Illinois has one of the deepest law-school markets in the country: two nationally elite schools, a major public flagship, several Chicago-centered private schools, Chicago's public law school, and two lower-cost regional publics. That makes a simple “best law schools in Illinois” ranking less useful than a tiered decision.
For national BigLaw, federal clerkships, academia, and maximum geographic portability, University of Chicago and Northwestern operate in a different market from the rest of the state. The University of Illinois College of Law is the strongest public-school bridge between national/Chicago outcomes and materially lower tuition. Loyola Chicago, Chicago-Kent, and DePaul are serious Chicago-network schools whose scholarship offers can reorder the middle of the market. UIC, Northern Illinois, and Southern Illinois become especially important when public tuition, part-time access, public service, or minimizing debt matters more than national portability.
This guide uses the most current school-published class profiles and 2026–27 tuition available as of September 19, 2026. Where a school has not yet published Fall 2026 medians, we label the 2025 entering-class year rather than quietly presenting an older number as current.
| School | Current published LSAT / GPA median | 2026–27 tuition signal | Best reason to consider it |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Chicago Law | 174 / 3.97 (2025) | $86,856 tuition | National elite placement, federal clerkships, academia, Chicago + national portability |
| Northwestern Pritzker | 173 / 3.96 (2025) | $83,044 tuition | National BigLaw/business-law placement, experienced-student profile, Chicago + national portability |
| University of Illinois | 166 / 3.81 (Class of 2028 profile) | $36,500 resident / $46,500 nonresident + fees | Public flagship value with strong Chicago/Illinois reach |
| Loyola Chicago | 161 / 3.70 (2025) | $61,250 tuition + mandatory fees | Chicago network, health/public-interest depth, weekend JD |
| Chicago-Kent | 161 / 3.72 (2025) | $56,550–$60,320 first-year FT tuition depending credits | Downtown Chicago, IP/tech/litigation depth, day/evening flexibility |
| DePaul | 159 / 3.72 (Fall 2026) | $56,436 full-time | Downtown Chicago network, broad clinics/certificates, improving entering profile |
| UIC Law | 153 / 3.40 on official page labeled Fall 2025 | $1,248/credit resident; $1,560/credit nonresident + fees | Chicago's public law school, day/evening access |
| Northern Illinois | 150 / 3.41 (Fall 2025) | $26,924.56 domestic tuition + fees | Low-cost public option with government/public-interest orientation |
| SIU Simmons Law | 149 / 3.38 (2025) | $16,957 tuition + $4,751 fees + $998 academic support | Lowest-cost Illinois option in this comparison; downstate/public-service fit |
The table is not a numerical ranking. A student admitted to UChicago and Northwestern is making a different decision from a student choosing among Loyola, Chicago-Kent, and DePaul—or from an Illinois resident comparing UIC, NIU, and SIU on debt.
These schools recruit nationally and send graduates into the largest firms, federal clerkships, elite public-sector roles, and national markets at rates the other Illinois schools do not replicate. If one of them admits you, compare the actual financial-aid packages and institutional fit rather than treating a small rankings difference as dispositive.
Illinois is the public flagship with a current Class of 2028 profile of 166 median LSAT and 3.81 median GPA. Its tuition—$36,500 resident and $46,500 nonresident before fees—is materially below the Chicago elite schools and most Chicago private schools. For many applicants targeting Chicago or Illinois practice, this is the state’s most interesting cost-versus-outcome proposition.
These schools compete heavily in the Chicago regional market. Their current medians are close enough that scholarship-adjusted cost, specific programs, part-time format, and employer relationships matter more than forcing a rigid ordinal ranking. Loyola and Chicago-Kent each reported a 161 median LSAT in the latest 2025 ABA data; DePaul’s Fall 2026 median has risen to 159.
These public schools should be evaluated through debt, geography, bar/employment outcomes, and program format. NIU and SIU in particular publish 2026–27 costs far below most Chicago private schools. That can create a rational path for applicants committed to regional government, public interest, smaller-firm, or downstate practice—but low tuition does not eliminate the need to inspect completion, bar, and employment data.
UChicago’s class entering in 2025 reports a 174 median LSAT and 3.97 median GPA. The school enrolls roughly 200 new JD students each year, creating a small-class model inside a university with extraordinary economics, law-and-economics, clerkship, and academic depth.
