Despite negative press coverage in the past, more law students receive conditional scholarships than ever before. American Bar Association data shows that 120 law schools offered conditional scholarships to more than 11,300 students, or 29 percent of all students, in 2013-2014, the most recent year data is available. Seventy-three percent of those students kept their scholarships, up from 68.5 percent in 2011.
But there are still big disparities in school retention rates. While 46 of the 120 law schools have retention rates higher than 80 percent, there are still 29 schools with retention rates below 60 percent.
A conditional schoalrship is any financial aid award which is dependent upon the student maintaining a minimum grade point average or class standing, other than remaining in good academic standing. This is the first year the ABA released detailed data on conditional scholarships. It did so in an effort to provide more transparency for prospective students.
“I am not in favor of lower retention rates,” said Jerry Organ, a law professor at University of St. Thomas School of Law who has studied this issue in depth. “But people can make their own choice now that data is available [on retention rates]. In 2011, people were making choices without a lot of information.”
Law schools must now include its schoalrship retention rate in scholarship offer letters and on its website.
“It is hard to avoid this information,” he said. “If you want to take this risk, it is at least an informed risk.”
Organ previously analyzed website statistics for 140 ABA-accredited schools that offered conditional scholarships based on academic achievement for entering students in 2011 and found that only eight schools had retention rates lower than 40 percent and 26 law schools had retention rates of 90 percent or better. The numbers have changed slightly since his first study. In fall 2013, only four schools have retention rates lower than 40 percent and 20 had retention rates above 90 percent. The data is now collected by the ABA.
Organ said that while a higher percent of students receive conditional scholarships, the number of schools that offer scholarships based on good academic standing is up, from 54 to 78.
“This would seem to indicate that at least some law schools have decided conditional scholarships aren’t good for law schools or for law students,” Organ wrote in a recent article.
The University of Akron School of Law, which previously had the lowest retention rate for conditional schoalrships at just 15.7 percent, recently changed its policy so that all scholarships are guaranteed.
“Acting upon my belief that we should be investing in our students and providing them with financial certainty during their law school careers, we … changed our admissions scholarship system,” said Dean Matt Wilson, who became dean a year ago. “All students entering our institution this year have received admissions scholarships that are guaranteed throughout the duration of their legal education. Accordingly, our scholarship renewal rate for the Class of 2015 will be 100 percent.”
In fall 2013, the University of New Hampshire, Howard University and Golden Gate University posted the lowest retention rates. University of New Hampshire dropped from 87.9 percent to 30.6 percent.
Here are the 120 schools that offer conditional scholarships, sorted by lowest retention rate in 2013-2014:
Law School | 2013-2014 Retention | 2012-2013 Retention | 2011-2012 Retention | 3 year average |
University of New Hampshire | 30.6% | 87.9% | 66.7% | 62.2% |
Howard University School of Law | 31.1% | 29.3% | 15.3% | 25.3% |
Golden Gate University | 34.6% | 43.2% | 50.0% | 42.3% |
