Southwestern Law School Scholarship Calculator
Enter your LSAT and GPA to see where you stand against Southwestern Law School's admitted class and the grant range it actually publishes.
Southwestern Law School reports a median grant of $29,166 per year for students receiving financial aid, and 72% of its students receive aid, with 3% of aid recipients covering full tuition or more. The median award covers about 46% of annual tuition, so the school still costs roughly $33,994 per year in tuition after aid.
Enter your LSAT and/or GPA to see where you stand against this school's admitted class.
How this school's aid is distributed
Southwestern Law School splits its aid across four tiers. The share of students in each tier is what the school reports to the ABA — it is not a projection.
What three years would actually cost you
At Southwestern Law School, three years of tuition, housing and fees cost $298,719 before aid. A grant of $12,500 to $42,372 a year would leave you paying between $171,603 and $261,219 over three years. That total excludes mandatory fees, which this school does not publish separately. The lower figure assumes the larger award applies every year, so treat it as a floor rather than a bill.
| Component | Per year | Three years |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $63,160 | $189,480 |
| Housing (on campus) | $36,413 | $109,239 |
| Mandatory fees | not published | — |
| Total before aid | $99,573 | $298,719 |
| Median grant (applied to all three years) | $29,166 | $87,498 |
| Net cost | — | $211,221 |
The net figure applies this school's median award to every year and every student, so it is a floor rather than a bill — it excludes students who receive nothing, tuition increases, and living costs beyond what this school publishes. See the full cost breakdown →
Is this school worth your score?
Southwestern Law School sits in the 34th percentile of law schools by median LSAT but the 61st percentile by median grant, so it gives more aid than its selectivity suggests. Among the 164 schools with both figures reported, that is a gap of 27 percentile points.
Selectivity and generosity are two different things. A school can sit high on one and low on the other — and that gap is the part worth knowing before you decide where to apply.
| Measure | This school | Among 164 comparable schools |
|---|---|---|
| Median LSAT of admitted students | 157 | 34th percentile |
| Median grant for students receiving aid | $29,166 | 61th percentile |
| Gap | +27 points | more aid than its selectivity suggests |
The comparison set is the 164 schools that report an annual tuition figure and a median grant. Schools reporting tuition per credit hour are excluded because there is no annual aid figure to line up against. Percentiles are rank positions, not estimates.
Where this school sits against the extremes
The most and least generous schools relative to their own selectivity, for reference:
| School | LSAT percentile | Grant percentile | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| New England Law/Boston | 12th | 88th | +76 |
| California Western School of Law | 21th | 86th | +65 |
| Mitchell/Hamline School of Law | 16th | 79th | +63 |
| The University of Chicago | 98th | 20th | -78 |
| Brigham Young University | 87th | 15th | -72 |
| New York University | 93th | 30th | -63 |
What you get for what you pay
Southwestern Law School costs about $211,221 over three years after its median grant, and 78.6% of its 290 graduates went to a firm that requires bar passage, with 5.5% landing at a firm with 251 or more lawyers. That is 3.72 percentage points of bar-required employment for every $10,000 of net cost. These are the school's own reported figures for one class, not a forecast of what an individual graduate will get.
This school is one of the 20 law school pages with measurable search traffic, so the analysis below goes deeper than the standard breakdown: how its aid compares with schools at the same selectivity level, where it sits against the most and least generous schools in the country, and what its own class of graduates went on to do.
| Measure | This school | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Three-year net cost after the median grant | $211,221 | What a student pays after the median award, applied to all three years |
| Graduates in the reported class | 290 | The denominator for every percentage below |
| Went to a firm requiring bar passage | 78.6% | Full-time graduates employed where bar passage is required |
| Landed at a firm with 251+ lawyers | 5.5% | The larger end of the market, counted against the same class |
| Bar-required employment per $10,000 of net cost | 3.72 | Percentage points of bar-required employment for each $10,000 spent |
These are one class's reported outcomes, not a forecast. Employment figures depend on the year, the market and what graduates choose to report. See the full employment breakdown →
Conditional scholarships at Southwestern Law School
Southwestern Law School gave conditional scholarships to 295 students in 2024, and 52% kept the award after review — 142 students had it reduced.
