Law Schools in California + LSAT Prep (2026 Guide)

California has 17 ABA-accredited law schools, and their median LSATs span 152 to 173 in the 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosures. That range runs from Stanford University at the top to Western State College of Law at the most accessible end, so applicants across a very wide score band have a realistic path to law school in California.

By Ali Unar, Georgetown Law, Founder of Lovare Institut. Ali Unar is a Georgetown Law student and the founder of Lovare Institut, an admissions and LSAT-prep practice built on primary-source law school data. Verified August 2026. The admissions figures on this page come from each California school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class, the in-state retention figures from the ABA Class of 2024 employment data, and the bar-exam status from the NCBE.

What law schools are in California?

There are 17 ABA-accredited law schools in California, spread across the state's major metropolitan areas from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Sacramento. The list mixes elite national programs, strong regional schools, the public University of California law campuses, and accessible independent schools. The table below lists every California law school with its median LSAT, acceptance rate, and full-time tuition, each figure drawn from that school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class.

SchoolMedian LSATAcceptance rateFull-time tuitionStanford University1736.1%$77,454University of California, Los Angeles17112.1%$59,084University of California, Berkeley17014.8%$62,532University of California, Irvine16914.9%$59,080University of Southern California (Gould)16911.2%$84,034University of California, Davis (King Hall)16516.0%$57,460Pepperdine University (Caruso)16423.4%$72,920Loyola Law School (Loyola Marymount)16326.1%$70,360University of San Diego16323.5%$66,950Chapman University (Fowler)16320.5%$63,126University of California College of the Law, San Francisco16127.5%$53,087Santa Clara University15952.6%$68,790Southwestern Law School15736.5%$63,160University of the Pacific (McGeorge)15654.4%$62,678California Western School of Law15546.9%$64,720University of San Francisco15542.4%$59,800Western State College of Law15243.7%$54,840

Source: every median LSAT, acceptance rate, and full-time tuition figure in this table is taken from that school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for the fall 2025 entering class, published through the ABA disclosure portal.

The top of the California market is among the strongest in the country. Stanford University posts a 173 median LSAT and a 6.1 percent acceptance rate, the University of California, Los Angeles posts a 171 median and 12.1 percent, and the University of California, Berkeley posts a 170 median and 14.8 percent, all according to the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. The University of California, Irvine and the University of Southern California (Gould) both report a 169 median, with USC Gould admitting 11.2 percent and UC Irvine 14.9 percent in the same data. This cluster of five schools at a 169 median or above gives California an unusually deep bench of nationally selective programs.

The middle of the California table is equally deep. The University of California, Davis (King Hall) reports a 165 median, Pepperdine University (Caruso) a 164 median, and a tight group of Loyola Law School (Loyola Marymount), the University of San Diego, and Chapman University (Fowler) each a 163 median, per the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco reports a 161 median. Below them, Santa Clara University (159), Southwestern Law School (157), the University of the Pacific (McGeorge) (156), California Western School of Law (155), the University of San Francisco (155), and Western State College of Law (152) fill out the accessible tier, according to the same 2025 ABA 509 data.

On cost, California shows a wide spread, and the public University of California campuses are the clear value plays. The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco lists the lowest full-time tuition in the state at $53,087, followed by Western State College of Law at $54,840 and the University of California, Davis at $57,460, according to the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. At the other end, the University of Southern California (Gould) lists $84,034 and Stanford University lists $77,454. That is a spread of roughly $31,000 a year between the most and least expensive law schools in California, so cost is a major variable across the state before any scholarship aid.

Geographically, California's 17 schools are distributed across the state's major regions rather than concentrated in one city, which shapes how applicants build a list. The San Francisco Bay Area holds Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, Santa Clara University, and the University of San Francisco. The Greater Los Angeles and Orange County area holds the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Southern California (Gould), Pepperdine University (Caruso), Loyola Law School (Loyola Marymount), Southwestern Law School, Chapman University (Fowler), and Western State College of Law. San Diego holds the University of San Diego and California Western School of Law, the University of California, Irvine anchors Orange County, the University of California, Davis (King Hall) sits near Sacramento, and the University of the Pacific (McGeorge) is in Sacramento itself. That spread means a California applicant can often target a preferred region and still find schools at several different selectivity levels within it.

What LSAT and GPA do you need for law school in California?

Across California, median LSATs run from 152 to 173 in the 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosures, one of the widest in-state ranges in the country. There is no single number that defines what you need for law school in California; the score you need depends entirely on which of the 17 schools you are targeting, and nearly every score in that band opens a real door somewhere in the state.

