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

The short answer to how to get into University of St. Thomas Law School is to reach the medians in the school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 159 LSAT and a 3.72 GPA. The middle 50 percent scored 155 to 162 with a 3.46 to 3.88 GPA. A 159 here is genuinely competitive, not a reach.

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 University of St. Thomas School of Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and bar passage from the school's ABA bar-passage report and its own published pages.

University of St. Thomas School of Law, the Minnesota school of that name, is more accessible than its median score implies, and its outcomes point almost entirely at one state. Its 159 LSAT median is the strongest in this group of regional programs, yet Lovare's band analysis places St. Thomas Law 47th most selective of the 48 ABA schools whose median LSAT sits within two points of 159, using acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509. In plain terms, a school with a respectable median admits 57.62% of its applicants. St. Thomas Law pairs that access with near-universal aid: according to its 2025 ABA 509, effectively the entire entering class receives grant money, and the school reports 27 full-tuition awards. And in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, University of St. Thomas School of Law sent 79.9% of its graduates into Minnesota, with 93.7% of the class employed at ten months. The honest thesis of this page is that St. Thomas Law is an accessible, high-employment, Minnesota-anchored program whose value case is strong for a student who intends to practice in Minnesota.

University of St. Thomas School of Law at a glance: LSAT, GPA, acceptance rate and cost

University of St. Thomas School of Law posts a 159 LSAT median, a 3.72 GPA median, and a 57.62% acceptance rate in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. Full-time tuition and fees run $51,632, living expenses add $27,408, and effectively every student receives a grant. The table collects St. Thomas Law's headline numbers for the fall 2025 entering class.

MetricUniversity of St. Thomas School of Law (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)155 / 159 / 162GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.46 / 3.72 / 3.88Acceptance rate57.62%Applications847Offers of admission488Matriculants from the applicant pool164First-year class166Full-time tuition and fees$51,632 (tuition $50,998 plus fees $634)Living expenses$27,408Share receiving grants100% (effectively the entire class)Median grant$26,865 (25th $19,678, 75th $34,490)Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage74.7% (exam year 2024, Minnesota)Employed at ten months93.7% (149 of 159)

Source: University of St. Thomas School of Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), with employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 and bar passage from St. Thomas Law's ABA bar-passage report. The 509 prints tuition, fees, and living expenses separately and 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 St. Thomas School of Law?

University of St. Thomas School of Law reports an LSAT spread of 155 to 162 and a GPA spread of 3.46 to 3.88 in its 2025 ABA 509. A 159 and a 3.72 sit at both medians. Below the 155 LSAT or the 3.46 GPA, an applicant needs a clear compensating strength on the other number.

University of St. Thomas School of Law reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 155, 159, and 162, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 3.46, 3.72, and 3.88 for the fall 2025 entering class, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of enrolled students at St. Thomas Law scored above 159 on the LSAT and above 3.72 in GPA, and half below. The practical read is that a 159 is not a stretch score here, it is the exact center of the admitted class, so a candidate near 159 with a GPA in the high 3.6s or low 3.7s is a solid applicant rather than a hopeful one.

The bands are informative in both directions. The LSAT runs only from 155 at the 25th to 162 at the 75th, a seven-point spread, while the GPA runs from 3.46 to 3.88, a tight 0.42 spread that shows University of St. Thomas School of Law enrolls a fairly high-GPA class. A 155, the 25th percentile, is still inside the admitted range, but an applicant at that LSAT will want a GPA at or above the 3.72 median to balance the file. A median is a target, not a cutoff, and at St. Thomas Law the LSAT target sits high enough that the score does real work in the decision.

Lovare reads University of St. Thomas School of Law as splitter friendly, with a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.26 and an LSAT 25th-to-median spread of four points. 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. At St. Thomas Law the practical consequence is that a strong LSAT at or above the 159 median buys room on the transcript, so an applicant with a GPA nearer the 3.46 lower quartile but an LSAT in the low 160s has a genuine path at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

Is University of St. Thomas School of Law harder to get into than its reputation?