University of Akron* | 36.8% | 15.7% | 21.2% | 24.5% |
Charlotte School of Law | 42.0% | 46.9% | 42.3% | 43.9% |
Southern University | 43.8% | 100.0% | 95.0% | 80.0% |
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law | 44.8% | 55.6% | 52.4% | 50.5% |
Texas A&M | 46.1% | 38.7% | 35.7% | 39.5% |
St. John’s School of Law | 46.2% | 55.2% | 56.6% | 52.0% |
Appalachian School of Law | 46.2% | 50.0% | 69.2% | 53.3% |
Chapman Fowler School of Law | 48.1% | 48.0% | 43.9% | 46.8% |
The John Marshall | 48.9% | 49.2% | 50.4% | 49.6% |
Hofstra University | 49.0% | 46.7% | 48.6% | 48.1% |
Wake Forest University | 50.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 83.3% |
Arizona Summit | 50.3% | 53.4% | 55.7% | 53.2% |
St. Thomas University | 51.4% | 44.4% | 32.0% | 42.0% |
Capital University | 53.6% | 58.3% | 64.8% | 59.0% |
Western State College of Law | 54.1% | 48.6% | 39.3% | 46.4% |
Brigham Young University | 54.4% | 63.4% | 50.9% | 55.5% |
St. Mary’s University | 55.0% | 24.2% | 20.7% | 31.4% |
Touro Law Center | 55.7% | 64.4% | 59.2% | 59.6% |
Barry Law School | 56.0% | 43.5% | 39.4% | 46.3% |
Louisiana State University | 57.3% | 68.2% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Drake University | 57.4% | 63.4% | 50.6% | 56.8% |
University of San Diego | 57.5% | 75.8% | 70.6% | 67.3% |
George Mason University | 59.3% | 54.0% | 32.2% | 49.7% |
University of Toledo | 59.3% | 50.7% | 59.6% | 56.1% |
Drexel University Kline School of Law | 59.6% | 59.2% | 63.7% | 60.9% |
Florida International University | 60.7% | 65.2% | 62.5% | 62.1% |
University of Baltimore | 60.9% | 62.2% | 66.3% | 62.9% |
New York Law School | 61.4% | 61.4% | 53.0% | 59.4% |
Creighton University | 61.8% | 55.6% | 64.3% | 60.3% |
Santa Clara Law | 62.8% | 46.7% | 49.4% | 53.3% |
University of Nevada, Las Vegas | 63.6% | 59.3% | 45.6% | 56.4% |
Willamette University | 63.7% | 56.0% | 61.9% | 60.6% |
Florida Coastal School of Law | 64.1% | 66.8% | 65.2% | 65.5% |
University of Alabama | 64.8% | 58.5% | 54.2% | 60.5% |
Seattle University | 66.2% | 50.7% | 45.7% | 54.4% |
Quinnipiac University | 66.7% | 64.2% | 69.2% | 66.7% |
University of Arkansas at Little Rock | 66.7% | 69.4% | 73.7% | 69.8% |
Thomas Jefferson School of Law | 66.8% | 72.2% | 68.2% | 69.2% |
Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School | 68.1% | 57.4% | 53.4% | 59.5% |
Ave Maria School of Law | 68.1% | 57.4% | 53.4% | 59.5% |
University of Kansas | 68.8% | 66.7% | 66.7% | 67.4% |
Roger Williams University | 69.6% | 66.0% | 73.8% | 69.6% |
University of Dayton | 70.5% | 61.1% | 59.3% | 63.1% |
University of Idaho | 71.2% | 68.4% | 48.6% | 64.0% |
Texas Tech University | 71.3% | 74.0% | 57.3% | 67.4% |
Gonzaga University | 71.3% | 80.3% | 77.3% | 76.7% |
Pacific McGeorge School of Law | 71.4% | 42.9% | 41.7% | 46.8% |
University of Missouri | 71.7% | 68.5% | 72.6% | 71.1% |
Rutgers — Camden | 71.7% | 69.6% | 32.3% | 54.0% |
University of Memphis | 72.0% | 76.9% | 63.6% | 71.2% |
Ohio Northern University | 72.4% | 64.1% | 67.0% | 67.7% |
Campbell Law School | 72.7% | 77.6% | 81.4% | 77.4% |
Pepperdine University | 73.2% | 71.7% | 69.8% | 71.6% |
Belmont University College of Law | 73.3% | 67.4% | 70.7% | 70.5% |
NSU’s Shepard Broad Law Center | 74.0% | 69.2% | 63.4% | 69.7% |
Northern Illinois University | 75.0% | 93.3% | 66.7% | 78.7% |
University of Detroit Mercy | 75.0% | 52.2% | 69.2% | 65.2% |
University of Miami | 75.3% | 71.4% | 62.1% | 70.2% |
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles | 75.4% | 62.3% | 51.0% | 64.1% |
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville | 75.7% | 70.0% | 63.0% | 70.2% |