At the top, Stanford University (173 median), the University of California, Los Angeles (171 median), and the University of California, Berkeley (170 median) expect scores in the low 170s to be competitive, per the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. A 170 or above puts these California programs in play alongside the most selective schools nationally. Just below, the University of California, Irvine and the University of Southern California (Gould) each post a 169 median, so a high-160s score is competitive at that pair, and the University of California, Davis (King Hall) at 165 rounds out the group where the mid-160s is the target.

A score in the low-to-mid 160s opens a broad set of well-regarded California schools. Pepperdine University (Caruso) sits at a 164 median, and Loyola Law School (Loyola Marymount), the University of San Diego, and Chapman University (Fowler) each sit at a 163 median, according to the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco follows at 161. An applicant scoring 161 to 164 is therefore competitive at a deep tier of California programs across Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, and the Bay Area.

Lower scores are far from shut out in California, which matters given how many accessible schools the state has. Santa Clara University reports a 159 median and a 52.6 percent acceptance rate, the University of the Pacific (McGeorge) a 156 median and a 54.4 percent acceptance rate, and Western State College of Law a 152 median and a 43.7 percent acceptance rate, all in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Southwestern Law School (157), California Western School of Law (155), and the University of San Francisco (155) fill the same accessible band. A score in the mid-150s or even the low 150s is exactly where these California schools admit applicants, so an applicant in that range has genuine options and should not conclude that no accredited school in California will take them.

The depth of the California market rewards a tiered application list. Because the state has clusters of schools at nearly every median from 173 down to 152, an applicant can pair a reach at the low-170s programs with a set of matches in the 160s and a safety or two in the mid-150s, all within California and often within one region. A score at or above one school's median frequently becomes scholarship leverage at the schools a few points below it, so applying across tiers rather than to a single California program tends to produce both better admission odds and stronger aid offers. With 17 schools, California gives applicants more room to build that kind of layered list than almost any other state.

On GPA, this statewide roll-up reports each California school's median LSAT, acceptance rate, and tuition rather than a single GPA figure, so the precise GPA medians are not stated here and should be confirmed on each school's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. What the data does show is how much room the numbers leave on the transcript side at the many California schools flagged in the splitter section below. As a practical rule for California, treat the LSAT as the lever you can most improve before you apply, aim to reach or beat the median LSAT of your target school, and present the strongest GPA your record supports.

Which California law schools are splitter friendly?

A splitter is an applicant with a high LSAT but a lower GPA, and a reverse splitter is the opposite, a strong GPA paired with a lower LSAT. California, with 17 schools, offers more splitter-friendly targets than almost any state, which means an unbalanced file has many landing spots here. The reads below come from the 25th-to-median spreads in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures.

Two of the University of California campuses read as reverse-splitter friendly, admitting applicants whose LSAT sits below the class median when the GPA is strong. The University of California, Los Angeles shows a five-point gap between its 25th percentile LSAT and its median, and the University of California, Davis (King Hall) shows the same five-point LSAT spread, per the 2025 ABA 509 data. For a high-GPA applicant whose LSAT lags, those two California schools are the most likely to forgive the lower score.

The larger group of California schools reads as splitter friendly, where a strong LSAT can carry a lower GPA. The widest GPA spreads belong to Chapman University (Fowler) at a 0.38 gap between its 25th percentile GPA and its median, California Western School of Law at 0.33, the University of the Pacific (McGeorge) at 0.32, and the University of San Francisco at 0.31, according to the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Santa Clara University (0.27), Southwestern Law School (0.26), Pepperdine University (Caruso) (0.24), the University of San Diego (0.23), Loyola Law School (Loyola Marymount) (0.22), the University of California, Irvine (0.21), and the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (0.16) also read as splitter friendly in the same data. If your LSAT is your stronger number, this deep list of California schools is where that profile plays best.

A handful of California schools are not flagged in either direction in this roll-up, including Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California (Gould), so their spreads are not called out here and their class profiles should be read directly from their 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. The overall takeaway for California is that both kinds of splitters, and especially the high-LSAT splitter, have an unusually rich set of targets in the state, so an unbalanced application is far from a dead end in California.

What is the legal job market like in California?

California has one of the largest legal economies in the country, anchored by several distinct markets: Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and the state capital in Sacramento. Because the state is so large, most California law schools are regional in their placement, feeding the metro around them, while a few national programs send graduates across the country. The clearest signal in the data is how much of each school's class stays to practice in California, drawn here from the ABA Class of 2024 employment data.

In-state retention is very high at California's regional schools. Loyola Law School (Loyola Marymount) keeps 91 percent of its class in California, the University of San Diego keeps 88 percent, the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco keeps 86 percent, the University of the Pacific (McGeorge) keeps 84 percent, and Chapman University (Fowler) keeps 83 percent, all according to the ABA Class of 2024 employment data. These are deeply California-centered programs whose graduates overwhelmingly build careers in the state.

