Get in touch: +1 888 904 4161
.png)
In a recent webinar on how to get accepted into Ivy League law schools, one of our students asked if being older decreases your likelihood of getting accepted. Without hesitation, our expert admission counselors assured her that being an older student can actually be a selling point in your application. In fact, admissions committees love older candidates. They’re more mature, have more experience, and bring diversity and perspective into the classroom.
Top law schools like Northwestern Pritzker School of Law are known to have a strong preference for non-traditional students with work experience before starting law school. What admissions committees want to see is that you’re prepared for the demands of law school and can pass the bar exam. When selecting their incoming class of law students, admissions committees aim for diverse backgrounds to create a cohort that sparks insightful debate and challenges each other’s thinking.
In this guide, I ranked the top 10 schools for older students based on the flexibility of the program, the diverse age range of the most recently admitted class, and the school’s acceptance rate, among other factors.
I ranked these schools based on the three factors that matter most when choosing the right law program as an older student:
Older students should look for three things in a law school program:
Match your interests with the school's specialized concentrations and programs. If you are interested in tech law, schools like Berkeley Law offer highly regarded programs in IP and tech law and research hubs for AI law. If you want to work in public policy, look at schools in federal-agency cities like Georgetown Law and GW Law, where you can land an externship in a D.C. field position. What you would like to learn should carry as much weight as flexibility or bar passage rate.
If you're balancing a job or family, look for part-time, evening, or hybrid formats like the ones Georgetown Law and Fordham Law offer. Georgetown Law School offers the most flexible law program with evening, day, and weekend classes and up to six years to complete the program. Fordham Law offers a similar program to Georgetown Law but also offers hybrid classes, which alternate between in-person and online sessions.
Another important aspect to consider is the school's bar passage rate. A high rate tells you more about how well a program prepares you for the exam than prestige alone. To find this information, go to the American Bar Association website and filter by school name and the most recent academic year to see their reported bar passage disclosure.
No, it isn’t harder to get into law school as an older student. In fact, being an older student can boost your application. Admissions committees value the work and life experience mature applicants bring to the classroom, along with a clearer sense of career goals and where they're headed professionally. GPA and LSAT scores are still important for admission regardless of age.
Georgetown Law tops our ranking as the best law school for older students. It offers the most flexible program on the list, with evening, day, and weekend class options and up to six years to complete the degree. Georgetown also posts a 94.55% bar passage rate and runs one of the nation's most highly regarded in-house clinical programs, helping over 300 students a year build their legal experience.
Yes, it's worth going to law school at 40 if your goal is to become a lawyer. Age alone shouldn't hold you back. Many top-tier law programs, like Duke Law and Berkeley Law, report incoming classes with students up to 49 years old, so you'd be far from the only older student on campus.
Yes, older students qualify for the same scholarships and financial aid as younger applicants. There's no age limit on federal student aid, and older students should search for aid the same way younger students do. Merit scholarships, need-based grants, and federal loans all remain open regardless of age.
Older students can balance law school with other responsibilities by choosing a flexible program built around a working schedule. Part-time, evening, and hybrid formats let you keep your job and manage family commitments while still working toward your J.D. Schools like Georgetown Law and Fordham Law offer flexible programs for students with other commitments.
Yes, you can attend law school part-time as an older student. Several top law schools on this list offer part-time programs designed for students balancing work, family, or other commitments.
There's no official average age of law school students. The standardized ABA 509 disclosure report doesn't collect student age at all, so no reliable nationwide number exists. However, some schools report their age data. For example, Duke Law reports its incoming class averages 25 years old, with a range of 21 to 46. While Vanderbilt Law reports its median age is also 23, though 40% of the class falls between 24 and 31.
Older students can finance law school by starting with FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) to unlock federal loans and need-based aid, then applying directly to each school for merit scholarships. From there, look into employer tuition reimbursement if you're still working, veteran benefits if you served, and scholarships from bar associations or professional groups tied to your previous career.
Co-Founder of Juris Education, Dartmouth College
.svg)