University of St. Thomas School of Law looks more selective on paper than it behaves in practice. Lovare's band analysis places St. Thomas Law 47th most selective of the 48 ABA schools whose median LSAT is within two points of its 159, using acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509. A 159 median is respectable, but the 57.62% acceptance rate makes the school accessible for that level.

Reputation reads the 159 LSAT median and assumes a hard admit. The data says something more encouraging for applicants. Lovare built a peer band of the 48 ABA law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of University of St. Thomas School of Law's 159, that is a median of 157 to 161, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. St. Thomas Law comes in 47th most selective of the 48, which places it at the accessible end of a strong band. A school can hold a good median and still admit a majority of its applicants when its yield is moderate and its pool is self-selected, and that is exactly the pattern at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

This is where honesty helps the applicant. A 57.62% acceptance rate paired with a 159 median means St. Thomas Law is a school where a mid-to-high 150s LSAT is competitive, not a long shot, even though the median might scare off a candidate who only glances at it. For an applicant with a 156 to 161 LSAT and a GPA in the mid-3.6s or better, University of St. Thomas School of Law is a realistic target that also tends to attach meaningful grant aid, which is a rare and favorable combination.

Weigh the outcome numbers with the same clear eyes. University of St. Thomas School of Law reports a first-time bar passage rate of 74.7% for exam year 2024 in its ABA bar-passage report, with Minnesota as the largest jurisdiction, alongside an ultimate rate of 88.96% for the 2022 cohort. The first-time figure is below the strongest programs and worth planning around, while the school's low 2.0% first-year academic attrition, also from the 2025 ABA 509, signals that St. Thomas Law does not enroll students it expects to wash out. The constructive read is to treat the accessible admission and strong aid as the upside and the first-time bar rate as the risk to manage with serious bar preparation.

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

University of St. Thomas School of Law reports full-time tuition and fees of $51,632 and living expenses of $27,408 in its 2025 ABA 509. Grant aid is effectively universal at 100%, with a median award of $26,865, so a median-grant recipient nets about $24,767 in tuition and fees before living costs. The aid is not conditional.

Start with the sticker. University of St. Thomas School of Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports full-time tuition of $50,998 plus $634 in fees, for $51,632 in tuition and fees, and lists living expenses of $27,408 separately. The 509 does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so this page quotes the components the school actually reports rather than a manufactured all-in number.

The aid picture is the strong part of the story. According to the same 509, University of St. Thomas School of Law awards grants to 100% of its students, phrased by the school as effectively the entire class, with awards at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $19,678, $26,865, and $34,490. St. Thomas Law reports 27 full-tuition awards and no awards above full tuition. Applying the median grant to the tuition-and-fees sticker, a median-grant recipient nets about $24,767 per year in tuition and fees before living costs, which is roughly half the posted price. Because effectively every student receives something, the sticker overstates what almost anyone actually pays at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

The aid is also dependable. University of St. Thomas School of Law does not use conditional scholarships, so a grant is not tied to a first-year class-rank or GPA threshold and cannot be cut if your grades slip. The award St. Thomas Law quotes at admission is the award you keep for all three years, which removes one of the common financial traps and makes the school's near-universal aid genuinely reliable at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

What are your real chances off the University of St. Thomas School of Law waitlist?

University of St. Thomas School of Law does not disclose waitlist offers or admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 164 matriculants against 488 offers is a 33.6% yield in the 2025 ABA 509. That moderate yield means St. Thomas Law fills much of its class from first-round offers, with only limited waitlist movement.

Here is the reasoning in full. University of St. Thomas School of Law enrolled 164 matriculants from 488 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 33.6%. No ABA disclosure, St. Thomas 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 roughly a third of admitted students enroll, a school makes offers well beyond its target class size and fills the bulk of its seats from the first round.

A 33.6% yield points to a school that plans for a low take rate rather than one that leans on a waitlist. University of St. Thomas School of Law extended 488 offers to seat a first-year class of 166, so most of the class is spoken for through regular admission. If you land on the St. Thomas Law waitlist, the standard play still applies: send a concise letter of continued interest naming University of St. Thomas School of Law as a top choice, add any new LSAT score or grades, and keep another acceptance in hand as your anchor while you wait.

