How to Get Into Southern Illinois Law School: LSAT, GPA & Admissions (2026)

The short answer to how to get into Southern Illinois Law School is to reach the medians in SIU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 149 LSAT and a 3.38 GPA. The middle 50 percent of the fall 2025 entering class scored 146 to 155 on the LSAT and 2.93 to 3.78 in GPA, so a file at both medians is competitive.

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. Admissions figures on this page come from Southern Illinois Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for the fall 2025 entering class, employment figures from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and bar passage and other details from SIU Law's own published ABA reports.

Southern Illinois Law School is one of the most splitter-friendly and access-oriented schools you will find, and its GPA data proves it. SIU Law reports a GPA 25th percentile of 2.93 and a median of 3.38, a 25th-to-median spread of 0.45, alongside a 75th percentile of 3.78, in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, which Lovare reads as strongly splitter friendly: a sub-3.0 college record is squarely in range here when the LSAT holds up. A 149 LSAT median means a 149 is exactly the score at which you are competitive at Southern Illinois Law School, not a number that closes the door. The honest counterweights, which this page states plainly, are a 59.49 percent first-time bar pass rate and 7.0 percent first-year academic attrition. The thesis of this page is that Southern Illinois Law School is a genuine access school where a lower GPA and a mid-140s-to-150 LSAT can win a seat, at a very low resident per-credit price, provided you go in clear-eyed about the bar and attrition figures.

Southern Illinois Law School at a glance: LSAT, GPA, acceptance rate and cost

Southern Illinois Law School posts a 149 LSAT median, a 3.38 GPA median, and a 56.22 percent acceptance rate in SIU Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. It bills tuition per credit hour rather than at a flat annual rate, with a very low resident rate and a much higher nonresident rate. The table collects the headline numbers for the fall 2025 entering class.

MetricSouthern Illinois Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)146 / 149 / 155GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)2.93 / 3.38 / 3.78Acceptance rate56.22%Applications724Offers of admission407Matriculants from the applicant pool132First-year class133Full-time tuitionBilled per credit hour: resident $547 per credit, non-resident $5,678 per credit; the 509 prints no annual full-time figureLiving expenses$18,608Share receiving grants64%Median grant$9,500Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage59.49%Employed at ten months86.9% (73 of 84)

Source: Southern Illinois Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for the fall 2025 entering class, with employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 and bar passage from SIU Law's ABA bar-passage report. The 509 prints tuition per credit hour and living expenses separately and does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so this page does not sum them into an all-in figure.

What LSAT and GPA do you really need to get into Southern Illinois Law School?

Southern Illinois Law School reports an LSAT spread of 146 to 155 and a GPA spread of 2.93 to 3.78 in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. A 149 LSAT and a 3.38 GPA sit at both medians. Below the 146 LSAT or the 2.93 GPA, an applicant needs a clear compensating strength on the other number to stay competitive.

Southern Illinois Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 146, 149, and 155, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 2.93, 3.38, and 3.78 for the fall 2025 entering class, per SIU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of the enrolled class scored above 149 on the LSAT and above 3.38 in GPA, and half scored below. A 149 and a 3.38 sit at the center of the admitted class, so a file that reaches both is squarely inside the range Southern Illinois Law School actually enrolls.

The honest read for a lower-scoring applicant is genuinely encouraging here, and it is the point of a school like this one. A 149 median is precisely the level at which a 149 is competitive, so an applicant who has been told a 148 or 149 closes every door should understand that Southern Illinois Law School is exactly where that score sits at the center of the class. The LSAT 25th percentile of 146 means a quarter of the enrolled students scored at or below 146, so a mid-140s score is a real admit range at SIU Law. Most striking is the GPA floor: a 25th percentile of 2.93 means a quarter of the class enrolled with a college grade-point average below 3.0, so a sub-3.0 transcript is not disqualifying at Southern Illinois Law School the way it would be at a higher-median school.

That wide GPA band is why Lovare reads Southern Illinois Law School as strongly splitter friendly, with a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.45 and an LSAT 25th-to-median spread of three points in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. A splitter-friendly school forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high; a reverse-splitter-friendly school forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high. SIU Law leans strongly splitter, so an applicant with a 153, 154, or 155 LSAT and a GPA in the high 2s or low 3s has a genuine path, because the strong LSAT offsets the transcript. If the LSAT is your stronger number and your GPA is your worry, Southern Illinois Law School is one of the best-fitting targets you will find.

Is Southern Illinois Law School harder to get into than its reputation?

