How to Get Into University of Denver Law School: LSAT, GPA & Admissions (2026)

The short answer to how to get into University of Denver Law School is to hit the medians from Denver Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 160 LSAT and a 3.66 GPA. The middle 50 percent scored 156 to 162 on the LSAT and 3.36 to 3.8 in GPA. Clear both and you are 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. The admissions figures on this page come from University of Denver Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for the fall 2025 entering class, the employment figures from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and the bar-passage figures from Denver Law's ABA bar-passage report, together with the school's own published pages.

University of Denver Law School, the Sturm College of Law, is the Colorado law school, and its data makes the claim literal. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 75.4 percent of Denver Law graduates went to work in Colorado, the most concentrated single-state placement in its band. At the same time, Denver Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports 98 full-tuition awards, an unusually large number for a class of its size, which tells you the school competes hard on scholarship money. The catch is that those scholarships are conditional and can be cut if your first-year grades fall below the school's threshold. The thesis of this page is that University of Denver Law School is a powerful bet if you want to practice in Colorado and you understand the conditional-scholarship risk before you sign.

University of Denver Law School at a glance: LSAT, GPA, acceptance rate and cost

University of Denver Law School posts a 160 LSAT median, a 3.66 GPA median, and a 41.33 percent acceptance rate in Denver Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Full-time tuition and fees are $63,812. The table below gathers the headline admissions, cost, and outcome numbers for Denver Law.

MetricUniversity of Denver Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)156 / 160 / 162GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.36 / 3.66 / 3.8Acceptance rate41.33%Applications2,214Offers of admission915Matriculants from the applicant pool283First-year class285 (234 full-time, 51 part-time)Full-time tuition and fees$63,812Living expenses$27,260Share receiving grants78%Grant amount (25th / 50th / 75th)$23,000 / $30,000 / $41,000Full-tuition awards98 full-tuition, 30 above full tuitionConditional scholarshipsYes (can be cut for grades)First-time bar passage84.89% (exam year 2024, Colorado)Employed at ten months87.5% (203 of 232)

Source: University of Denver 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 Denver Law's ABA bar-passage report. Tuition and living expenses are printed separately in the 509, which does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so this page does not invent one.

What LSAT and GPA do you really need to get into University of Denver Law School?

University of Denver Law School reports an LSAT spread of 156 to 162 and a GPA spread of 3.36 to 3.8 in its 2025 ABA 509. A 160 and a 3.66 sit at both medians. Below the 156 LSAT or the 3.36 GPA, you need a clear compensating strength on the other number to keep a Denver Law file competitive.

Denver Law reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 156, 160, and 162, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 3.36, 3.66, and 3.8 for the fall 2025 entering class, per University of Denver Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of enrolled students scored above 160 on the LSAT and above 3.66 in GPA, and half scored below. A median is a target rather than a cutoff, but at Denver Law the two medians mark the center of the class and are the right numbers to aim for.

The realistic read at University of Denver Law School is that a 160 LSAT and a 3.66 GPA make you a solid competitor, and that the school's LSAT band reaches lower than many peers on the bottom end. A 156, the 25th percentile, is a live admit number at Denver Law when it is paired with a GPA at or above the 3.66 median, and a 3.36 GPA, the bottom quartile, wants an LSAT at or above 160 to balance the file. The honest line is that a file at or below both 25th percentiles at once faces long odds, so lift at least one number toward the median before you apply to Denver Law.

The shape of those bands makes University of Denver Law School splitter friendly, and notably so on the LSAT side. Lovare's read of the 509 spreads shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.3 against an LSAT 25th-to-median spread of 4 points, the widest LSAT band among the schools on this page. 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. Denver Law leans splitter, and its wide low-side LSAT band means it also admits a meaningful number of applicants several points under its median when the rest of the file is strong. If your LSAT is high but your GPA lags, University of Denver Law School is a school worth targeting.

Is University of Denver Law School harder to get into than its reputation?

University of Denver Law School sits in the lower-middle of its LSAT band. Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures ranks Denver Law 34th most selective of the 42 ABA law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of its 160, and its acceptance rate is 41.33 percent. Its reputation as Colorado's leading private law school runs a little ahead of its raw selectivity.

