central are the main law schools in North Carolina based on ranking, they are not the only ones. There are two other notable law schools in North Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Elon University. UNC Charlotte is located in Charlotte, NC and was founded in 2005. For a full time student attending UNC Charlotte the average cost per year is about $41,348. Elon University is located in Greensboro, NC and is considered a private university. The average cost of attending Elon School of Law full time per year is $37,924.