Liberty University School of Law

If you are looking for a different law school experience and want an opportunity to prove yourself, then it is important to note that Liberty University School of Law recently obtain provisional approval by the American Bar Association on February 13, 2006.  It achieved this accreditation at the earliest date possible for a new law school.  But, what this means is that students who now graduate from Liberty Law can take the bar exam in all 50 states upon graduation.

Liberty University is the Christian liberal arts university in Lynchburg, Virgina founded by Jerry Falwell in 1971.  Jerry Falwell also founded the Moral Majority Coalition in 1979 that helped usher in the evangelical movement into to modern American politics in the 80s.  The University was founded under the name Lynchburg Baptist College and Liberty Baptist College before changing its name to Liberty University in 1985.  Although the University early on faced financial difficulties, it is said to financially strong now and has a sizable enrollment of about 20,000 students.  When Jerry Falwell died in May of 2007 he had a $34 million dollar life insurance policy, which was used to pay off the Universities $25 million dollars in debt.

Students who live on campus are required to attend convocation three times per week when they hear from speakers in all walks of professional life.  These have included Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Billy Graham, Oliver North, Steve Forbes, John McCain and Sean Hannity.  The school has a strict code of student conduct, which is called "The Liberty Way".

The law schools website is pretty informative, and it contains an online video about the Christian rooting of the law school.  It is a short video but I would suggest you view this before thinking of applying to the school.

As with every law school, Liberty's law school tuition is about to increase this next year to $25,369.

The median GPA for admission is around 3.35 and the median LSAT 150.

It is just too early to know how Liberty will ultimately perform as to bar passage rates and the like.

Comments

[Chuck Newton]

I received this email from Liberty, which is important concerning their bar passage rate:
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Good Afternoon Mr. Newton,

I was approached by the Dean, whom noticed your blog entry, highlighting the Liberty University School of Law. In the blog entry, you mentioned the bar rates, specifically that it was too early to tell the performance rate. I wanted to give you the most up-to-date information, in regards to our bar passage. The inaugural class of May 2007 has achieved an 89% national pass rate on the bar exam. The details of the bar passage rate can be found in a recent news release: Inaugural Class Achieves Phenomenal 89 Percent National Bar Passage Rate

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you again,

Brian D. Payne
Director of Public Affairs
Liberty University School of Law