Reputation places University of Denver Law School as the dominant private law school in Colorado and a familiar name across the Rocky Mountain region. To test that reputation against selectivity, Lovare built a peer band of the 42 ABA law schools whose median LSAT lands within two points of Denver Law's 160, that is, a median of 158 to 162, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Denver Law comes in 34th most selective of the 42, which places it toward the more forgiving end of a crowded group.

That position tells an applicant something practical. A 34th-of-42 ranking by acceptance rate means University of Denver Law School admits a larger share of its applicants than most schools posting the same 160 median. Its 41.33 percent acceptance rate, from Denver Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, reflects a school that made 915 offers against 2,214 applications to build a first-year class of 285, so it extends offers relatively freely. For a file at or near the medians, that means a favorable admissions gate, and it means the more competitive contest at Denver Law is often for the largest, and conditional, scholarship packages rather than for a seat.

The honest verdict is that University of Denver Law School is a little easier to enter than its regional standing implies, and that the real decisions happen after admission. The medians are the gate, the acceptance rate is forgiving, and the sharpest strategic question is not whether you can get into Denver Law but whether the scholarship you are offered will survive your first-year grades. That is where the conditional-scholarship structure, covered next, becomes central.

How much does University of Denver Law School cost, and how much scholarship money will you get?

University of Denver Law School charges $63,812 in full-time tuition and fees, per Denver Law's 2025 ABA 509, plus $27,260 in living expenses. Seventy-eight percent of students receive grants, with a median award of $30,000, and the school reports 98 full-tuition awards. A median-grant recipient nets about $33,812 in tuition and fees before living costs. Denver Law uses conditional scholarships, so read the terms closely.

University of Denver Law School is a private school with a full-freight sticker. Denver Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $63,812, plus $27,260 in living expenses. The 509 prints tuition and living separately and does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so any all-in annual number quoted elsewhere is someone's arithmetic rather than a figure Denver Law reports, and this page will not invent one.

The scholarship picture is genuinely strong on the surface. According to the same 509, 78 percent of University of Denver Law School students receive grant aid, with awards at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $23,000, $30,000, and $41,000. Denver Law reports 98 full-tuition awards and 30 awards above full tuition, which is a large amount of top-tier aid for a class of 285 and a clear sign that the school competes aggressively on price. Against the $63,812 sticker, a student receiving Denver Law's median grant of $30,000 nets about $33,812 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from Denver Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure.

Now the warning that every University of Denver Law School applicant needs to hear plainly. Denver Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports that the school uses conditional scholarships, which means a first-year award can be reduced or cut if your grades fall below the threshold the school sets. A conditional scholarship is not the same as the stable, guaranteed grant that some peer schools offer. If a large share of the class holds the same conditional award and only some can finish above the threshold, a predictable number of students will lose part or all of their aid after the first year. Before you accept a Denver Law offer, ask the admissions office in writing exactly what class rank or GPA you must maintain, how many students held that scholarship last year, and how many kept it. Treat the sticker net of $33,812 as the best case and the post-first-year number as the figure you truly need to budget around.

The practical takeaway is to weigh the size of a Denver Law award against its conditions. A $30,000 median grant, or one of the 98 full-tuition packages, is real money at University of Denver Law School, but its value depends on your confidence that you can clear the retention threshold in a graded first-year curve. Go in with the terms in writing, and do not assume that a first-year award is a three-year award unless Denver Law confirms it is.

What are your real chances off the University of Denver Law School waitlist?

University of Denver Law School does not disclose waitlist offers or admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 283 matriculants against 915 offers is a 30.9 percent yield in Denver Law's 2025 ABA 509. That is a moderate yield, so Denver Law fills much of its class from first-round offers while leaving some room for waitlist movement.

Here is the reasoning in full. University of Denver Law School enrolled 283 matriculants from 915 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 30.9 percent. No ABA disclosure, Denver Law's included, publishes how many applicants are admitted from the waitlist or how many accept, so implied yield is the honest proxy for waitlist movement. When about three in ten admitted students enroll, a school fills most of its class from first-round offers but keeps some late flexibility.

A 30.9 percent yield is moderate, which puts University of Denver Law School between the extremes. It is higher than a school that yields a quarter of its offers and leans hard on its waitlist, and lower than a school that yields close to half and barely moves its list. For a waitlisted applicant to Denver Law, that means real but limited hope: some cycles will see movement, others little, and the outcome depends on how Denver Law's first-round yield lands in a given year.