The 2026–27 cost is equally elite: first-year JD tuition is $86,856, with a published 1L cost of attendance of $122,034 including fees and estimated living costs.
The reason to pay attention is not simply the school’s rank. UChicago operates as a national market credential. Students can recruit in Chicago while also targeting New York, DC, California, federal clerkships, academia, and national firms. If your career goal is highly portable and the aid package is workable, that option value is real.
See UChicago’s current JD profile FAQ and 2026–27 cost of attendance.
Northwestern’s 2025 entering JD/JD-MBA/JD-PhD class reports a 173 median LSAT and 3.96 median GPA, with a middle 50% of 167–175 LSAT and 3.76–4.00 GPA. The school enrolled 253 students across those programs.
Northwestern remains distinctive for experience: 85% of the entering cohort had at least one year off after undergraduate study. That work-experience orientation, downtown Chicago location, Kellogg connections, and corporate-law recruiting make the school especially natural for students with business, consulting, finance, technology, or other professional backgrounds.
Current 2026–27 JD tuition is $83,044. As with UChicago, the meaningful comparison is aid-adjusted cost plus the employment platform—not three points in a magazine ranking.
See Northwestern’s JD class profile and 2026–27 tuition.
Illinois’ current published Class of 2028 profile reports 160/166/168 LSAT percentiles and 3.55/3.81/3.92 GPA percentiles, with 191 students enrolled and a 33% acceptance rate for that class.
The financial case is strong. For 2026–27, tuition is $36,500 for Illinois residents and $46,500 for nonresidents, plus $5,793 in fees. The school’s cost-of-attendance page also says its scholarships are unconditional as long as recipients remain enrolled.
Illinois is located in Champaign rather than Chicago, but Chicago is a central employment destination. The decision is therefore not “do I need to be physically downtown for three years?” It is whether the school’s employer pipeline plus lower net price beats a Chicago private school’s geographic convenience and network.
The school also reports a 93% first-time Illinois bar pass rate for July 2025 takers.
See the current class profile and 2026–27 tuition and aid.
Loyola’s 2025 ABA profile reports a 161 median LSAT and 3.70 median GPA, with middle-50% ranges of 159–163 and 3.55–3.83. It enrolled both full-time and part-time students.
For 2026–27, full-time JD tuition is $30,625 per semester, or $61,250 across fall and spring, before mandatory fees and health insurance. Loyola also operates a Weekend JD structure, which materially changes the comparison for working students.
Loyola’s strongest argument is not “higher median than DePaul.” It is a combination of Chicago placement, a large alumni network, health-law/public-interest infrastructure, clinics, and part-time flexibility. Compare the actual scholarship offer with Chicago-Kent and DePaul before making the decision.
See Loyola’s School of Law and 2026–27 tuition schedule.
Chicago-Kent’s 2025 ABA profile reports a 161 median LSAT and 3.72 median GPA, with LSAT percentiles of 156/161/164 and GPA percentiles of 3.45/3.72/3.89.
The 2026 entering class pays $1,885 per credit. First-year full-time day tuition is currently published as $56,550 to $60,320 depending on the 30–32 credit course load. Part-time evening and part-time day options cost less in the first year because they carry fewer credits.
Kent deserves particular attention for intellectual property/technology law, trial advocacy, labor/employment, and students who want a downtown Chicago legal education without paying UChicago/Northwestern pricing. Its current 2025 Standard 509 disclosures also show a high share of students receiving grants, which makes net-price comparison especially important.
See Chicago-Kent’s ABA disclosures and 2026–27 tuition.
DePaul’s Fall 2026 entering class reports a 159 median LSAT and 3.72 median GPA, with 25th–75th percentile ranges of 155–161 LSAT and 3.43–3.87 GPA. The full-time entering class is 247 students.
Current 2026–27 full-time tuition is $56,436. Dean’s achievement scholarships are awarded with admission without a separate application.
DePaul’s downtown location, clinics, and certificate programs give it direct relevance to students committed to Chicago. Its published offerings include business, criminal, health, privacy/cybersecurity, IP, international, and public-interest concentrations and clinics.
For applicants deciding between DePaul, Loyola, and Chicago-Kent, the scholarship letter should carry far more weight than a one- or two-point median difference.
See DePaul’s Fall 2026 enrollment statistics.