One honest note on the class figures. University of St. Thomas School of Law's 2025 ABA 509 lists 164 matriculants from the applicant pool and a first-year class of 166, a near match that means the class fills almost entirely from this cycle's pool rather than from deferrals or transfers. The 33.6% implied yield is computed from the 164 pool matriculants against the 488 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

Where do University of St. Thomas School of Law graduates actually work?

University of St. Thomas School of Law is a Minnesota-anchored program, and its placement data shows it plainly. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Minnesota took 79.9% of graduates and the top three markets reached 84.9%. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers took 8.2% of the class, and federal clerkships took 0.0%.

Lead with the market concentration, because it is the defining fact about St. Thomas Law outcomes. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, University of St. Thomas School of Law placed 127 of its graduates in Minnesota, 5 in Wisconsin, and 3 in Colorado. That is a 79.9% top-market share, high by law-school standards, and an 84.9% top-three share. University of St. Thomas School of Law is not a national-network school; it is a Minnesota school that feeds the Minnesota bar, which is a strength for an applicant who wants to build a career in that state and a genuine limitation for one who does not.

The raw employment rate is strong. University of St. Thomas School of Law reported 149 of 159 graduates employed at ten months, or 93.7%, in the same ABA Employment Summary. That is a high placement rate and shows the school's graduates find work, though the headline figure does not by itself distinguish the seniority or practice setting of the roles. The Minnesota concentration, more than the top-line rate, is the fact that should shape a decision about St. Thomas Law.

On firm size and clerkships the numbers are candid. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 8.2% of University of St. Thomas School of Law graduates entering large firms of 101 or more lawyers and 0.0% entering federal clerkships. The zero clerkship share is worth stating plainly: for the Class of 2024, St. Thomas Law did not place a graduate into a federal clerkship, so an applicant whose central goal is a federal clerkship should not choose University of St. Thomas School of Law expecting that path. The school's strength is broad Minnesota employment, not elite firm or clerkship funneling.

When are University of St. Thomas School of Law's application deadlines?

This page's sources do not specify University of St. Thomas School of Law's application deadlines or its Early Decision terms. Both should be confirmed directly on St. Thomas Law's admissions page rather than taken from any date this page cannot verify. The guidance here is dated: it reflects what was verifiable in August 2026.

Because the school's Early Decision terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle, University of St. Thomas School of Law applicants should treat the school's own admissions page as the authority on deadlines, decision rounds, and whether any early or binding option exists. Cycle dates shift from year to year, so verify the current timeline on St. Thomas Law's site before you plan around it, and do not rely on a date this page does not publish.

The numbers still support a timing strategy. University of St. Thomas School of Law drew 847 applications and extended 488 offers for a first-year class of 166, per its 2025 ABA 509. With effectively every student receiving grant aid and 27 full-tuition awards on the table, the scholarship stakes reward an early, complete application, because the strongest early files tend to draw the largest awards. Apply to University of St. Thomas School of Law when your file is ready and your LSAT is at its best, and confirm the current dates on the school's site.

Frequently asked questions about getting into University of St. Thomas School of Law

Is a 159 LSAT good enough for University of St. Thomas School of Law?

Yes. A 159 is exactly the LSAT median at University of St. Thomas School of Law, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 155 to 162. A 159 places you at the center of the admitted class, competitive rather than reaching. Pair it with a GPA near the 3.72 median and you are a solid candidate at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

What GPA do you need for University of St. Thomas School of Law?

University of St. Thomas School of Law reports a GPA median of 3.72, with a 25th to 75th range of 3.46 to 3.88, in its 2025 ABA 509. Aim for 3.72 or higher, but a GPA down toward the 3.46 lower quartile remains competitive when paired with an LSAT at or above the 159 median at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

What is University of St. Thomas School of Law's acceptance rate?

University of St. Thomas School of Law admitted 57.62% of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 488 offers against 847 applications, according to its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That accessible rate, together with a 47th of 48 standing in its LSAT band, makes University of St. Thomas School of Law a realistic target for an applicant scoring in the mid-to-high 150s.

How many people apply to University of St. Thomas School of Law?

