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

The honest answer to how to get into University of Tennessee Law School is to reach the medians in Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 164 LSAT and a 3.89 GPA, with a middle 50 percent of 160 to 166 and 3.67 to 3.95. These are the highest medians among the regional flagships in this guide, so clear both.

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 Tennessee Law School'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 and program details from Tennessee Law's own published pages.

The most distinctive fact about University of Tennessee Law School is that it pairs the highest admissions numbers and the lowest resident price among the public flagships in this guide. According to Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, it posts a 164 LSAT median and a 24.77 percent acceptance rate, the most selective in this set, while charging residents just $20,562 in tuition and fees. Its graduates pass the bar at a strong 91.94 percent first-time rate, per Tennessee Law's ABA bar-passage report. The counterweight is geographic: in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 74.8 percent of University of Tennessee Law School graduates went to work in Tennessee, one of the most state-concentrated outcomes in the country. The thesis of this page is that University of Tennessee Law School is a high-value, high-selectivity in-state school whose degree travels best inside Tennessee.

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

University of Tennessee Law School posts a 164 LSAT median, a 3.89 GPA median, and a 24.77 percent acceptance rate in Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Resident tuition and fees are $20,562 and nonresident $39,322, and 89 percent of students receive grants. The table below collects the headline numbers for the fall 2025 entering class.

MetricUniversity of Tennessee Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)160 / 164 / 166GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.67 / 3.89 / 3.95Acceptance rate24.77%Applications2,176Offers of admission539Matriculants from the applicant pool139First-year class140Full-time tuition and feesResident $20,562 / nonresident $39,322Living expenses$26,216Share receiving grants89%Median grant$10,550Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage91.94% (exam year 2024, largest jurisdiction Tennessee)Employed at ten months96.9% (123 of 127)

Source: University of Tennessee Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), with employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 and first-time bar passage from Tennessee Law's ABA bar-passage report. The 509 prints tuition and living expenses separately and does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so this page does not sum them.

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

University of Tennessee Law School reports an LSAT spread of 160 to 166 and a GPA spread of 3.67 to 3.95 in its 2025 ABA 509. A 164 and a 3.89 sit at both medians. Below the 160 LSAT or the 3.67 GPA, Tennessee Law wants a clear compensating strength on the other number.

University of Tennessee Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 160, 164, and 166, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 3.67, 3.89, and 3.95 for the fall 2025 entering class, per Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of enrolled students scored above 164 on the LSAT and above 3.89 in GPA, and half below. These are the strongest numbers of any school in this guide, so at University of Tennessee Law School the medians carry more weight than they would at a school with a lower band.

The realistic read is direct. A 164 LSAT paired with a 3.89 GPA sits a University of Tennessee Law School applicant at both medians, a strong and competitive position. Below the 160 LSAT or below the 3.67 GPA, that is beneath the school's 25th percentile on either axis, Tennessee Law will look for a clear compensating strength on the other number. A 160 with a 3.95 can work, and a 3.67 with a 166 can work, but a file low on both is the difficult case at University of Tennessee Law School.

The shape of the two bands tells you how University of Tennessee Law School treats an imbalanced file. Lovare reads Tennessee Law as splitter friendly, because the GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.22 is proportionally wider than the four-point LSAT 25th-to-median spread. A splitter-friendly school forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is strong, while a reverse-splitter-friendly school forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is strong. At University of Tennessee Law School, a high-LSAT applicant with a GPA in the high 3.6s or low 3.7s has a genuine path, so if you test well but your transcript trails, Tennessee Law is a sensible target.

One practical note for University of Tennessee Law School applicants: the LSAT band is tight, running just from 160 at the 25th to 166 at the 75th, so small score movements matter. A jump from 160 to 164 moves you from the bottom quartile to the median, and a 166 places you in the top quarter of the class, which is exactly the profile that competes for Tennessee Law's larger awards discussed below.

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

University of Tennessee Law School sits close to the middle of its LSAT band, so its selectivity and its reputation are well aligned. Among the 36 ABA schools whose median LSAT is within two points of Tennessee Law's 164, ranked by acceptance rate, University of Tennessee Law School is 17th most selective of 36 in the 2025 ABA 509.

