There are 18 ABA-accredited law schools in California, and 11 schools were ranked in top 100 U.S. law school ranking with academic excellence.
21 state accredited law schools (non-ABA) are excluded from the best law school selection. You can compare all law schools including state accredited law schools at California law school comparison page.
The below list compares important statistics between the 11 best law schools and all law schools in California.
- The average LSAT Score of the best law schools is 165.5, which is 4.4 points higher than average score of all California law schools.
- The average GPA of the best law schools is 3.79, which is 0.16 points higher than average GPA of all California law schools.
- The average acceptance rate is 23.27%, which is 9.94% lower than average rate of all California law schools.
- The average yield is 27.80%, while all California law schools's yield is 26.76%
- In average, 986 students enrolled in ech best law school, which is larger than California' average (834).
- The students to faculty ratio of the best law schools is 5.5 to 1, which means that a faculty need to teach and care larger number of students than other California law schools (5.4 to 1).
- The average bar exam pass rate of the best law schools is 83.52%, which is higher than California' average (75.63%).
California Best Law Schools Comparison
The following table compares the 11 best California law schools with important statistics.
| School | U.S. Law School Ranking | Founded | Tuition & Fees | LSAT | GPA | Population | Students to Faculty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford Law SchoolPrivateStanford, CA | 3 | 1893 | $73,713 | 173 | 3.95 | 682 | 4 to 1 |
| Berkeley School of LawPublicBerkeley, CA | 11 | 1894 | $74,995 | 170 | 3.87 | 1,302 | 4 to 1 |
| Los Angeles School of LawPublicLos Angeles, CA | 14 | 1949 | $71,430 | 170 | 3.92 | 1,376 | 5 to 1 |
| Gould School of LawPrivateLos Angeles, CA | 20 | 1896 | $78,038 | 169 | 3.88 | 1,436 | 8 to 1 |
| Irvine School of LawPublicIrvine, CA | 33 | 2009 | $68,190 | 167 | 3.72 | 510 | 4 to 1 |
| Davis School of Law PublicDavis, CA | 45 | 1965 | $67,164 | 165 | 3.69 | 718 | 7 to 1 |
| Loyola Law SchoolPrivateLos Angeles, CA | 59 | 1920 | $68,512 | 161 | 3.71 | 1,132 | 6 to 1 |
| University of San Diego School of LawPrivateSan Diego, CA | 71 | 1954 | $62,981 | 161 | 3.80 | 974 | 6 to 1 |
| Pepperdine University School of LawPrivateMalibu, CA | 72 | 1971 | $68,046 | 164 | 3.86 | 1,114 | 8 to 1 |
| University of California College of the Law, San FranciscoPublicSan Francisco, CA | 76 | 1878 | $55,207 | 160 | 3.59 | 1,185 | 4 to 1 |
| Chapman University School of LawPrivateOrange, CA | 91 | 1995 | $63,126 | 161 | 3.67 | 422 | 4 to 1 |
California Best Law Schools Statistics over the Past 5 Years
The tables below compare tuition, admission statistics, bar exam pass over the past 5 years. The data used is from 2020 to 2024, except bar exam pass rate from 2019 to 2023.
| School | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford Law School | $62,847 | $65,046 ▲3.38% | $65,046 | $67,647 ▲3.84% | $73,713 ▲8.23% |
| Berkeley School of Law | $55,316 | $57,540 ▲3.87% | $62,113 ▲7.36% | $67,785 ▲8.37% | $74,995 ▲9.61% |
| Los Angeles School of Law | $53,152 | $55,324 ▲3.93% | $59,839 ▲7.55% | $63,517 ▲5.79% | $68,700 ▲7.54% |
| Gould School of Law | $67,191 | $69,593 ▲3.45% | $70,948 ▲1.91% | $73,998 ▲4.12% | $78,038 ▲5.18% |
| Irvine School of Law | $53,548 | $55,649 ▲3.78% | $60,131 ▲7.45% | $64,218 ▲6.36% | $68,190 ▲5.82% |
| Davis School of Law | $58,591 | $60,543 ▲3.22% | $62,623 ▲3.32% | $65,121 ▲3.84% | $67,164 ▲3.04% |