If you land on the University of Denver Law School waitlist, the play is the standard one: send a concise letter of continued interest naming Denver Law as a top choice, add any new LSAT score or improved grades, and keep another acceptance in hand as your plan of record. A Denver Law waitlist spot is worth working, but it is not a plan, so secure a seat elsewhere while you wait on the moderate odds that a place opens.

Where do University of Denver Law School graduates actually work?

In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, University of Denver Law School placed 75.4 percent of graduates in Colorado and 78.9 percent across its top three markets. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers took 13.4 percent, and the school reported zero federal clerkships. Denver Law is one of the most Colorado-concentrated schools in the country.

University of Denver Law School is a regional school in the strongest sense, and the employment data leaves no doubt about the region. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Denver Law placed 175 of its graduates in Colorado, 4 in the District of Columbia, and 4 in Illinois. That is a 75.4 percent top-market share and a 78.9 percent top-three share, which means roughly three in four graduates stay in Colorado and the next markets are tiny by comparison. Few law schools in the country tie their outcomes to a single state as tightly as Denver Law does.

Concentration is the decisive fact, and it cuts two ways. If you want to practice in Colorado, University of Denver Law School plugs you directly into the state's legal market, from Denver firms to Colorado government and business, and that dominant local network is a genuine asset. If your goal is any market outside Colorado, the 75.4 percent home-state share is a candid warning: Denver Law's reach beyond the state is thin, with only a handful of graduates landing in the next-largest markets. The raw employment rate, 203 of 232 graduates employed at ten months, or 87.5 percent in the same ABA Employment Summary, is solid but secondary to the question of where those jobs are.

On firm size and clerkships, University of Denver Law School reads as a Colorado-practice school. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 13.4 percent of Denver Law graduates entering large firms of 101 or more lawyers, a modest but real share, and it shows zero federal clerkships for the class. That clerkship figure is worth stating plainly: the Class of 2024 placed no graduates into federal clerkships, so an applicant who is set on a federal clerkship should not count on Denver Law as the vehicle for it. Choose University of Denver Law School for a Colorado legal career, where its network is deep, rather than for a national firm or clerkship track.

When are University of Denver Law School's application deadlines?

This page's sources do not publish University of Denver Law School's application calendar, and Denver Law's Early Decision terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle. Confirm the current regular deadlines and any Early Decision terms directly on the school's admissions site. The guidance here is dated: verified August 2026.

The primary sources behind this page, the 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and Denver Law's ABA bar-passage report, report admissions, cost, and outcome figures but not the cycle-by-cycle application calendar. For that reason this page does not state a specific regular-decision deadline for University of Denver Law School, and it does not state specific Early Decision terms, because those terms are not confirmed here. The honest instruction is to verify the current deadlines on Denver Law's own admissions page before you rely on them.

As general practice across law schools rather than a published Denver Law rule, applying earlier in a cycle tends to help, because seats and scholarship money are more available before a class fills. At University of Denver Law School that principle matters especially for scholarships, since the school leans on large but conditional awards and the earliest, strongest files compete best for them. Take your strongest LSAT before you apply, confirm the exact deadlines on Denver Law's admissions page, and treat this guidance as verified August 2026.

Frequently asked questions about getting into University of Denver Law School

Is a 160 LSAT good enough for Denver Law?

A 160 is exactly the LSAT median at University of Denver Law School, per Denver Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 156 to 162. A 160 puts you at the fiftieth percentile, competitive but not a lock. Pair it with a GPA at or above the 3.66 median and you are a strong candidate at Denver Law, especially given its forgiving acceptance rate.

What GPA do you need for Denver Law?

University of Denver Law School reports a GPA median of 3.66, with a 25th-to-75th range of 3.36 to 3.8, in its 2025 ABA 509. Aim for 3.66 or higher. Because Denver Law is splitter friendly with a wide LSAT band, a strong LSAT can carry a GPA toward the 3.36 quartile, but a transcript at or above the median keeps your Denver Law file comfortably inside the class.

What is Denver Law's acceptance rate?