Reputation places University of Tennessee Law School as the strong public flagship of the state, a school with a national-adjacent profile and a 164 LSAT median that backs it up. Its admissions numbers describe a school that lives up to that reputation without exceeding it. To locate it precisely, Lovare built a peer band of the 36 ABA law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of Tennessee Law's 164, that is a median of 162 to 166, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures.

By that ranking, University of Tennessee Law School comes in 17th most selective of the 36 schools in its band, which is essentially the middle. In plain terms, its 24.77 percent acceptance rate is neither unusually tight nor unusually loose for its LSAT level: about half the schools at the same LSAT admit a smaller share and about half admit a larger share. That balance means University of Tennessee Law School behaves like exactly what it looks like, a solidly selective flagship, with no hidden discount or hidden premium in its admit rate.

The applicant pool explains the rate. University of Tennessee Law School drew 2,176 applications, the largest pool of any school in this guide, and made only 539 offers, per Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509. That heavy demand against a small offer count is what pushes the acceptance rate down to 24.77 percent. For an applicant, the takeaway is to treat University of Tennessee Law School as a genuine target that rewards numbers at or above the medians, not a school where a below-median file slides through on the strength of an open admit rate.

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

University of Tennessee Law School charges $20,562 in resident tuition and fees and $39,322 nonresident in its 2025 ABA 509, plus $26,216 in living expenses. Eighty-nine percent of students receive grants, with a median award of $10,550, and the aid is not conditional on grades at Tennessee Law.

University of Tennessee Law School reports full-time tuition and fees of $20,562 for residents and $39,322 for nonresidents in Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, plus $26,216 in living expenses. The resident figure is the lowest of any school in this guide, which is the anchor of Tennessee Law's value case. The 509 prints tuition and living costs 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 University of Tennessee Law School reports, and this page will not invent one.

Aid reaches most students at University of Tennessee Law School. According to the same 2025 ABA 509, 89 percent of students receive grant money, with grant amounts at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $8,000, $10,550, and $14,000. Tennessee Law reports no awards set exactly at full tuition and 17 awards above full tuition. The grant band is relatively narrow, so most aided students at University of Tennessee Law School receive an award clustered around the $10,550 median rather than a wide spread of outcomes.

The median award does the clearest math. Against the $39,322 nonresident sticker, a student receiving University of Tennessee Law School's median grant of $10,550 nets about $28,772 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509. For a resident, subtract the same $10,550 median grant from the $20,562 resident figure and the net falls to about $10,012 in tuition and fees before living costs, an exceptionally low number for an ABA law degree. Those are median outcomes, so half of aided students at University of Tennessee Law School do better and half do worse.

One reassurance: University of Tennessee Law School does not use conditional scholarships. Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509 reports that its awards are not conditional, so a first-year grant is not tied to a class-rank or GPA threshold and cannot be cut if your grades slip in the first year. The grant University of Tennessee Law School quotes at admission is the grant you keep for all three years, which makes the low resident net especially dependable at Tennessee Law.

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

University of Tennessee Law School does not disclose waitlist admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 139 matriculants against 539 offers is a 25.8 percent yield at Tennessee Law, a low-to-moderate figure that suggests the waitlist can move in some cycles.

Here is the reasoning in full. University of Tennessee Law School enrolled 139 matriculants from 539 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 25.8 percent. No ABA disclosure, Tennessee Law's included, publishes how many applicants are admitted off the waitlist or how many accept, so implied yield, the share of admitted students who enroll, is the honest proxy for how much a waitlist moves. When roughly a quarter of admitted students enroll, University of Tennessee Law School extends far more offers than it has seats, which is consistent with a waitlist that becomes active when deposits fall short.

A 25.8 percent yield is low-to-moderate and points to real but uncertain waitlist hope at University of Tennessee Law School. Because Tennessee Law competes for admitted students who also hold offers from national schools, a meaningful share of its admits enroll elsewhere, which can leave seats for the waitlist. That is not a guarantee: yield rebounds in strong cycles, and a school can fill without returning to its list.

If you land on the University of Tennessee Law School waitlist, the play is the standard one: send a concise letter of continued interest naming Tennessee Law as a top choice, add any new LSAT score or improved grades, and keep another acceptance in hand as your anchor. Do not build your plan around a University of Tennessee Law School waitlist offer, but do not write it off either, because a 25.8 percent yield leaves genuine room for movement.