A second group of California schools keeps most of the class in state while sending a modest share elsewhere. The University of California, Irvine keeps 80 percent, the University of California, Davis (King Hall) and Santa Clara University each keep 79 percent, Southwestern Law School keeps 77 percent, the University of California, Los Angeles keeps 76 percent, the University of San Francisco keeps 74 percent, Pepperdine University (Caruso) keeps 73 percent, and California Western School of Law keeps 70 percent, per the ABA Class of 2024 employment data. Every one of these California schools sends at least seven in ten graduates into the state's legal market.

The two most national programs behave differently, as expected. The University of California, Berkeley keeps 60 percent of its class in California and Stanford University keeps 35 percent, according to the ABA Class of 2024 employment data, because their graduates disperse to major legal markets across the country. That lower in-state share is a feature of a national school, not a weakness. One honest gap: the University of Southern California (Gould) is not reported with an in-state retention figure in this roll-up, so its class-retention share is not stated here and should be checked against its own ABA employment summary. This page does not quote salary figures for the California market, because the packet behind it does not include them.

Does California use the NextGen bar exam?

California is not a Uniform Bar Examination state. It administers its own California Bar Examination rather than the UBE, and according to the NCBE it has adopted the NextGen bar exam with a first administration scheduled for July 2028. That makes California distinctive: unlike UBE states that will convert their existing exam, California is moving from its own long-standing exam directly to NextGen.

The national timeline still matters for anyone planning around law school in California. The NCBE reports that the legacy UBE and its Multistate Bar Examination component end nationally after the February 2028 administration, and California is set to begin NextGen at the July 2028 sitting. In practical terms, a candidate sitting for the California bar before July 2028 takes the current California exam, while those testing at or after that date take NextGen. Because California scores its own exam and sets its own passing standard, an applicant should confirm the exact format and requirements for their intended sitting with the State Bar of California, since the NCBE provides the national framework but California administers its own transition.

Where can you take the LSAT in California?

LSAT test centers are available across California's major metros, including the Los Angeles area, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and Sacramento, the state's largest population centers and the hubs of its legal community. Because the specific list of centers and the balance of in-person and remote seats change every testing cycle, the reliable move is to check LSAC's official test-center list at lsac.org when you register rather than relying on a fixed address.

Given California's size, applicants can generally find testing options serving markets from the Bay Area cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose down through Fresno and the Central Valley to Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, though exact availability shifts by cycle. LSAC also offers a remote-proctored option that lets many California candidates test from home, which is especially useful given the distances involved in the state. Whichever you choose, register early: the best dates and locations in California fill first, and a seat near you is easier to secure well ahead of the deadline.

Which California universities feed law school?

California has one of the deepest pools of pre-law feeder universities in the country. The University of California system, including the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Los Angeles, and campuses at San Diego, Davis, and Irvine, sends large cohorts into law school, and Stanford University and the University of Southern California do the same. The California State University system, the Claremont Colleges, and private universities such as Santa Clara University, Pepperdine University, and the University of San Diego round out the common feeders across California.

These schools are named as typical pre-law pipelines based on their size and prominence in California rather than any specific placement statistic, which this roll-up does not carry. A strong pre-law path in California depends far more on the LSAT score and GPA you assemble than on the name of your undergraduate institution, so an applicant from any California university, public or private, can compete for the schools in the table above by focusing on those two numbers. The state's large UC and Cal State campuses and its selective private universities simply serve as convenient starting points because of their size and their pre-law advising resources.

Frequently asked questions about law school in California

How many law schools are in California?

California has 17 ABA-accredited law schools, according to the 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosures compiled for this guide, one of the largest totals of any state. They range from Stanford University at a 173 median LSAT down to Western State College of Law at 152, so California offers everything from nationally elite programs to accessible independent schools, spread across the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento.

What is the easiest law school to get into in California?

By acceptance rate, the University of the Pacific (McGeorge) is the most accessible law school in California at 54.4 percent, with a 156 median LSAT, closely followed by Santa Clara University at 52.6 percent, per the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Western State College of Law has the lowest median in California at 152. These schools admit applicants in the mid-150s and low 150s, so a modest score still has a home in California.

What is the best law school in California?

By the 2025 ABA 509 numbers, Stanford University is the most selective law school in California, with a 173 median LSAT and a 6.1 percent acceptance rate, followed by the University of California, Los Angeles at 171 and the University of California, Berkeley at 170. All three are national programs. Best depends on fit and cost, but for elite credentials from a California school, Stanford leads the state.

