Law Schools in Delaware + LSAT Prep (2026 Guide)

There are two law schools in Delaware accredited by the ABA: Widener University Delaware Law School and Wilmington University. Their median LSATs span 149 to 152, according to each school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. A score in the low 150s is competitive at either Delaware school, and the more accessible option reaches into the high 140s.

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. Every school-level figure in this Delaware guide comes from that school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class, and every bar-exam detail comes from the NCBE.

What law schools are in Delaware?

Delaware is home to two ABA accredited law schools: Widener University Delaware Law School, based in Wilmington, and Wilmington University. That small number makes Delaware one of the quieter states for legal education, with far fewer options than a large state, so applicants who want to study in Delaware are choosing between two programs rather than a dozen. The table below lists both Delaware schools with the three numbers most applicants compare first.

SchoolMedian LSATAcceptance rateFull-time tuitionWidener University Delaware Law School15259.7%$59,150Wilmington University14952.0%$25,170

Each figure in this table, the median LSAT, the acceptance rate, and the full-time tuition, comes from that Delaware school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class. The two Delaware schools sit close together on the LSAT scale but far apart on price. Widener University Delaware Law School posts the higher median LSAT at 152 and, at the same time, the higher acceptance rate at 59.7%, so it admits a large share of its applicants. Wilmington University posts a 149 median and a 52.0% acceptance rate. On tuition the gap is wide: Widener University Delaware Law School charges $59,150 in full-time tuition, while Wilmington University charges $25,170, less than half. For a Delaware applicant, that cost difference is one of the most important facts on this page, and it deserves as much weight as the median LSAT when comparing the two schools.

Because Delaware offers only two ABA accredited law schools, the in-state decision is a direct comparison rather than a long shortlist, which is actually an advantage: you can study both schools in real depth instead of skimming a dozen. The two Delaware options sit only three LSAT points apart at the median, so for many applicants the deciding factors will not be the test score at all but the tuition gap, the location within Delaware, the specific concentrations each school offers, and the employment outcomes each publishes. An applicant who is open to leaving the state should also weigh nearby programs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, since Delaware's compact geography puts several out-of-state law schools within commuting range of Wilmington.

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

In Delaware, median LSATs run from 149 to 152 across the two ABA law schools, according to their 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosures. Widener University Delaware Law School holds the state's top median at 152, while Wilmington University sits at 149, the most accessible entry point in Delaware. A score anywhere in the low 150s is at or above both Delaware medians.

Start with the anchor number. A median LSAT is the score at the exact middle of a school's entering class, so half of the students admitted to that Delaware school scored above it and half scored below. When your score sits at or above a school's median, you are competitive there on the test, which is the single most heavily weighted number in law school admissions. At Widener University Delaware Law School, a 152 puts you right at the middle of the class, and anything from 152 up strengthens your file. At Wilmington University, a 149 sits at the center of the class, so a score in the high 140s is already inside the range Delaware's more accessible school admits every year.

Because both Delaware medians fall between 149 and 152, the practical target for an applicant who wants real choice in Delaware is a score in the low-to-mid 150s. A 153 or 154 clears both Delaware medians and moves you into the upper half at Widener University Delaware Law School, which is exactly where scholarship offers tend to concentrate. A score in the high 140s does not shut you out of Delaware: it lands at or near the Wilmington University median and remains inside the band that Widener University Delaware Law School admits from, given its 59.7% acceptance rate. The honest message for a lower scorer is that Delaware keeps a door open, especially at the more accessible end of the state.

On GPA, this Delaware guide reports the LSAT medians each school publishes; the matching GPA bands are printed in those same 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosures, and this page does not reproduce the school-level GPA medians because they were not part of the underlying data set here. Treat the LSAT median as the anchor number for each Delaware school and confirm the exact GPA range in that school's 509 before you rely on it. As a general rule that holds across Delaware, a strong application pairs an LSAT at or above the school's median with a GPA inside that school's published middle band, and a softer number on one measure asks the other to compensate.

