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Willamette University College of Law is a private law school in Salem, Oregon, near the state capitol. Its 2025 ABA Standard 509 report shows a median LSAT of 154 and a 61.42% acceptance rate, the most accessible in the verified 2025 set, and it places most graduates in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Its exact U.S. News position is published in the U.S. News Best Law Schools rankings.
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Every figure on this page was verified in August 2026 against the sources listed below.
Willamette University College of Law is a private, ABA-approved school in Salem, the capital of Oregon. It functions as a regional school, using its location beside the Oregon Legislature and state courts to place graduates into government, clerkships, and regional firms. Its 2025 ABA Standard 509 report shows a median LSAT of 154 and a 61.42% acceptance rate; its exact U.S. News rank sits outside the schools individually listed at the top and is published in the U.S. News Best Law Schools rankings rather than in the verified data used here. Its founding year and its standing among the oldest Pacific Northwest law schools are detailed in the school's own history materials rather than in the sources used for this page.
For a regional school, the outcome numbers carry more weight than the rank. The table lists the figures worth confirming, each from the school's ABA disclosures.
MeasureFigureSourceU.S. News rank or tierSee U.S. News Best Law Schools rankingsU.S. NewsMedian LSAT154ABA 509 (2025)Median GPASee ABA 509 reportABA 509Acceptance rate61.42%ABA 509 (2025)First-time bar passageSee ABA 509 reportABA 509JD-required employmentSee ABA employment reportABA employment reportFull-time tuitionSee ABA 509 reportSchool data / ABA 509
Median LSAT (154) and acceptance rate (61.42%) are from Willamette's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report; its U.S. News rank, median GPA, first-time bar passage, employment, and tuition are published in the U.S. News rankings and the school's ABA 509 disclosure and are not in the verified data used here.
For Willamette, the national rank says little about its real value. What matters is first-time bar passage, how many graduates land JD-required jobs, and where those jobs are, since a regional school earns its worth in its home market. Willamette concentrates placement in Oregon and the wider Pacific Northwest, so judge it against employment and bar passage there rather than a national list.
Willamette can be a reasonable choice if you plan to practise in Oregon or the Pacific Northwest, want access to state government and clerkship pipelines, or value its capital-city location. Compare its bar passage and employment with other regional schools, including the University of Oregon and Lewis and Clark, and weigh any scholarship, because for a regional degree, cost after aid usually decides value more than the rank.
Willamette University College of Law is an established, ABA-approved regional school whose value is strongest for students aiming to practise in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Its 2025 ABA 509 report shows a median LSAT of 154 and a 61.42% acceptance rate; review its full ABA 509 outcomes and your scholarship offer rather than the rank alone.
Admission to Willamette turns mainly on your LSAT and GPA against its published medians, which sit below the national top tier and make it more accessible than higher-ranked schools. Its 2025 ABA Standard 509 report lists a median LSAT of 154, and its median UGPA is published in that same disclosure, so aim at or above them to be competitive, especially for scholarship money.
Willamette concentrates its graduate placement in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, with many entering state government, courts, clerkships, and regional firms, aided by the school's location in the state capital. Its exact placement breakdown by job type and location is published in its ABA employment summary rather than in the verified data used here.
Law school rankings, led by U.S. News, score each school on weighted factors: bar passage and employment, reputation surveys, and selectivity inputs like median LSAT and GPA. The weights change periodically, so a regional school's tier can shift without any real change in its teaching or placement. The exact current weights are published in the U.S. News Best Law Schools methodology, so read the ABA outcome data behind the rank.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026