University of New Mexico | 75.7% | 70.0% | 63.0% | 70.2% |
North Carolina Central University | 76.0% | 68.4% | 68.8% | 71.7% |
Mississippi College | 77.4% | 83.3% | 83.3% | 80.1% |
University of Nebraska | 77.6% | 74.2% | 70.8% | 74.2% |
Southern Illinois University | 77.6% | 75.0% | 64.8% | 72.4% |
South Texas College of Law/Houston | 77.9% | 68.3% | 73.0% | 73.8% |
West Virginia University | 78.5% | 77.3% | 72.9% | 76.7% |
Rutgers School of Law-Newark | 79.0% | 80.0% | 82.4% | 80.2% |
Catholic University | 79.1% | 95.9% | 87.3% | 86.8% |
Albany Law | 80.4% | 84.6% | 64.5% | 75.3% |
University of Kentucky | 80.7% | 79.8% | 69.1% | 77.1% |
Michigan State University | 80.8% | 87.5% | 81.3% | 83.0% |
Loyola University New Orleans | 81.0% | 78.0% | 65.8% | 76.1% |
Charleston School of Law | 81.4% | 81.4% | 77.1% | 80.1% |
Pace University | 81.6% | 67.0% | 54.5% | 68.1% |
UC Hastings | 81.8% | 100.0% | 73.7% | 82.1% |
Washburn University | 82.0% | 68.5% | 70.0% | 73.7% |
IU McKinney School of Law | 82.3% | 78.1% | 59.6% | 72.8% |
Suffolk University | 82.6% | 83.8% | 83.1% | 83.2% |
Seton Hall University | 82.8% | 71.0% | 63.6% | 71.4% |
Tulane University Law School | 82.9% | 77.5% | 82.5% | 80.8% |
Syracuse University | 83.8% | 83.3% | 90.3% | 85.5% |
Northern Kentucky University | 83.8% | 93.2% | 81.6% | 85.6% |
Southwestern Law School | 84.2% | 88.2% | 88.9% | 86.1% |
University of La Verne | 84.4% | 58.3% | 68.2% | 71.8% |
Faulkner Law | 84.9% | 66.7% | 61.8% | 73.2% |
Samford University (Cumberland) | 85.0% | 85.0% | 83.9% | 84.7% |
University of Pittsburgh | 85.3% | 81.2% | 88.7% | 85.1% |
New England Law | 86.0% | 83.2% | 84.6% | 84.4% |
Western New England University | 86.4% | 86.7% | 82.5% | 85.1% |
SMU Dedman School of Law | 86.7% | 66.7% | 100.0% | 86.5% |
University of Denver | 87.6% | 86.1% | 82.0% | 85.4% |
Brooklyn Law School | 88.1% | 83.8% | 47.3% | 73.3% |
Wayne State University | 88.6% | 65.5% | 51.8% | 67.6% |
UMKC School of Law | 88.9% | 95.0% | 83.8% | 89.3% |
Temple University | 89.0% | 84.6% | 76.8% | 84.1% |
Valparaiso University | 90.5% | 60.6% | 70.2% | 76.1% |
Cardozo School of Law | 91.3% | 91.1% | 91.5% | 91.3% |
Oklahoma City University | 92.1% | 68.0% | 66.7% | 75.3% |
California Western School of Law | 93.6% | 69.9% | 72.5% | 81.8% |
CUNY School of Law | 95.8% | 100.0% | 90.0% | 94.9% |
Hamline University | 97.6% | 93.4% | 77.0% | 87.4% |
UCLA Law | 98.7% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 99.4% |
Lewis & Clark Law School | 99.0% | 97.1% | 82.7% | 92.8% |
University of Utah | 100.0% | 68.8% | 75.0% | 78.9% |
Elon University | 100.0% | 90.9% | 90.8% | 92.3% |
Ohio State University | 100.0% | 100.0% | 98.6% | 99.4% |
American University | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Emory University | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Liberty University School of Law | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Stetson University | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
University of Connecticut | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
University of Minnesota | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
University of Oklahoma | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
University of South Dakota | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
University of Tennessee | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Vermont Law School | 100.0% | 99.1% | 100.0% | 99.6% |
University of Florida Levin College of Law | NA | 97.0% | 98.5% | 97.6% |
University of Oregon | NA | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
* University of Akron no longer offers conditional schoalrships