If your score is not yet where you want it, the LSAT is the most improvable number in your file, which is why disciplined LSAT prep is the highest-leverage step for a Delaware applicant. Moving from the high 140s into the low 150s can shift you from the bottom of the Wilmington University range to the middle of the Widener University Delaware Law School class, and that same movement is what turns a full-price admit into a scholarship candidate in Delaware. A structured study plan, timed sections, and careful review of missed logical reasoning and reading questions are the ordinary path to those gains.

One more point on scoring strategy in Delaware. Law schools report the high score for admitted students who test more than once, so a retake that raises your LSAT generally helps rather than hurts your standing at a Delaware school, and there is little downside to a well-prepared second attempt. If your first score lands in the high 140s and you have time before the Delaware application cycle closes, a focused retake aimed at the low 150s can change which of the two Delaware schools sits within comfortable reach and how much scholarship money is on the table. The reverse is also true: rushing to apply with an under-prepared score can leave money and options behind in a small state where every point counts.

Which Delaware law schools are splitter friendly?

In Delaware, Widener University Delaware Law School reads as splitter friendly, based on its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, which shows a GPA spread of 0.38 from the 25th percentile up to the median. Wilmington University is not flagged as splitter friendly in this build, so this Delaware guide does not claim that it is. A splitter is an applicant with a high LSAT and a lower GPA.

Here is what splitter friendly means in practice. A splitter carries a strong LSAT and a below-median GPA, and a reverse splitter carries the opposite, a strong GPA with a below-median LSAT. A splitter-friendly school is one whose numbers show it will accept a softer GPA when the LSAT is strong, which shows up as a wide gap between the 25th percentile GPA and the median GPA. At Widener University Delaware Law School, that GPA gap is 0.38, a meaningfully wide spread, which tells you the school routinely admits students whose transcripts sit well below its middle while their test scores carry the file. For a Delaware applicant whose GPA is the weaker half of the profile, Widener University Delaware Law School is the in-state school where a strong LSAT does the most work.

Wilmington University is not identified as splitter friendly in the data behind this Delaware guide, which does not mean it refuses splitters, only that its published spread was not flagged, so this page will not assert a claim it cannot support. The practical takeaway for Delaware is straightforward: if you are a splitter, put your energy into the LSAT, because that is the number that opens Widener University Delaware Law School, and confirm each Delaware school's current GPA band directly in its 509 before deciding where your profile fits best.

What is the legal job market like in Delaware?

Delaware's dominant legal market is Wilmington, the seat of the Delaware Court of Chancery and the corporate and bankruptcy bar that has made Delaware the incorporation capital of the United States. In-state retention data is limited in this build, so this Delaware guide does not publish a class-retention percentage for either Delaware school and instead points readers to each school's ABA Employment Summary for the precise figures.

What sets Delaware apart from almost every other state is the outsized importance of corporate law. A very large share of United States business entities, including a majority of the largest public companies, are incorporated in Delaware, and the disputes that follow are heard in the Delaware Court of Chancery in Wilmington, a specialized business court with a national reputation. That concentration gives Delaware a legal market far larger and more sophisticated than its small population would suggest, weighted toward corporate governance, mergers, bankruptcy, and complex commercial litigation clustered in Wilmington. Dover, the state capital, adds a layer of government and public-sector legal work.

Because in-state retention data is limited in this build, this Delaware guide will not estimate what percentage of each school's class stays in Delaware, and it will not invent salary figures for Delaware graduates. What can be said honestly is that graduates of Delaware law schools most commonly practice in Delaware and its largest metro, Wilmington, and that the corporate and Chancery-driven bar is the defining feature of the state's legal economy. For the exact placement counts by employer type and geography, an applicant should read the ABA Employment Summary that each Delaware school publishes, which breaks down where its most recent class actually landed.

Does Delaware use the NextGen bar exam?

Delaware has adopted the NextGen bar exam, with its first NextGen administration scheduled for February 2028, according to the NCBE. Delaware currently administers its own state bar examination rather than the Uniform Bar Examination, and nationally the legacy exam era, including the current Multistate Bar Examination format, ends after the February 2028 administration.