University of Denver Law School admitted 41.33 percent of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 915 offers against 2,214 applications, according to Denver Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Lovare's analysis ranks Denver Law 34th most selective of the 42 schools within two points of its 160 median, so it admits more freely than most peers at the same score.

How many people apply to Denver Law?

University of Denver Law School received 2,214 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, made 915 offers, and enrolled 283 matriculants from the pool for a first-year class of 285, which includes 234 full-time and 51 part-time students, per Denver Law's 2025 ABA 509. That pool supports the school's 41.33 percent acceptance rate and its 30.9 percent implied yield.

How much does Denver Law cost?

University of Denver Law School lists full-time tuition and fees of $63,812, plus $27,260 in living expenses, in its 2025 ABA 509. Denver Law does not publish a single cost-of-attendance total in the 509, so tuition and living are best read separately rather than summed into an invented all-in figure. A median grant of $30,000 brings tuition and fees to about $33,812 before living costs.

Does Denver Law give scholarships?

Yes, and generously, but with a condition. University of Denver Law School reports that 78 percent of students receive grants, with awards of $23,000, $30,000, and $41,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles and 98 full-tuition awards, per Denver Law's 2025 ABA 509. Those scholarships are conditional, so a first-year award can be cut if your grades fall below the school's threshold.

Can Denver Law take away my scholarship?

It can. University of Denver Law School reports in its 2025 ABA 509 that it uses conditional scholarships, meaning a first-year award can be reduced or cut if your grades fall below a set threshold. Before accepting a Denver Law offer, get the exact retention standard in writing and ask how many students kept the same award last year, because a graded first-year curve guarantees some will not.

What is Denver Law's bar passage rate?

University of Denver Law School posted an 84.89 percent first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2024, with Colorado as the largest jurisdiction, according to Denver Law's ABA bar-passage report. Its ultimate pass rate, measured two years out for the 2022 cohort, was 89.18 percent. Both are solid figures, and the ultimate rate shows most Denver Law graduates who sit for a bar exam eventually pass.

Where do Denver Law graduates work?

Overwhelmingly in Colorado. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows University of Denver Law School placed 175 graduates in Colorado, 4 in the District of Columbia, and 4 in Illinois, a 75.4 percent top-market share and 78.9 percent across the top three. Denver Law is one of the most Colorado-concentrated schools in the country, ideal for a Colorado career and thin for markets outside it.

Can a splitter get into Denver Law?

A splitter has a strong path. Lovare reads University of Denver Law School as splitter friendly, with a wide LSAT 25th-to-median spread of 4 points against a GPA spread of 0.3 in the 2025 ABA 509. That means Denver Law forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high, and its wide low-side LSAT band shows it admits applicants several points under its median when the file is otherwise strong.

How selective is Denver Law compared with schools at the same LSAT?

University of Denver Law School is toward the forgiving end of its band. Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures ranks Denver Law 34th most selective of the 42 schools whose median LSAT sits within two points of its 160. In plain terms, most schools posting the same 160 median admit a smaller share of applicants, so Denver Law is a comparatively attainable admit for its scores.

Is Denver Law worth it?

For a Colorado career, it can be, if the aid holds. University of Denver Law School pairs a $63,812 sticker with 78 percent grant reach and 98 full-tuition awards, an 84.89 percent first-time bar rate, and, in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, a 75.4 percent Colorado placement rate. The value depends on winning a large award and, crucially, keeping it past the conditional first-year threshold at Denver Law.

What LSAT and GPA give the best shot at a Denver Law scholarship?

Scores above the medians. Because University of Denver Law School reserves its richest awards for the strongest files, an LSAT above the 160 median and a GPA above 3.66 toward the 3.8 quartile position you for the top of Denver Law's grant range, where the 75th-percentile award reaches $41,000 and 98 packages cover full tuition. Higher scores also give you a cushion against the conditional retention threshold.

Do Denver Law graduates get federal clerkships?

Not in the most recent class. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows University of Denver Law School placed zero graduates into federal clerkships that year. An applicant set on a federal clerkship should treat that as a candid signal and not count on Denver Law as the route, while recognizing the school's real strength lies in placing graduates across Colorado's legal market.

Sources

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

University of Denver Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=23&year=2025

University of Denver Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=23&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=23&year=2024

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