UIC’s admissions page labels its current displayed entering statistics as Fall 2025 and reports a 153 median LSAT and 3.40 median GPA, with 150–156 LSAT and 3.13–3.64 GPA as the 25th–75th ranges. The same page contains an older footnote, so applicants should verify the next Standard 509 report before treating those numbers as the final Fall 2025 record.
UIC’s strategic distinction is structural: it is Chicago’s public law school and offers both day and evening enrollment. For 2026–27, newly entered students are charged $1,248 per credit for Illinois-resident tuition and $1,560 per credit for nonresident tuition, plus university fees and assessments.
The school is therefore worth comparing on a credit-by-credit net-cost basis rather than against a private school’s flat annual sticker. Chicago location is a real advantage for externships and networking, but outcomes and scholarship-adjusted debt still control the decision.
See UIC’s admission statistics and 2026–27 tuition.
NIU’s Fall 2025 entering class reports a 150 median LSAT and 3.41 median GPA. The school enrolled 134 first-year students and says 35% came from outside Illinois.
NIU’s strongest argument is price. For 2026–27, domestic students pay the same rate regardless of state residency: $26,924.56 in tuition and fees for incoming full-time students. The school places particular emphasis on government and public-interest careers and is based in DeKalb, roughly 65 miles from Chicago.
That is a very different product from paying $56,000–$61,000 in tuition at a downtown private school. The tradeoff is market access: compare the actual employers and geographic outcomes you want rather than assuming “near Chicago” means identical Chicago recruiting.
See NIU’s current class facts and 2026–27 costs.
SIU Simmons Law’s 2025 ABA data report a 149 median LSAT and 3.38 median GPA, with LSAT percentiles of 146/149/155 and GPA percentiles of 2.93/3.38/3.78.
Its 2026–27 tuition is unusually low: $16,957 in tuition based on 31 hours, plus $4,751 in fees and $998 in academic support. The school charges the same $547-per-credit tuition rate to Illinois and non-Illinois residents.
SIU is in Carbondale, and the school’s employment market is correspondingly regional rather than Chicago-centric. The price can make sense for students pursuing southern Illinois, Missouri, government, public interest, smaller-firm, or regional practice—but applicants should inspect the latest bar and employment disclosures before treating low cost as sufficient by itself.
See SIU’s 2026–27 tuition and ABA disclosures.
The differences are real but smaller than the common obsession with ordering them.
UChicago is smaller and particularly prominent in law-and-economics, federal clerkships, academia, and intellectually intensive doctrinal study. Northwestern has a distinctive work-experience profile, business/corporate orientation, downtown campus, and strong connections to the broader Chicago business ecosystem.
At current tuition, both are expensive: $86,856 versus $83,044 before living costs and aid. If you hold both offers, compare scholarship packages, debt, career goal, academic culture, location preference, and the particular programs you will actually use.
For many applicants, the most important Illinois decision is not UChicago versus Northwestern. It is Illinois versus Loyola/Chicago-Kent/DePaul.
The public flagship currently posts a 166 median LSAT and 3.81 median GPA while charging $36,500 resident or $46,500 nonresident tuition before fees. The Chicago privates charge roughly $56,000–$61,000 in current full-time tuition before aid.
That does not make Illinois automatically cheaper. Chicago private schools can give large merit awards, and living in Champaign versus Chicago changes cost as well. But Illinois should usually be in the comparison for anyone targeting Chicago who receives an offer because it can pair strong employment access with lower public-school pricing.
| Dimension | Loyola Chicago | Chicago-Kent | DePaul |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current published median LSAT | 161 (2025) | 161 (2025) | 159 (2026) |
| Current published median GPA | 3.70 | 3.72 | 3.72 |
| 2026–27 FT tuition signal | $61,250 + fees | $56,550–$60,320 first year | $56,436 |
| Part-time structure | Weekend JD | Evening and part-time day | Part-time options / verify current entering structure |
| Notable fit | Health, public interest, broad Chicago network | IP/tech, litigation, labor, flexible divisions | Broad downtown clinics, health/IP/privacy/criminal programs |
The right approach is to apply to the schools that fit, then let the scholarship offers reveal the actual price hierarchy. A $30,000 annual scholarship changes far more than a two-place specialty ranking.
On current 2026–27 published pricing in this comparison, SIU Simmons Law has the lowest tuition at $16,957 plus fees and academic-support charges. NIU is the next major low-cost public option at $26,924.56 in tuition and fees for domestic students.