The NextGen bar exam is the National Conference of Bar Examiners' redesigned licensing test, built to assess legal skills and doctrine in a more integrated way than the older format. Delaware is notable here because, per the NCBE, it does not currently give the Uniform Bar Examination; it administers its own Delaware exam. Delaware's move to NextGen takes effect with the February 2028 administration, which means a current Delaware law student should confirm which exam applies to their intended sitting, since candidates near that changeover date will be among the first in Delaware to take the new test.

For planning purposes, the key dates are simple. If you expect to sit for the Delaware bar before February 2028, you should prepare for the exam Delaware administers today. If your graduation and bar timeline place you at or after the February 2028 administration, you should prepare for NextGen in Delaware, because the NCBE has set that as the point at which the legacy exam era closes. Either way, the bar-admission rules, character-and-fitness process, and application deadlines are set by the Delaware bar authorities, so confirm the current requirements with them well before your intended exam date rather than relying on a general timeline.

Where can you take the LSAT in Delaware?

LSAT test centers are available in Delaware's major metropolitan areas, including Wilmington, the state's largest city, along with Dover, the capital, and Newark. Because the specific list of open centers and available seats changes with each testing cycle, the reliable move is to check LSAC's official test-center list at lsac.org when you register rather than to rely on a fixed address.

The modern LSAT is also offered in a remotely proctored, online format that many Delaware test-takers use from home, which effectively removes the geography problem for candidates with a quiet space and a stable internet connection. That said, some applicants strongly prefer the structure of a physical test center, and Delaware's compact geography means that a center in the Wilmington or Newark area, or in Dover, is within a short drive for most residents of the state. When you sit down to register through LSAC, you will see the in-person centers and the remote option side by side, along with the dates still open in the current cycle.

Whichever format you choose in Delaware, register early. Seats at any given center are limited, and the most convenient Delaware locations and dates fill first, so an applicant who waits until the last week before a deadline may find that the nearest open center is farther away than expected. Booking your Delaware test date as soon as the registration window opens gives you the widest choice of location and the best chance of testing on the date that fits your study plan.

Which Delaware universities feed law school?

Delaware's flagship public university is the University of Delaware in Newark, and it is the most common pre-law feeder within the state, sending political science, history, economics, and criminal justice majors into law school each year. Delaware State University in Dover, the state's historically Black university, is another Delaware institution whose graduates pursue law, and Wilmington University enrolls a large population of Delaware undergraduates as well.

Pre-law is a path rather than a single major, so a Delaware student aiming for law school does not need a specific undergraduate degree. Students from the University of Delaware and Delaware State University commonly major in the humanities and social sciences that build the reading, reasoning, and writing skills the LSAT rewards, but strong law applicants also come out of business, the sciences, and engineering. What matters most for a Delaware undergraduate is a high GPA in a demanding course load, meaningful involvement in activities that show judgment and commitment, and a deliberate LSAT preparation plan begun well before the application year.

It is also worth stating plainly that a Delaware undergraduate is in no way limited to a Delaware law school, and a graduate of a Delaware college regularly enrolls at law schools across the country. This page names the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, and Wilmington University as common in-state pre-law starting points based on their role as the state's major universities, and it does not attribute any specific law school placement statistic to them, because no such figure was part of the data behind this Delaware guide.

Frequently asked questions about law school in Delaware

How many law schools are in Delaware?

Delaware has two ABA accredited law schools: Widener University Delaware Law School in Wilmington and Wilmington University. That makes Delaware one of the smaller states for legal education. Both appear with their median LSAT, acceptance rate, and full-time tuition in the table above, each figure drawn from that Delaware school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class.

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

By acceptance rate, Widener University Delaware Law School admits the larger share of applicants in Delaware, 59.7% in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, versus 52.0% at Wilmington University. By median LSAT, Wilmington University is the more accessible on score, at 149 against Widener's 152. So the answer for Delaware depends on whether you weigh acceptance rate or test score.

What is the best law school in Delaware?

Widener University Delaware Law School holds the higher median LSAT in Delaware, 152 in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, and is the state's long-established, standalone law school. Best still depends on your goals, cost tolerance, and the employment outcomes you can verify in each school's ABA Employment Summary, so treat the 152 median as one input among several when ranking Delaware schools for yourself.