| Loyola Law School | $59,340 | $60,860 ▲2.50% | $60,860 | $63,412 ▲4.02% | $65,912 ▲3.79% |
| University of San Diego School of Law | $56,711 | $58,911 ▲3.73% | $58,821 ▼-0.15% | $60,861 ▲3.35% | $62,981 ▲3.37% |
| Pepperdine University School of Law | $57,560 | $59,340 ▲3.00% | $61,270 ▲3.15% | $64,220 ▲4.59% | $68,046 ▲5.62% |
| University of California College of the Law, San Francisco | $55,538 | $49,758 ▼-11.62% | $55,930 ▲11.04% | $57,693 ▲3.06% | $55,207 ▼-4.50% |
| Chapman University School of Law | $55,099 | $56,602 ▲2.66% | $57,985 ▲2.39% | $59,568 ▲2.66% | $61,286 ▲2.80% |
| School | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford Law School | 171 | 171 | 172 ▲1 | 173 ▲1 | 173 |
| Berkeley School of Law | 168 | 168 | 169 ▲1 | 170 ▲1 | 170 |
| Los Angeles School of Law | 168 | 169 ▲1 | 170 ▲1 | 171 ▲1 | 170 ▼-1 |
| Gould School of Law | 166 | 167 ▲1 | 168 ▲1 | 168 | 169 ▲1 |
| Irvine School of Law | 165 | 166 ▲1 | 167 ▲1 | 167 | 167 |
| Davis School of Law | 162 | 163 ▲1 | 165 ▲2 | 165 | 165 |
| Loyola Law School | 160 | 160 | 161 ▲1 | 161 | 161 |
| University of San Diego School of Law | 159 | 159 | 161 ▲2 | 161 | 161 |
| Pepperdine University School of Law | 161 | 162 ▲1 | 164 ▲2 | 164 | 164 |
| University of California College of the Law, San Francisco | 158 | 158 | 160 ▲2 | 160 | 160 |
| Chapman University School of Law | 158 | 159 ▲1 | 160 ▲1 | 161 ▲1 | 161 |
| School | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford Law School | 3.91 | 3.89 ▼-0.02 | 3.91 ▲0.02 | 3.92 ▲0.01 | 3.95 ▲0.03 |
| Berkeley School of Law | 3.81 | 3.81 | 3.83 ▲0.02 | 3.83 | 3.87 ▲0.04 |
| Los Angeles School of Law | 3.79 | 3.79 | 3.82 ▲0.03 | 3.9 ▲0.08 | 3.92 ▲0.02 |
| Gould School of Law | 3.8 | 3.83 ▲0.03 | 3.82 ▼-0.01 | 3.87 ▲0.05 | 3.88 ▲0.01 |
| Irvine School of Law | 3.59 | 3.61 ▲0.02 | 3.69 ▲0.08 | 3.72 ▲0.03 | 3.72 |
| Davis School of Law | 3.61 | 3.72 ▲0.11 | 3.7 ▼-0.02 | 3.7 | 3.69 ▼-0.01 |
| Loyola Law School | 3.57 | 3.59 ▲0.02 | 3.64 ▲0.05 | 3.69 ▲0.05 | 3.71 ▲0.02 |
| University of San Diego School of Law | 3.57 | 3.65 ▲0.08 | 3.7 ▲0.05 | 3.74 ▲0.04 | 3.8 ▲0.06 |
| Pepperdine University School of Law | 3.66 | 3.68 ▲0.02 | 3.8 ▲0.12 | 3.85 ▲0.05 | 3.86 ▲0.01 |
| University of California College of the Law, San Francisco | 3.45 | 3.42 ▼-0.03 | 3.52 ▲0.10 | 3.59 ▲0.07 | 3.59 |
| Chapman University School of Law | 3.49 | 3.52 ▲0.03 | 3.6 ▲0.08 | 3.63 ▲0.03 | 3.67 ▲0.04 |
| School | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford Law School | 96.59% | 95.32% ▼-1.27% | 98.22% ▲2.90% | 97.08% ▼-1.14% | 94.41% ▼-2.67% |
| Berkeley School of Law | 91.19% | 90.37% ▼-0.82% | 96.67% ▲6.30% | 94.95% ▼-1.72% | 93.35% ▼-1.60% |
| Los Angeles School of Law | 87.24% | 89.46% ▲2.22% | 96.55% ▲7.09% | 93.84% ▼-2.71% | 92.47% ▼-1.37% |
| Gould School of Law | 88.84% | 87.73% ▼-1.11% | 92.13% ▲4.40% | 95.16% ▲3.03% | 89% ▼-6.16% |
| Irvine School of Law | 80% | 81.49% ▲1.49% | 86.36% ▲4.87% | 88.72% ▲2.36% | 84.4% ▼-4.32% |
| Davis School of Law | 77.02% | 84.46% ▲7.44% | 88.15% ▲3.69% | 79.79% ▼-8.36% | 81.78% ▲1.99% |
| Loyola Law School | 74.32% | 77.74% ▲3.42% | 88.16% ▲10.42% | 87.94% ▼-0.22% | 79.94% ▼-8.00% |
| University of San Diego School of Law | 77.36% | 76.31% ▼-1.05% | 85.97% ▲9.66% | 81.78% ▼-4.19% | 76.33% ▼-5.45% |
| Pepperdine University School of Law | 66.22% | 82.42% ▲16.20% | 78.57% ▼-3.85% | 86.87% ▲8.30% | 79.5% ▼-7.37% |
| University of California College of the Law, San Francisco | 60.59% | 79.74% ▲19.15% | 85.02% ▲5.28% | 81.72% ▼-3.30% | 70.92% ▼-10.80% |
| Chapman University School of Law | 63.88% | 59.26% ▼-4.62% | 80.69% ▲21.43% | 78.32% ▼-2.37% | 74.29% ▼-4.03% |