Cooley Facts-at-a-Glance

2011-12 Tuition + Fees

» Costs, scholarships, admissions

• $1,225 per credit hour, JD Level I, assessed on first 30 credits. Remaining tuition will be assessed at JD Level II, $1,175 for 2011-12.
• $34,340 (Cost of 2 semesters - 14 credits each + $40 SBA Activity Fee)
  
  » Tuition Calculator - Compare our tuition to other schools

2011-12 Estimated Educational Expenses

• $14,686 (books, room & board, personal, transportation, and loan fees for two semesters).
  

Admissions

• Admissions eligibility is based on an applicant's LSAT and Undergraduate Grade Point Average (UGPA).

Admission Index

• UGPA (as evaluated by Law School Credential Assembly Service) x 15 + LSAT (LSAT scores accepted up to 5 years.)

Scholarships & Financial Aid

• Honors Scholarships range from 25 to 100% of tuition, based on Admission Index and LSAT score. Once enrolled, students can earn or increase their scholarships based on class rank.
• 49.8% of JD students receive scholarships.
• Incoming Michigan and Florida residents may be eligible for a 10% scholarship enhancement.
• Financial Aid available.
  

Academic Calendar

• Year-round academic program with 3 semesters per year: January (Hilary), May (Trinity), and September (Michaelmas).
• Students may begin their studies in September, January, or May.

Flexible
Scheduling Options

• Part-time and full-time programs, including traditional summers off
• Classes offered on weekdays, weeknights, or weekends
• Degree completion in two, three, four, or five years

Locations

• Four facilities in Lansing, Grand Rapids, Auburn Hills, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Classes begin at our newest facility in Tampa Bay, Florida in May 2012.

Faculty

• Largest law school faculty in the nation, with 131 full-time faculty and 286 adjunct faculty. Our faculty are seasoned, experienced lawyers and judges.

Minority Enrollment

• Largest JD minority enrollment in the nation.
• Largest JD foreign national enrollment in the nation.

Student Profile

• 3,745 students enrolled (JD + LL.M.)
• 1,055 (28.2%) are members of minority groups
• 1,818 (48.5%) are women
• 220 are from foreign countries
• 79.1% are enrolled part-time
• 57.5% are from outside Michigan
• Median LSAT score 146
• Median undergraduate GPA 3.02

Cooley Graduates

• 15,842 graduates
• Our alumni are located in all 50 states and in 23 countries and territories outside the U.S.

Degrees

• Juris Doctor
• JD/LL.M.
• JD/MPA; JD/MBA; JD/MSW
• LL.M. - Corporate Law and Finance
• LL.M. - Insurance Law
• LL.M. - Intellectual Property
• LL.M. - Self-Directed
• LL.M. - Tax
• LL.M. – U.S. Legal Studies for Foreign Attorneys

Clinical Programs

All Cooley students have hands-on practice experience. Our externship program placed 833 students in the last academic year. Currently, we have more than 2,700 approved placements sites across the United States and in select foreign countries. There are ten different Cooley Clinics.

• Access to Justice Clinic (Grand Rapids) provides free civil legal services to low and moderate income residents.
• Cooley Innocence Project (Lansing) students help innocent, incarcerated defendants obtain DNA testing.
• At the Estate Planning Clinics (Auburn Hills and Lansing), students counsel clients and draft wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives for them (night and weekend students have priority).
• Family Law Assistance Project (Auburn Hills) students work on family law issues -- divorce, custody and domestic violence -- under the supervision of faculty and Lakeshore Legal Aid staff attorneys.
• At the Public Sector Legal Project (Grand Rapids), students provide civil legal services of a transactional, advisory, legislative, or systemic nature to government clients in management or elected office. Night and weekend students have priority.
• Sixty Plus, Inc., Elderlaw Clinic (Lansing) students provide free civil legal assistance to area senior citizens.
• The Public Defender Clinics (Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids) students have their own caseload and work with seasoned public defenders in a criminal litigation setting.
• Cooley Immigrant Rights and Civil Advocacy Clinic (Ann Arbor) students help immigrant clients with civil legal matters (night students have priority).

Law Library

• 694,885 volumes - Brennan Law Library is among the largest in the nation
• 51 full-time staff including 24 professional librarians
• Reference Desk staffed 86 hours per week by professional librarians. Research volumes from all 50 states, plus Federal and International materials.

Accreditation

• American Bar Association
  321 Clark Street, 21st Floor NE
  Chicago, IL 60610
  312-988-6738
  www.americanbar.org/groups/
  legal_education.html
  - since 1975

• Higher Learning Commission, a member of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges
  230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500
  Chicago, IL 60604-1413
  800-621-7440
  www.ncahlc.org - since 2001

• Commission for Independent Education, Florida Department of Education
  325 West Gaines Street, Suite 1414
  Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400
  (888) 224-6684
  www.fldoe.org/cie/ - Provisional License since April 2011.

Thomas M. Cooley Law School is a Michigan private, nonprofit educational corporation.