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

Median LSATs in Delaware run 149 to 152, according to the two schools' 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosures. A score in the low 150s is at or above both Delaware medians and competitive at either school. A score in the high 140s sits near the Wilmington University median and remains inside the range Widener University Delaware Law School admits from, so Delaware stays reachable.

How much does law school cost in Delaware?

Full-time tuition in Delaware is $59,150 at Widener University Delaware Law School and $25,170 at Wilmington University, according to each school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That is a wide gap: Wilmington University charges less than half of Widener's rate. These figures are tuition only, so budget separately for living costs in Delaware, and weigh any scholarship offer against the sticker price.

Does Delaware use the NextGen bar exam?

Delaware has adopted the NextGen bar exam, with its first administration set for February 2028, according to the NCBE. Delaware currently administers its own state bar examination rather than the Uniform Bar Examination. Nationally, the legacy exam era ends after the February 2028 administration, so a Delaware candidate near that date should confirm which exam applies to their sitting.

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

Yes. Delaware admits bar candidates who earned their J.D. at any ABA accredited law school, not only the two schools located in Delaware, so an out-of-state graduate can sit for the Delaware bar. The specific eligibility rules, deadlines, and character-and-fitness requirements are set by the Delaware bar authorities, so confirm the current Delaware admission requirements with them before you apply.

Which Delaware law school has the best bar passage?

This Delaware guide does not reproduce school-level bar passage rates, because those figures were not part of the underlying data set here. Each Delaware school publishes its first-time bar passage rate in its ABA disclosures, so compare Widener University Delaware Law School and Wilmington University directly in those reports. Delaware itself moves to the NextGen bar exam in February 2028, per the NCBE.

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

Program format by school, including any part-time or evening division, was not part of the data behind this Delaware guide, so this page does not confirm which Delaware schools offer those tracks. An applicant who needs a part-time or evening schedule should check the admissions pages of Widener University Delaware Law School and Wilmington University directly to confirm the current Delaware options.

Where can you take the LSAT in Delaware?

LSAT test centers operate in Delaware's major metros, including Wilmington, Dover, and Newark, and the exam is also offered in a remotely proctored online format. Because open centers and seats change every cycle, check LSAC's official test-center list at lsac.org when you register. Book your Delaware test date early, since the most convenient locations and dates fill first.

Which Delaware law schools are splitter friendly?

Widener University Delaware Law School reads as splitter friendly in Delaware, with a GPA spread of 0.38 from the 25th percentile to the median in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, meaning a strong LSAT can carry a lower GPA there. Wilmington University is not flagged as splitter friendly in this build, so this Delaware guide does not claim that it is.

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

No. You do not have to attend a Delaware law school to practice in Delaware. A graduate of any ABA accredited law school can qualify to sit for the Delaware bar and practice in the state, subject to the Delaware bar authorities' rules. Attending a Delaware school can help you build local connections, but it is not a requirement for practicing law in Delaware.

What is the highest LSAT median in Delaware?

The highest median LSAT among Delaware's ABA law schools is 152, reported by Widener University Delaware Law School in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Wilmington University reports a 149 median in the same disclosure year. So the in-state ceiling on median LSAT in Delaware is 152, which means a score in the mid-150s clears the top of the state comfortably.

Is Delaware a good state to study law?

Delaware is a small state for legal education with only two ABA law schools, but its legal market is unusually rich for its size, anchored by the corporate and Chancery Court bar in Wilmington. For a student drawn to corporate, bankruptcy, or commercial law, Delaware offers a distinctive setting. Confirm each Delaware school's cost and outcomes before deciding it fits your goals.

Sources

Every figure in this Delaware guide is drawn from primary disclosures, listed here so readers can verify each one directly.

ABA Standard 509 disclosures for each Delaware law school, fall 2025 entering class, via the ABA Required Disclosures portal: https://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/

NextGen bar exam status and administration dates for Delaware, National Conference of Bar Examiners: https://www.ncbex.org

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