Southern Illinois Law School sits toward the more accessible end of its band. Among the 15 ABA law schools whose median LSAT is within two points of SIU Law's 149, ranked by acceptance rate, Southern Illinois Law School is the 10th most selective, per Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. That places it a little past the midpoint toward the open end, so the admit gate is roughly in line with or a touch more forgiving than its reputation.

Reputation files Southern Illinois Law School as an accessible regional public school, and the admit gate broadly matches that. To test the gate rather than the brand, Lovare built a peer band of the 15 ABA law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of SIU Law's 149, that is, a median of 147 to 151, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Southern Illinois Law School comes in 10th of 15, in the more open portion of the band, so it admits a somewhat larger share of its applicants than the median school at its academic level.

What that means for you is favorable at the medians. Southern Illinois Law School admitted 56.22 percent of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 407 offers against 724 applications in the same 509, so a file at or near the 149 and 3.38 medians is competitive rather than hopeful. This is an access-oriented gate, and clearing the medians, or bringing a strong LSAT to offset a lower GPA, puts you in real contention. The harder questions at Southern Illinois Law School are not about getting in; they are about the bar-passage and attrition realities covered below, which is where an applicant should focus the most attention.

How much does Southern Illinois Law School cost, and how much scholarship money will you get?

Southern Illinois Law School bills tuition per credit hour, and its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure prints no single annual full-time figure, so this page does not compute one. The 509 lists resident tuition at $547 per credit and non-resident tuition at $5,678 per credit, plus living expenses of $18,608. Grants reach 64 percent of students, with a median award of $9,500, and the awards are not conditional.

Start with the honest limit on the cost figure. Southern Illinois Law School charges by the credit hour rather than at a flat annual rate, and its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure does not print a single annual full-time tuition number the way a flat-rate school does. The 509 does report the per-credit rates, and they reveal an unusually wide residency gap: $547 per credit for residents against $5,678 per credit for non-residents. For an Illinois resident, that $547 per-credit rate is among the lowest sticker inputs in legal education; for a non-resident, the cost is many times higher. Because tuition depends on the credits you carry, this page will not multiply those rates into an annual sticker the disclosure never states, and living expenses, which the 509 does print, are $18,608 for the year.

On aid, Southern Illinois Law School discounts for most of the class at a moderate level. According to the same 509, 64 percent of SIU Law students receive grant money, with awards at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $6,000, $9,500, and $16,540. The school reports one full-tuition award and six awards above full tuition. Because the disclosure prints no annual tuition sticker, a clean net-tuition figure after the median grant cannot be computed from the 509, and this page will not estimate one. What can be said honestly is that for a resident already paying $547 per credit, a median grant of $9,500 is a meaningful offset against a low base, which makes Southern Illinois Law School one of the least expensive paths to a law degree for an in-state student.

One reassurance matters at Southern Illinois Law School: its scholarships are not conditional. Per SIU Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, awards are not tied to a first-year class-rank or grade threshold, so a grant cannot be cut if your grades slip after the first year. The award Southern Illinois Law School quotes at admission is the award you keep for all three years. That protection is especially worth noting because the school reports 7.0 percent first-year academic attrition, an elevated figure, so a grant that cannot be revoked for grades is a genuine safeguard at a school where a larger-than-typical share of students do not complete the first year.

What are your real chances off the Southern Illinois Law School waitlist?

Southern Illinois Law School does not disclose waitlist offers or admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 132 matriculants against 407 offers is a 32.4 percent yield in SIU Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. That is a low yield, so Southern Illinois Law School must extend roughly three offers for each seat it fills, and its waitlist can move meaningfully in a normal cycle.

Here is the reasoning in full. Southern Illinois Law School enrolled 132 matriculants from 407 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 32.4 percent. No ABA disclosure, SIU Law's included, publishes how many applicants are admitted off the waitlist or how many accept, so implied yield is the honest proxy for waitlist movement. When barely a third of admitted students enroll, a school is extending far more offers than it has seats and often turns to a waitlist to backfill as admitted applicants choose other schools, which tends to leave the list more active than at a high-yield school.

The practical consequence for a waitlisted applicant at Southern Illinois Law School is that the list is a live path rather than a formality. Because SIU Law converts only about a third of its offers into enrollments, late movement is plausible, and a strong letter of continued interest can matter. If you land on the Southern Illinois Law School waitlist, send a concise note naming SIU Law as a top choice, add any new LSAT score or improved grades, and keep another acceptance in hand as your real plan. One clean note on the class figures: the 2025 ABA 509 lists 132 matriculants from the applicant pool and a first-year class of 133, essentially the same number. The 32.4 percent implied yield is computed from those 132 matriculants against the 407 offers, the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at Southern Illinois Law School.