University of St. Thomas School of Law received 847 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, made 488 offers, and enrolled 164 matriculants from the pool for a first-year class of 166, per its 2025 ABA 509. That is a mid-sized applicant pool, and the near match between matriculants and class size shows University of St. Thomas School of Law fills its class from this cycle.

How much does University of St. Thomas School of Law cost?

University of St. Thomas School of Law reports full-time tuition and fees of $51,632, made up of $50,998 tuition and $634 in fees, plus $27,408 in living expenses, per its 2025 ABA 509. The disclosure prints no single combined cost-of-attendance total. With effectively universal grant aid, most students at University of St. Thomas School of Law pay well below the sticker.

Does University of St. Thomas School of Law give scholarships?

Yes, effectively universally. University of St. Thomas School of Law reports that 100% of students receive grant aid, with awards of $19,678, $26,865, and $34,490 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, plus 27 full-tuition awards, per its 2025 ABA 509. Those grants are not conditional, so a University of St. Thomas School of Law award cannot be cut for grades.

What is University of St. Thomas School of Law's bar passage rate?

University of St. Thomas School of Law posted a 74.7% first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2024, with Minnesota as the largest jurisdiction, according to its ABA bar-passage report. That first-time rate sits below the strongest programs and is worth planning around. Its ultimate pass rate for the 2022 cohort was 88.96%, so many University of St. Thomas School of Law graduates who fall short on the first attempt pass on a later one.

Where do University of St. Thomas School of Law graduates work?

Overwhelmingly in Minnesota. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows University of St. Thomas School of Law placed 127 graduates in Minnesota, 5 in Wisconsin, and 3 in Colorado, a 79.9% top-market share and 84.9% across the top three. University of St. Thomas School of Law is a Minnesota-focused program rather than a national one.

Can a splitter get into University of St. Thomas School of Law?

Yes. Lovare reads University of St. Thomas School of Law as splitter friendly, with a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.26 and an LSAT spread of four points in the 2025 ABA 509. That means St. Thomas Law forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is strong, so an applicant with a GPA near the 3.46 lower quartile but a low-160s LSAT has a genuine path at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

How selective is University of St. Thomas School of Law compared with schools at the same LSAT?

University of St. Thomas School of Law is 47th most selective of the 48 ABA schools whose median LSAT is within two points of its 159, ranked by acceptance rate in the 2025 ABA 509, per Lovare's analysis. That accessible-end standing means University of St. Thomas School of Law admits a larger share of its applicants than nearly every school posting the same median LSAT.

Is University of St. Thomas School of Law worth it?

It depends on your goals. University of St. Thomas School of Law offers effectively universal grant aid, a 93.7% employment rate, and a deep Minnesota footprint, per its 2025 ABA 509 and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, though its 74.7% first-time bar passage rate is a real limit. For a student who wants to practice in Minnesota and receives aid, University of St. Thomas School of Law can be well worth it.

What is University of St. Thomas School of Law's first-year attrition rate?

University of St. Thomas School of Law reports first-year academic attrition of 2.0% in its 2025 ABA 509, a low figure that means very few first-year students were dismissed for academic reasons in the reported year. Because University of St. Thomas School of Law does not use conditional scholarships, a difficult first year does not additionally threaten a student's grant aid.

What is University of St. Thomas School of Law's ultimate bar passage rate?

University of St. Thomas School of Law reports an ultimate bar passage rate of 88.96% for the 2022 cohort, measured within two years of graduation, per its ABA bar-passage report. That is meaningfully higher than its 74.7% first-time rate, which means a substantial share of University of St. Thomas School of Law graduates who do not pass on the first attempt ultimately pass on a later one.

What LSAT and GPA give the best shot at a University of St. Thomas School of Law scholarship?

Scores above the medians. Because University of St. Thomas School of Law reports 100% grant reach, a 75th-percentile award of $34,490, and 27 full-tuition awards in its 2025 ABA 509, an LSAT above the 159 median toward the 162 upper quartile paired with a GPA above 3.72 toward 3.88 positions you for the largest awards, including the full-tuition tier, at University of St. Thomas School of Law.

Sources

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

University of St. Thomas School of Law 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=194&year=2025

University of St. Thomas School of Law ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=194&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=194&year=2024

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