Conditional scholarships are awarded on need but have to be re-earned every year. If you drop below the GPA threshold, the award can be cut — this is the school's own reported figure, not an estimate. See the retention data for every school →
Is Southwestern Law School keeping more conditional scholarships?
Between 2022 and 2024, Southwestern Law School has been keeping more of them: the share of conditional scholars who kept their award moved from 48.5% to 51.9%, with 295 students entering with a conditional award in 2024.
| Entering class | Entered with a conditional award | Kept it after year one | Reduced or eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 194 students | 48.5% | 100 students |
| 2023 | 222 students | 51.4% | 108 students |
| 2024 | 295 students | 51.9% | 142 students |
Is Southwestern Law School getting more competitive?
Applications to Southwestern Law School rose from 1,892 for the 2015 entering class to 3,584 for 2025, while the class enrolled 454 students — so there were 7.9 applicants per place, against 6 in 2015. Between 2023 and 2025 that figure moved from 5.8 to 7.9, and competition for each place has tightened.
| Entering class | Applications | Offers | Enrolled | Applicants per place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,892 | 1,123 | 314 | 6 |
| 2021 | 2,045 | 958 | 366 | 5.6 |
| 2022 | 1,855 | 934 | 339 | 5.5 |
| 2023 | 2,018 | 1,006 | 345 | 5.8 |
| 2024 | 2,946 | 1,160 | 406 | 7.3 |
| 2025 | 3,584 | 1,307 | 454 | 7.9 |
Applicants per place is applications divided by the number who actually enrolled. It moves with how selective the school is, not with how many offers it sends — a school can issue more offers without becoming harder to get into. The summary above judges the direction over the three most recent entering classes, not across the whole span: a single unusual year in the middle of eleven is not a trend.
How Southwestern Law School compares to schools at the same level
These are the schools with the closest median LSAT to Southwestern Law School's. The table sorts by median grant, because that is usually what the comparison turns on once the academic profile is close enough — and the three-year net cost column shows what each of those grants actually leaves you paying.
| School | Median grant / yr | Grant vs. selectivity | Three-year net cost | % receiving aid | Applicants per place | Competition, last 3 years | Conditional retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwestern Law School (this school) | $29,166 | +27 pt more aid than expected | $211,221 excludes fees | 72% | 7.9 | tightening | 51.9% |
| New York Law School | $40,000 | 0 pt | $171,849 | 85% | 10.3 | tightening | 46.0% |
| Hofstra University | $35,793 | 0 pt | $213,306 | 84% | 9.5 | tightening | 46.8% |
| University of Dayton | $33,000 | — | — | 102% | 9.6 | tightening | 80.9% |
| Duquesne University | $30,000 | 0 pt | $163,308 | 96% | 7.8 | tightening | — |
| Saint Louis University | $25,000 | 0 pt | $171,906 | 97% | 4.3 | level | — |
| Mercer University | $20,000 | 0 pt | $145,113 | 87% | 7.8 | tightening | — |
| Louisiana State University | $19,750 | 0 pt | $92,847 | 78% | 5.5 | level | 79.1% |
| The University of Tulsa | $12,500 | 0 pt | $154,008 | 99% | 4.3 | easing | — |
| University of Louisville | $12,000 | 0 pt | $115,977 | 75% | 4 | easing | — |
| The University of New Mexico | $10,000 | 0 pt | $102,402 | 60% | 6.3 | tightening | 85.4% |
| Buffalo, University at | $7,500 | 0 pt | $141,192 | 51% | 6 | level | — |
| The University of Mississippi | $7,000 | 0 pt | $120,447 | 87% | 6 | level | — |
Applicants per place is applications divided by students who enrolled. The competition column compares the most recent three entering classes rather than the full span, because a single year in the middle of that span is not a trend. Conditional retention is the share of students who kept a need-based conditional scholarship after year one review.