Where do Southern Illinois Law School graduates actually work?

In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Southern Illinois Law School placed 51.2 percent of graduates in Illinois and 70.2 percent across its top three markets. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers took 3.6 percent of graduates, and federal clerkships took 0.0 percent. SIU Law is a regional school spread across Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana, and its bar record is the fact to study most closely.

Southern Illinois Law School's employment profile is more spread out than most single-state schools. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, SIU Law placed 43 graduates in Illinois, 12 in Missouri, and 4 in Indiana. That is a 51.2 percent top-market share and a 70.2 percent top-three share, so about half the class practices in Illinois and roughly seven in ten stay within the Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana region. The lower single-state concentration reflects the school's location in southern Illinois, near the Missouri border, which naturally feeds the St. Louis metro as well as Illinois. If your goal is that tri-state region, Southern Illinois Law School's network fits it; if your goal is a distant coastal market, the profile shows the reach is regional.

The employment rate is moderate. Southern Illinois Law School reported 73 of 84 graduates employed at ten months, or 86.9 percent, in the same ABA Employment Summary, a respectable figure but below the low-90s rates common at stronger-placing peers, and this page states it plainly. On firm outcomes, SIU Law is a light large-firm feeder: the summary shows 3.6 percent of Southern Illinois Law School graduates taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, with 0.0 percent entering federal clerkships, so the class works overwhelmingly in smaller firms, government, and public-interest roles across the region.

The fact that deserves the most weight is the bar result. Southern Illinois Law School posted a 59.49 percent first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2024 in Illinois, its largest jurisdiction, per SIU Law's ABA bar-passage report. That is a low first-time rate and a consumer-protective disclosure this page states plainly rather than burying. The more hopeful counterpart in the same reporting is the ultimate pass rate of 78.57 percent for the 2022 cohort, which shows that many Southern Illinois Law School graduates who do not pass on the first attempt eventually clear the Illinois bar. Read together, the two figures say the path to licensure at SIU Law is real but demands serious, sustained bar preparation, because the first-time number does not guarantee a majority passing on the first try.

When are Southern Illinois Law School's application deadlines?

Southern Illinois Law School's specific application deadlines and any Early Decision terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle. If you are planning a cycle, confirm the current regular-decision deadline and any binding or non-binding Early Decision option directly on SIU Law's admissions site, because those dates shift from year to year and this page will not state a date it cannot verify.

Southern Illinois Law School, like most ABA law schools, runs a rolling admissions cycle that typically opens in the early fall and reviews files as they are completed, which rewards applying early in the window when more seats and more scholarship money remain. That early-application edge matters at SIU Law, where applying ahead of the crowd helps both admission odds and access to the grant pool before the class fills. The exact opening date, the priority and final deadlines, and whether Southern Illinois Law School offers an Early Decision track with specific terms are details this page did not verify from a primary source.

The practical takeaway for Southern Illinois Law School applicants is to treat the calendar as a competitive variable rather than an afterthought. Aim to have your LSAT taken, your transcripts and letters in, and your application submitted as early in the cycle as your materials allow, both for admission odds and for the best available grant. Confirm the current deadlines and any Early Decision terms on Southern Illinois Law School's admissions page before you rely on them, because a page like this one is a planning aid verified in August 2026, not the registrar of record.

Frequently asked questions about getting into Southern Illinois Law School

Is a 149 LSAT good enough for Southern Illinois Law School?

A 149 is exactly the LSAT median at Southern Illinois Law School, per SIU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 146 to 155. A 149 puts you at the fiftieth percentile, a competitive position at this school. Paired with a GPA near the 3.38 median, a 149 makes you a solid candidate at Southern Illinois Law School rather than a reach.

What GPA do you need to get into Southern Illinois Law School?

Southern Illinois Law School reports a GPA median of 3.38, with a wide 25th-to-75th range of 2.93 to 3.78, in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. The 25th percentile of 2.93 means a sub-3.0 GPA is not disqualifying. Because SIU Law is strongly splitter friendly, a high-2s or low-3s transcript can still work at Southern Illinois Law School when paired with an LSAT above the 149 median.

What is Southern Illinois Law School's acceptance rate?

Southern Illinois Law School admitted 56.22 percent of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 407 offers against 724 applications, according to SIU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Among the 15 schools within two points of its 149 LSAT median, that ranks Southern Illinois Law School 10th most selective, toward the more accessible end of its band.

