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The short answer on is BYU law school worth it: pick it if you are a member of the sponsoring church. Skip it if you want a secular campus. It costs $38,428 a year and places 34.6 percent into large firms. The argument follows.
The most extreme value proposition in American legal education, inside the most religiously specific institutional culture.
The verified position: a 22.8 percent acceptance rate, a 170 LSAT and 3.95 GPA median, $38,428 a year with a $11,646 median grant reaching 98 percent of students, and 34.6 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate22.8% (148 offers on 649 applications)LSAT 25/50/75168 / 170 / 172GPA 25/50/753.82 / 3.95 / 3.98Annual cost of attendance$38,428Median grant / share receiving$11,646 to 98% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates127Firms of 101+ attorneys34.6% (44 graduates)Federal clerkships7.1% (9 graduates)Employed at 10 months100.0%Top marketsUT 66, TX 11, CA 10CityProvo, UTCar neededYesJanuary average low / July average high23.8F / 95.2F
Sources: BYU's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://law-23-media-prod.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Std509_Info_Report_2026_18cd9b8ae9.pdf), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://law-23-media-prod.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/EQ_Summary_19_03_30_2026_14_58_31_a6dc1be62f.pdf), and its admissions pages (https://law.byu.edu/admissions/resources?tab=important-dates). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
You are a member of the sponsoring church, you want the Mountain West, or graduating debt-free is the deciding factor.
Members of the sponsoring church, anyone who wants to practise in the Mountain West, and applicants for whom near-zero debt is the deciding variable.
The disclosed numbers behind that: 34.6 percent large-firm placement, 7.1 percent federal clerkships, 100.0 percent employed at ten months, and a placement pattern of UT 66, TX 11, CA 10.
You want a secular campus, a large legal market, or a conventional graduate social life.
Anyone who wants a secular environment, a large market, or a conventional graduate social life.
The complaint current students actually make, which is the fairest warning available: Bar-required employment of 81.0% is the lowest in this group, and the Utah market is small. The Honor Code governs student life comprehensively.
Tuition for members of the sponsoring church is roughly a fifth of the private-school average. A BYU graduate earning the $140,000 median with no debt is in a materially stronger financial position than a Columbia graduate earning $235,000 with $350,000 of debt, and it is not close.
It is checkable. Every number we have used is in BYU's own filings, linked above, and we would rather you verify it than trust us.
Bar-required employment is the lowest in these volumes even though every graduate was employed, the Utah market is small, and the Honor Code governs student life comprehensively. Applicants who are not aligned with the institution's mission will find three years long.
Price it rather than dismissing it. The three-year net cost at the median grant is roughly $80,346, our arithmetic before interest, and that is the sum you are putting against the risk.
Since July 1, 2026 federal borrowing is capped at $50,000 a year and $200,000 in aggregate with Grad PLUS eliminated, under the Reimagining and Improving Student Education final rule, which attributes the change to the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/01/2026-08556/reimagining-and-improving-student-education-federal-student-loan-program-final-regulations). That cap covers the full cost here, which materially lowers the financial risk relative to peers.
You accept a comprehensively religious institutional culture in exchange for the lowest cost of legal education in the country.
Run the comparison on net cost after your actual offer rather than on sticker, because the median grant is a midpoint and half of recipients received less. Then weigh the outcome columns against the market you actually intend to practice in.
For the daily texture rather than the verdict, see what BYU Law is really like. For where it sits against every other school on outcomes and cost, our value table ranks all 31.
You are a member of the sponsoring church, you want the Mountain West, or graduating debt-free is the deciding factor. You want a secular campus, a large legal market, or a conventional graduate social life.
Members of the sponsoring church, anyone who wants to practise in the Mountain West, and applicants for whom near-zero debt is the deciding variable. The verified case is 34.6 percent large-firm placement, 7.1 percent federal clerkships and 100.0 percent employed at ten months.
Anyone who wants a secular environment, a large market, or a conventional graduate social life. Bar-required employment of 81.0% is the lowest in this group, and the Utah market is small. The Honor Code governs student life comprehensively.
Bar-required employment is the lowest in these volumes even though every graduate was employed, the Utah market is small, and the Honor Code governs student life comprehensively. Applicants who are not aligned with the institution's mission will find three years long. Against a three-year net cost of roughly $80,346 at the median grant, that risk deserves an explicit price.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026