UIC can also be economically attractive for Illinois residents, but its per-credit tuition plus university fees means you should calculate the expected annual credit load rather than comparing a single annual sticker.
Cheapest is not the same as best value. Value requires the probability of reaching your target employment outcome.
UChicago and Northwestern provide the strongest national-and-Chicago access. Illinois places substantially into Chicago despite being in Champaign. Loyola, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, and UIC are physically embedded in Chicago and have regional alumni and employer networks there.
NIU can reach Chicago but is more regionally distributed, and SIU is primarily a downstate/regional option.
If your target is Chicago BigLaw specifically, compare large-firm placement and class-rank realities rather than simply attending the closest campus. Geographic proximity helps networking; it does not equal identical employer access.
Several Illinois schools create nontraditional routes. Loyola operates a Weekend JD. Chicago-Kent offers part-time evening and part-time day divisions. UIC enrolls evening students. DePaul has historically enrolled part-time students; verify the current incoming program structure when applying.
Part-time can be valuable for students who need to continue working, but compare total years, credit pace, tuition, recruiting timing, and whether the career services you need are accessible around your work schedule.
Use current medians as orientation, not as admit probabilities.
| LSAT band | Illinois schools whose current published median is in/near the band | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| 173–174+ | UChicago, Northwestern | Elite-school band; GPA, writing, experience, and the rest of the file remain important. |
| 165–168 | University of Illinois | Strong public-flagship band; also creates scholarship leverage below this tier. |
| 159–164 | Loyola, Chicago-Kent, DePaul | Chicago private-school cluster; apply across schools you would attend and compare aid. |
| 150–156 | UIC, NIU | Public/regional options; inspect scholarship, bar, employment, and part-time fit. |
| Mid/high 140s–low 150s | SIU Simmons | Lower-cost regional option; evaluate outcomes alongside access. |
This is not a “safety/target/reach” probability model. A median simply tells you where half of the enrolled class sits relative to that metric.
Chicago private schools award substantial merit aid, so sticker tuition is only the starting point. Illinois also awards scholarships that it describes as unconditional while the student remains enrolled. NIU and SIU begin from much lower sticker prices.
Compare each offer on one sheet:
Once you have competing awards, use our scholarship negotiation guide.
UChicago and Northwestern are the state’s national-elite schools. University of Illinois is the strongest public flagship option. The best choice for an individual depends on career target, scholarship-adjusted cost, Chicago access, and admission options.
Chicago itself includes UChicago, Northwestern, Loyola Chicago, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, and UIC. They operate in very different employment and price tiers, so proximity alone should not be treated as equivalence.
Based on current 2026–27 published pricing, SIU Simmons has the lowest tuition in this comparison, followed by NIU among the low-cost public options. Net price after scholarships can change the order.
Yes. Illinois is in Champaign but has a strong Chicago-facing employment network and a current entering median of 166 LSAT. Compare its public-school net price with scholarship offers from Chicago private schools.
Loyola has a Weekend JD, Chicago-Kent has evening and part-time day divisions, and UIC enrolls evening students. Verify DePaul’s current part-time structure for the cycle in which you apply.
Current published medians range from 174 at UChicago and 173 at Northwestern to 149 at SIU. Medians are not cutoffs; use the full percentile distribution and your scholarship/career goals to build the list.
Current profiles and prices were checked against school-controlled sources where available: UChicago’s JD FAQ and 2026–27 cost page; Northwestern’s 2025 JD profile and 2026–27 tuition; Illinois’ class profile and tuition-aid page; DePaul’s Fall 2026 enrollment statistics; UIC’s admissions and tuition pages; NIU’s current class and cost pages; SIU’s current tuition and ABA-disclosure pages; and Chicago-Kent’s 2025 Standard 509 disclosure and 2026–27 tuition page. Loyola’s latest 2025 ABA profile was used for its median credentials, with 2026–27 tuition from Loyola’s bursar.
Not every Illinois school has published the same Fall 2026 data on the same timetable. We label the source year rather than mixing 2025 and 2026 figures without disclosure. The decision model emphasizes current price, market access, program format, and career portability instead of ranking all nine schools by LSAT median.
Written by Ali Unar, Founder, Lovare Institut. Verified September 19, 2026.