One honest footnote on the class figures. Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509 lists 139 matriculants from the applicant pool and a first-year class of 140, essentially identical, which means almost the entire first-year class came directly from this cycle's pool. The 25.8 percent implied yield is computed from the 139 pool matriculants against the 539 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at University of Tennessee Law School.

Where do University of Tennessee Law School graduates actually work?

In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, University of Tennessee Law School kept 74.8 percent of graduates in Tennessee and 82.7 percent across its top three markets. Large firms of 101-plus lawyers hired 16.5 percent, and 2.4 percent won federal clerkships. Tennessee Law is one of the most state-concentrated schools in the country.

University of Tennessee Law School is a Tennessee school in the most literal sense, and the employment data shows it. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Tennessee Law placed 95 of its 127 graduates in Tennessee, 6 in North Carolina, and 4 in Georgia. That is a 74.8 percent top-market share and an 82.7 percent top-three share: three in four graduates begin their careers in Tennessee, and more than eight in ten stay within three neighboring states. Few schools anywhere concentrate their graduates so heavily in a single state.

Lead with concentration rather than the raw employment rate, because the rate barely separates strong regional schools. University of Tennessee Law School reported 123 of 127 graduates employed at ten months, or 96.9 percent, in the same ABA Employment Summary, which is excellent but similar across the top of the regional market. What distinguishes the University of Tennessee Law School outcome is its location: this is a degree built to place you in Tennessee, and it does that with unusual reliability.

On firm size, University of Tennessee Law School places a solid minority in large firms. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 16.5 percent of Tennessee Law graduates taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, a healthy share for a regional public flagship but not a BigLaw-feeder rate. Most University of Tennessee Law School graduates enter smaller and midsize firms, government, and business roles concentrated in Tennessee markets such as Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis.

Federal clerkships are a smaller part of the picture at University of Tennessee Law School. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 2.4 percent of Tennessee Law graduates entering federal clerkships, a modest share that fits a school oriented toward in-state private practice rather than the federal-court and national-firm track. If your goal is a clerkship or a coastal firm, weigh University of Tennessee Law School's strong in-state pull against your out-of-state ambitions before you commit.

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

University of Tennessee Law School's specific application deadlines and any Early Decision terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle, so confirm both directly on Tennessee Law's admissions site. The figures here are dated and verified August 2026, but cycle dates shift, and only the school's own page is authoritative on timing.

This page does not state a specific University of Tennessee Law School application deadline, because its sources are the school's ABA disclosures and published data pages rather than a live application calendar, and stating a date this page cannot verify would violate its own accuracy rule. What is verifiable is that Tennessee Law, like nearly all ABA law schools, reviews on a rolling basis in practice, which rewards applying early in the cycle while the class and the scholarship budget are still open.

On Early Decision, University of Tennessee Law School's ED terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle. If Tennessee Law offers a binding Early Decision option, its deadline, its financial terms, and whether it is truly binding should be confirmed on the school's own admissions page rather than assumed from this one. Early Decision is a binding commitment when a school offers it, so it is exactly the kind of term you verify at the source before you rely on it.

The practical guidance for University of Tennessee Law School applicants is simple and does not depend on a specific date. Apply as early in the cycle as your best possible LSAT and complete file allow, because rolling review means later applicants compete for fewer remaining seats and a smaller remaining scholarship pool at a school this much in demand. Treat this page as a planning aid verified in August 2026, and treat Tennessee Law's admissions site as the authority on the current cycle's deadlines and Early Decision terms.

Frequently asked questions about getting into University of Tennessee Law School

Is a 164 LSAT good enough for Tennessee Law?

A 164 is exactly the LSAT median at University of Tennessee Law School, per Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 160 to 166. A 164 puts you at the fiftieth percentile, competitive rather than a lock. Pair it with a GPA at or above the 3.89 median and you are a strong candidate at University of Tennessee Law School.

What GPA do you need for Tennessee Law?

University of Tennessee Law School reports a GPA median of 3.89, with a 25th to 75th range of 3.67 to 3.95, in Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509. Aim for 3.89 or higher. Because University of Tennessee Law School is splitter friendly, a strong LSAT can help carry a GPA below 3.67, but a transcript near the 3.89 median keeps your file clean at Tennessee Law.

