Michigan State University College of Law
Showing 2025-26 dates — this school has not republished for the current cycle
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Your numbers against the class of 2025
This is a comparison against published numbers, not a prediction. Admissions committees weigh essays, letters, and experience that no percentile captures.
1,526 applications, 397 offers, 150 enrolled · Verified 2026-08-18 · view source
What it costs, how graduates fare
- Tuition2025-26
$43,480–$48,222 full-time · resident to non-resident · plus $388 annual fees
Living expenses $27,152 on campus
Tuition and the fees the school certifies alongside it — not a full cost of attendance.
Verified 2026-08-27 · ABA Standard 509 report
- Bar passageclass of 2025
77.3%first-time+3.4
74.0% is the average for all ABA-accredited schools’ graduates in the same jurisdictions this school’s graduates sat in · 140 of 181 first-time takers passed
86.9% of the class of 2023 were admitted within two years of graduating
A pass rate on its own says as much about which states a school feeds as about the school, so the ABA’s own like-for-like average is shown with it.
Verified 2026-08-27 · ABA bar passage report
- Employmentclass of 2025
160 of 197 (81.2%) in full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar admission
Ten months after graduation · 14 more in JD-advantage jobs · 8 still seeking
The ABA collects employment status and job type only. It collects no salary, so no salary figure comes from this filing.
Verified 2026-08-27 · ABA employment summary
- First-year attrition2024-25
5.0% of the first-year class · 6 students
No law school publishes a graduation rate, so this is not one. It is the students who left in their first year, academic and other, as filed. Transfers out are reported separately and are not counted here.
Verified 2026-08-27 · ABA Standard 509 report
- EarningsCollege Scorecard
Not a starting salary.
$67,554 median one year after finishing · $96,342 after four
$107,773 is the national median at four years for the same credential
A College Scorecard median for 2017-18 and 2018-19 completers who received federal aid, measured a fixed number of years after they finished — not what this year’s graduates are being paid, and not a figure the school or the ABA publishes. The ABA collects no salary data at all.
Verified 2026-08-27 · College Scorecard
Essays
- Personal statementRequired · 3 pgat submission
Personal statements may address any topic, but provide the Application Committee an opportunity to learn more about you as an applicant. The following questions may be helpful when preparing your personal statement: What motivates you to pursue a legal education? What personal or professional goals have you established for yourself? In what ways have your life experiences prepared you to succeed in law school? In what ways have you encountered and overcome instances of adversity, and how might such experiences contribute to your effectiveness as an attorney? In what ways might you contribute to diversity within the MSU Law student body and the legal profession? Are there particular reasons you have for applying to Michigan State University College of Law?
Notes & source
Formatting, verbatim from the Application Toolkit: '2-3 pages, double-spaced, 1" margins, 12-point font'. The six suggested questions are offered as optional aids, not required topics; the toolkit renders them as a bulleted list under the sentence quoted above (the colon here replaces that list break). The admissions FAQ (law.msu.edu/admissions/apply/faqs) describes the same item as 'a personal statement (up to three pages)'. Two of the suggested questions do work that other schools split into separate essays — one asks how the applicant might contribute to diversity, one asks for reasons for applying to MSU Law — and the toolkit lists no separate perspective statement, diversity statement, 'why MSU' essay, or optional essay. The linked 'Creating Your Best Personal Statement' page (law.msu.edu/admissions/apply/personal-statement) currently renders only the heading 'Top Tips' with no content.
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
- AddendumOptionalat submission
Though not required, the Admissions Committee allows applicants to submit supplemental statement(s) that address extenuating circumstances affecting college performance and/or performance on standardized exams, or other contextual information that might relate to an applicant's potential for success in law school.
Notes & source
Called 'Supplemental Addenda.' No length limit is published. The admissions FAQ separately encourages 'a brief addendum' explaining exceptional circumstances that hurt undergraduate performance. A character-and-fitness addendum is effectively mandatory where applicable: the linked Character & Fitness Disclosures page (law.msu.edu/admissions/apply/character-fitness) states that a 'yes' answer to any character and fitness question requires a brief statement 'called an addendum, addressing each incident,' and that MSU Law 'require[s] disclosure of every legal/disciplinary event above the level of a parking ticket. This includes all vehicular moving violations.'