What LSAT score do you need for law school in California?

It depends on your target. Median LSATs in California run 152 to 173 in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, so a low-170s score is competitive at Stanford, UCLA, and Berkeley, the mid-160s at UC Davis and above, the low 160s at a deep tier of private and UC schools, and the mid-150s at California's accessible programs. Reach or beat the median of your target school, and remember that lower scores still open real options in California.

How much does law school cost in California?

Full-time tuition in California ranges from $53,087 at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco and $54,840 at Western State College of Law up to $84,034 at the University of Southern California (Gould) and $77,454 at Stanford University, according to the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. The public University of California campuses are generally the lower-cost options, so cost varies widely across California law schools before scholarships.

Does California use the NextGen bar exam?

California administers its own California Bar Examination rather than the Uniform Bar Examination, and according to the NCBE it has adopted the NextGen bar exam with a first administration scheduled for July 2028. The NCBE reports that the legacy UBE and Multistate Bar Examination end nationally after the February 2028 administration. California candidates testing at or after July 2028 will take NextGen, so confirm your format with the State Bar of California.

Can you take the bar in California with an out-of-state degree?

Yes. A JD from any ABA-accredited law school qualifies you to sit for the California bar, so you do not have to attend one of the 17 law schools in California to be admitted to practice there. This reflects standard national practice rather than a figure from the packet. Because California scores its own exam, applicants should confirm the current California admission and registration requirements with the State Bar of California.

Which California law school has the best bar passage?

This statewide roll-up reports median LSAT, acceptance rate, and tuition for each California school but does not include school-by-school first-time bar-passage rates, so it would be inventing a figure to name a single leader. To compare bar passage across California law schools, consult each school's ABA bar-passage report through the ABA disclosure portal, where first-time and ultimate pass rates for every California program are published.

Are there part-time or evening law programs in California?

This guide focuses on the 2025 ABA 509 admissions figures for California and does not enumerate which schools run part-time or evening divisions, so it will not attribute specific program formats that were not provided. Several California schools have historically offered part-time study, but the reliable step is to confirm the current part-time and evening options directly with each California law school you are considering before you apply.

Where can you take the LSAT in California?

LSAT test centers operate across California's major metros, including the Los Angeles area, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Sacramento, and the Central Valley. Because specific centers change each cycle, check LSAC's official test-center list at lsac.org when you register. A remote-proctored option also lets many California candidates test from home, which is helpful given the state's size, so weigh that against an in-person seat and register early for the best availability in California.

Which California law schools are splitter friendly?

On the splitter side, where a high LSAT offsets a lower GPA, Chapman University (Fowler), California Western School of Law, and the University of the Pacific (McGeorge) show the widest GPA spreads in California, with several other private and UC schools also flagged, per the 2025 ABA 509 data. As reverse splitters, where a strong GPA offsets a lower LSAT, the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Davis (King Hall) lead in California.

Do you have to go to law school in California to practice there?

No. You can earn a JD from an ABA-accredited school in any state and then sit for the California bar to practice in California, so attending an in-state school is not required. Many California attorneys studied elsewhere and moved to the state. Because California gives its own exam, confirm current admission rules and any requirements for out-of-state applicants with the State Bar of California, since those rules sit outside the 509 data used here.

Which California law schools have the highest in-state retention?

Loyola Law School (Loyola Marymount) keeps the largest share of its class in California at 91 percent, followed by the University of San Diego at 88 percent and the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco at 86 percent, according to the ABA Class of 2024 employment data. These California schools are strongly oriented toward in-state practice, which suits an applicant whose goal is to build a career within California.

Is a 165 LSAT good in California?

Yes. A 165 sits at or above the median at the University of California, Davis (King Hall) (165) and above the medians of every California school in the low 160s and below, per the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, so it is competitive at a deep tier of the state's programs and strong for scholarship consideration. It falls below the low-170s medians at Stanford, UCLA, and Berkeley, but a 165 is a genuinely strong score in California.

Which California law schools are the best value?

On sticker tuition, the public University of California campuses lead: the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco at $53,087 and the University of California, Davis (King Hall) at $57,460 pair relatively low cost with strong medians of 161 and 165, according to the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Western State College of Law is the next-lowest at $54,840. Value in California should always be measured net of scholarship aid, not by sticker price alone.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from primary disclosures, listed here so readers can verify each one directly for California.

ABA Standard 509 Information Reports (2025), for each California law school's median LSAT, acceptance rate, and full-time tuition, through the ABA disclosure portal: https://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/

NCBE, for California bar-exam status and the NextGen transition timeline: https://www.ncbex.org/

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