What is Tennessee Law's acceptance rate?

University of Tennessee Law School admitted 24.77 percent of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 539 offers against 2,176 applications, according to Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That is the most selective rate in this guide, and it places University of Tennessee Law School squarely in the middle of its LSAT band rather than at either extreme.

How many people apply to Tennessee Law?

University of Tennessee Law School received 2,176 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, the largest pool in this guide, made 539 offers, and enrolled 139 matriculants from the pool for a first-year class of 140, per Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509. That heavy demand against a small offer count produces University of Tennessee Law School's 24.77 percent acceptance rate.

How much does Tennessee Law cost?

University of Tennessee Law School lists full-time tuition and fees of $20,562 for residents and $39,322 for nonresidents, plus $26,216 in living expenses, in Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509. The resident figure is the lowest in this guide. University of Tennessee Law School 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 figure.

Does Tennessee Law give scholarships?

Yes. University of Tennessee Law School reports that 89 percent of students receive grant money, with awards of $8,000, $10,550, and $14,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, plus 17 awards above full tuition, per Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509. The grant band is narrow, so most aided students at University of Tennessee Law School land near the $10,550 median rather than at the extremes.

What is Tennessee Law's bar passage rate?

University of Tennessee Law School posted a 91.94 percent first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2024, with Tennessee as the largest jurisdiction, according to Tennessee Law's ABA bar-passage report. Its ultimate pass rate for the 2022 cohort was 89.66 percent. The two figures cover different cohorts, and both sit well above the national threshold, so bar passage is a strength at University of Tennessee Law School.

Where do Tennessee Law graduates work?

Overwhelmingly in Tennessee. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows University of Tennessee Law School placed 95 graduates in Tennessee, 6 in North Carolina, and 4 in Georgia, a 74.8 percent top-market share and 82.7 percent across the top three. University of Tennessee Law School is one of the most state-concentrated law schools in the country.

Do Tennessee Law graduates get large-firm jobs?

Some do. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 16.5 percent of University of Tennessee Law School graduates took jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers. That is a healthy share for a regional public flagship but not a BigLaw-feeder rate, so most Tennessee Law graduates enter smaller and midsize firms, government, and business roles inside Tennessee.

Can a splitter get into Tennessee Law?

A splitter has a real path. Lovare reads University of Tennessee Law School as splitter friendly in Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509, with a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.22 that is proportionally wider than the four-point LSAT spread. That means University of Tennessee Law School forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is strong, so a high-LSAT, lower-GPA file is more viable than the reverse.

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

Among the 36 ABA schools whose median LSAT is within two points of University of Tennessee Law School's 164, ranked by acceptance rate in the 2025 ABA 509, Tennessee Law is 17th most selective of 36. That is essentially the middle of its band, so University of Tennessee Law School is about as selective as its LSAT level would predict, with no hidden discount or premium.

Is Tennessee Law worth it?

For a Tennessee-centered career, the value case is very strong. University of Tennessee Law School pairs the lowest resident sticker in this guide, $20,562, with 89 percent grant reach, a 91.94 percent first-time bar rate, and 96.9 percent employment, per Tennessee Law's 2025 ABA 509 and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024. The one caveat is that University of Tennessee Law School's outcomes are concentrated in Tennessee.

Is University of Tennessee Law School good for practicing outside Tennessee?

It is possible but against the grain. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows only 25.2 percent of University of Tennessee Law School graduates working outside Tennessee, with the next markets being North Carolina and Georgia. If your goal is a coastal market or a national firm, University of Tennessee Law School's strong in-state pull is a factor to weigh honestly before you enroll at Tennessee Law.

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

Scores above the medians. An LSAT above the 164 median toward the 166 upper quartile and a GPA above 3.89 toward the 3.95 upper quartile position you for University of Tennessee Law School's larger awards, including the 17 above-full-tuition grants Tennessee Law reports in its 2025 ABA 509. Because the grant band is narrow, top numbers are the clearest route to an above-median award.

Sources

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

University of Tennessee Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=139&year=2025

University of Tennessee Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=139&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=139&year=2024

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