How many people apply to Southern Illinois Law School each year?

Southern Illinois Law School received 724 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, made 407 offers, and enrolled 132 matriculants for a first-year class of 133, per SIU Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. That pool and offer rate produce the 56.22 percent acceptance rate and a 32.4 percent implied yield at Southern Illinois Law School.

How much does Southern Illinois Law School cost?

Southern Illinois Law School bills tuition per credit hour, and its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure prints no single annual full-time figure, so this page does not quote one. The 509 lists resident tuition at $547 per credit, non-resident tuition at $5,678 per credit, and living expenses of $18,608. Because SIU Law reports no annual sticker, a net-tuition figure after the median grant cannot be computed from the disclosure.

Does Southern Illinois Law School give scholarships?

Yes, to most of the class. Southern Illinois Law School reports that 64 percent of students receive grant aid, with awards of $6,000, $9,500, and $16,540 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, plus one full-tuition award and six above full tuition, per SIU Law's 2025 ABA 509. Against a low resident per-credit rate, the $9,500 median award is a meaningful offset at Southern Illinois Law School.

Are Southern Illinois Law School scholarships conditional?

No. Southern Illinois Law School does not use conditional scholarships, per SIU Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, so an award is not tied to a first-year grade threshold and cannot be cut if your grades slip. Given the school's 7.0 percent first-year attrition, that protection matters, because your grant at Southern Illinois Law School holds regardless of where you land in the first-year curve.

What is Southern Illinois Law School's bar passage rate?

Southern Illinois Law School posted a 59.49 percent first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2024 in Illinois, its largest jurisdiction, per SIU Law's ABA bar-passage report. That first-time rate is low relative to many peers and this page states it plainly. The ultimate pass rate for the 2022 cohort was 78.57 percent, so many Southern Illinois Law School graduates eventually clear the Illinois bar.

Where do Southern Illinois Law School graduates work?

Across a tri-state region. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows Southern Illinois Law School placed 43 graduates in Illinois, 12 in Missouri, and 4 in Indiana, a 51.2 percent top-market share and 70.2 percent across the top three. With an 86.9 percent employment rate at ten months, Southern Illinois Law School spreads its placement across Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana more than most single-state schools.

Can a splitter get into Southern Illinois Law School?

Yes, and this is a standout school for splitters. Lovare reads Southern Illinois Law School as strongly splitter friendly, with a wide GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.45 against an LSAT spread of three points in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. That means SIU Law forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high, so an applicant with a 154 or 155 LSAT and a high-2s GPA is genuinely viable at Southern Illinois Law School.

How selective is Southern Illinois Law School compared with schools at the same LSAT?

Southern Illinois Law School ranks 10th most selective of the 15 ABA schools within two points of its 149 LSAT median, by acceptance rate in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, per Lovare's analysis. That places Southern Illinois Law School toward the more accessible end of its band, so it is a little easier to enter than the median school posting the same score.

Is Southern Illinois Law School worth it?

For a regional career, it can be, with eyes open. Southern Illinois Law School pairs a very low resident per-credit tuition with 51.2 percent Illinois placement and an 86.9 percent employment rate at ten months, per its 2025 ABA 509 and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024. The honest counterweights are a 59.49 percent first-time bar rate and 7.0 percent first-year attrition, so the value at Southern Illinois Law School depends on strong first-year performance and serious bar preparation.

What is Southern Illinois Law School's first-year attrition rate?

Southern Illinois Law School reported 7.0 percent first-year academic attrition in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, an elevated figure meaning a larger-than-typical share of the entering class did not continue for academic reasons. This page states it plainly as a consumer-protective fact. Because scholarships at Southern Illinois Law School are not conditional, an award is at least safe from a grade threshold even where the academic footing is demanding.

What LSAT and GPA give the best shot at a Southern Illinois Law School scholarship?

Scores above the medians. Because Southern Illinois Law School reports a 75th-percentile grant of $16,540, plus one full-tuition award and six above full tuition, an application above the 149 LSAT and 3.38 GPA medians competes best for the top of the range, per SIU Law's 2025 ABA 509. A strong LSAT is especially valuable at Southern Illinois Law School, where it both offsets a lower GPA and lifts your aid.

Sources

Every figure on this page is drawn from primary disclosures, listed here so readers can verify each one directly.

Southern Illinois Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=43&year=2025

Southern Illinois Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=43&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=43&year=2024

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