University of California--Berkeley

Law School Overview

U.S. News Rankings

Ranking score and category

Rank Category Name #9 Best Law Schools

Specialties Locked in Clinical Training #3 in Environmental Law #1 in Intellectual Property Law #5 in International Law

Law School Overview

The School of Law at University of California--Berkeley has an application deadline of February 1. The full-time program application fee at the School of Law at University of California--Berkeley is $75. Its tuition is full-time: $48,068 per year (in-state) and full-time: $52,019 per year (out-of-state). The student-faculty ratio is 11.6:1. The School of Law at University of California--Berkeley has 127 full- and part-time faculty on staff.

In an effort to end student rivalry, the UC-Berkeley School of Law does not use letter grades or GPAs. Students are also not ranked amongst their peers. The law school has pioneered curriculums like intellectual property law and technology-related law and offers specialized curricular programs in areas such as Clean Technology Law and Environmental Law. Students can tailor academics to their interests from the second semester onward. The school also offers unique survey courses, like Wine Law, and students can create their own electives, too.

Students might find opportunities to get involved through clinics, on-campus think tanks, and more than 10 student publications. Advanced law students can take their classroom education up a notch through the school’s Field Placement program, which places students in organizations like the Federal Trade Commission and the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program.

For a break from studying, students can venture into nearby San Francisco or take a quick trip to local beaches. Students can live in nearby university-owned housing, though most choose to live elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Notable graduates include David Estrada, YouTube managing counsel at Google Inc., and Terdema Ussery, chief executive officer of the Dallas Mavericks.

To see which law firms rank the highest, please visit U.S. News Best Law Firms.

Year founded	1894
Public/private	Public
Law school designation	National

Admissions

Application deadline	February 1
Full-time program application fee	$75
Part-time program application fee	N/A
Admissions Phone	(510) 642-2274
Admissions E-mail	admissions@law.berkeley.edu
Web site	http://www.law.berkeley.edu

Academics

Full- and part-time faculty	127
Student-faculty ratio	11.6:1
Total faculty	159

Student Body

Enrollment (full-time)	856
Gender distribution (full-time)
J.D. candidates graduating in 2011-2012	310

Cost

Tuition and fees
Full-time: $48,068 per year (in-state) Full-time: $52,019 per year (out-of-state)
Room and board	$16,602

Careers

Employed at graduation 2	72.6%
Median private sector starting salary	$160,000
Median public service starting salary	$55,000

Library

Total volumes and volume equivalents

950,583

* Law School Overview details based on 2012 data