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
Letters & documents
- Letter of recommendation (1 of 2)Requiredat submission
Notes & source
Verbatim: 'Two required, up to four accepted. No required designated source. Dated and signed recommendation should be submitted through LSAC's Letter of Recommendation Service.' The linked advice page (law.msu.edu/admissions/apply/recommendations) suggests professors and employers who have observed the applicant's work, but the toolkit itself imposes no academic/professional requirement.
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
- Letter of recommendation (2 of 2)Requiredat submission
Notes & source
Verbatim: 'Two required, up to four accepted. No required designated source. Dated and signed recommendation should be submitted through LSAC's Letter of Recommendation Service.' The linked advice page (law.msu.edu/admissions/apply/recommendations) suggests professors and employers who have observed the applicant's work, but the toolkit itself imposes no academic/professional requirement.
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
- RésuméRequiredat submission
Notes & source
Listed as a required application component ('Professional Resume'). No page limit is published: the linked 'Top Resume Tips' page (law.msu.edu/admissions/apply/resume) says 'Your law school resume can be longer than one page, if this is warranted,' and advises tailoring it to law school admissions, highlighting accomplishments, including contextual detail such as hours worked, and omitting high school material.
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
- Transcripts via LSAC CASRequiredat submission
Notes & source
Applicants set up an LSAC account and register with the Credential Assembly Service; 'an official copy of all transcripts will need to be sent to LSAC.' 'A degree from a 4-year accredited insititution is required prior to enrollment with MSU Law' (spelling as published). Final official transcripts showing conferral of the bachelor's degree must reach the College of Law by October 1 of the first year, or the student is administratively withdrawn; applicants finishing a degree over the summer submit a Verification of Pending Graduation form. Per the FAQ, the degree must come from a nationally or regionally accredited institution, or a foreign institution whose degree LSAC CAS deems equivalent. International applicants whose first language is not English and who hold no U.S. baccalaureate or graduate degree must submit TOEFL or IELTS; postsecondary work completed outside the U.S. or Canada must go through the LSAC JD Credential Assembly Service. No TOEFL/IELTS minimum scores are published.
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
- LSAT or GRERequiredat submission
Notes & source
LSAT. The Application Toolkit's test component is titled 'LSAT Score' and says only that 'The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is administered nine times per year through LSAC'; the admissions FAQ says applicants must 'have a valid LSAT score on file with LSAC.' Neither page mentions the GRE, and neither says the GRE is not accepted — recorded here as the site's silence, not as a rejection. The school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report likewise reports test data only for the LSAT (all 150 enrollees admitted on the LSAT). Multiple scores: 'we use your highest score when considering your application for admission' (FAQ). No minimum score; the FAQ states there is no minimum LSAT required and none that guarantees admission. No score-validity window is published, and the site does not mention the LSAT Writing sample.
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
Administrative
- Application feeRequiredat submission
Notes & source
Verbatim: 'You must submit the required application fee of $60. If you are unable to provide this fee, a fee waiver request may be directed to the MSU Law Office of Admissions at to admiss@law.msu.edu prior to submission of your application through LSAC.' The FAQ adds that waivers 'are available upon request by emailing admiss@law.msu.edu (please include your LSAC number with your request),' and the admissions landing page (law.msu.edu/admissions) carries a 'Request an Application Fee Waiver' link to a Google form. The $60 amount matches the school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report.
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
- InterviewOptionalat submission
Notes & source
None. FAQ wording: 'Does MSU Law require interviews as part of the admissions process? No, MSU Law does not require, nor utilize, interviews as part of the admissions process.' This is one of the few flat denials on the site rather than a silence.
Verified 2026-08-31 · source page
Every item above was verified against law.msu.edu on 2026-10-07. Expand any item for its own source. Always confirm against the school before you submit — and if we have something wrong, report an error.