What this school's numbers mean
Southwestern Law School is in . It admits 36.5% of applicants, and 72% of its students receive financial aid.
The four tiers above come straight from the school's 509 disclosure. They matter because the same coverage figure can mean very different things — a school where most awards are half-tuition grants and one where most are full-tuition grants offer students something quite different.
Related pages
- Southwestern Law School financial aid breakdown — coverage, award size, all four tiers and conditional outcomes
- Southwestern Law School ABA 509 report — every figure from the disclosure, section by section
- Southwestern Law School cost of attendance — three-year total cost, ranked against every school
- Southwestern Law School admissions data — acceptance, LSAT, GPA, bar passage and class size
- All-school scholarship estimator — compare every ABA law school at once
Common questions
How much scholarship does Southwestern Law School give?
Southwestern Law School reports a median grant of $29,166 per year for students receiving financial aid, and 72% of its students receive aid, with 3% of aid recipients covering full tuition or more. The median award covers about 46% of annual tuition, so the school still costs roughly $33,994 per year in tuition after aid.
What LSAT and GPA does Southwestern Law School admit?
Southwestern Law School admitted students with LSAT scores between 154 and 160, with a median of 157. Its 25th-percentile undergraduate GPA is 3.23 and its 75th-percentile GPA is 3.72, with a median of 3.51.
Does Southwestern Law School reduce conditional scholarships?
Southwestern Law School gave conditional scholarships to 295 students in 2024, and 52% kept the award after review — 142 students had it reduced.
What do the position labels mean?
Above the median means your LSAT is above the school's 75th-percentile LSAT, so you sit in the top quarter of its entering class. Competitive means your LSAT falls between the school's median and 75th-percentile LSAT, which is the range where most admitted students sit. Below the median means your LSAT is between the school's 25th and 50th-percentile LSAT, inside the bottom half of its entering class. Below the 25th percentile means your LSAT is under the bottom quarter of the school's admitted class, and its published aid figures describe students who were admitted rather than your case.
Is Southwestern Law School keeping more conditional scholarships than before?
Between 2022 and 2024, Southwestern Law School has been keeping more of them: the share of conditional scholars who kept their award moved from 48.5% to 51.9%, with 295 students entering with a conditional award in 2024.
Is Southwestern Law School becoming more competitive?
Applications to Southwestern Law School rose from 1,892 for the 2015 entering class to 3,584 for 2025, while the class enrolled 454 students — so there were 7.9 applicants per place, against 6 in 2015. Between 2023 and 2025 that figure moved from 5.8 to 7.9, and competition for each place has tightened.
Is Southwestern Law School worth its score compared with other law schools?
Southwestern Law School sits in the 34th percentile of law schools by median LSAT but the 61st percentile by median grant, so it gives more aid than its selectivity suggests. Among the 164 schools with both figures reported, that is a gap of 27 percentile points.
Is Southwestern Law School worth the cost compared with other law schools?
Southwestern Law School costs about $211,221 over three years after its median grant, and 78.6% of its 290 graduates went to a firm that requires bar passage, with 5.5% landing at a firm with 251 or more lawyers. That is 3.72 percentage points of bar-required employment for every $10,000 of net cost. These are the school's own reported figures for one class, not a forecast of what an individual graduate will get.
Is this an estimate of my offer?
No, and it cannot be. The ABA Standard 509 disclosures publish each school's overall aid distribution, not a mapping from LSAT scores to award amounts. This page shows you Southwestern Law School's real published figures and where your scores land against its admitted class. A tool that prints a single dollar figure for your score is running a model, and the error is invisible to you.