University of Georgia School of Law: Ranking, Programs, and Opportunities

The University of Georgia School of Law, also known as Georgia Law, is a public law school within the University of Georgia. Established in 1859, it boasts a rich history and a strong reputation for providing a high-quality legal education. This article explores the school's rankings, academic programs, student life, career opportunities, and other key aspects that make it a prominent institution for legal studies.

Overview of the University of Georgia School of Law

Georgia Law is located in Athens, Georgia, a vibrant college town. The School of Law at University of Georgia has an application deadline of June 1. The full-time program application fee at the School of Law at University of Georgia is $50. The student-faculty ratio is 6.1:1.

A Legacy of Excellence

The law school was founded in 1859, with Joseph Lumpkin, one of the United States' first state supreme court chief justices, attorney Thomas Cobb, who was the author of the first enacted comprehensive codification of common law in the United States, and William Hull, an honors graduate of the University of Georgia, who had been a United States Attorney and a Solicitor General of the United States, as its founding professors. Previously, law courses had been offered as part of the undergraduate curriculum of Franklin College of the university. The modern method of case law instruction was ushered in during the 1920s. In December 1931, the school was granted membership in the Association of American Law Schools.

Accreditation and Affiliations

The law school is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. It also has a chapter of the Order of the Coif.

Motto

The school's motto is "Justitia," which is Latin for Justice.

Rankings and Recognition

The University of Georgia School of Law is routinely considered one of the nation’s best returns on investment in legal education. For nearly a decade, UGA has been ranked at or near the top of National Jurist’s Best Value Law School rankings (based on tuition, cost of living, indebtedness, job placement and bar passage). In the 2025 Best Value rankings, the School of Law was ranked third, behind Florida State University and Brigham Young University, respectively. UGA has been ranked the #1 Best Value for five of the last eight years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2024) and ranked #2 in 2017, 2021 and 2022.

For the 2024 Top 50 Law School Rankings, of the 196 ABA-approved law schools, Georgia Law was ranked No. 13. News & World Report ranks Georgia Law as having the lowest tuition of the top 20 law schools.

Academic Programs

Georgia Law offers a variety of programs to cater to different academic and professional goals.

Juris Doctor (J.D.)

The J.D. program is the flagship program designed for students who intend to practice law. The school wants students to focus on their studies and discourages 1Ls from taking jobs during the first year of law school.

There’s a wide variety of courses from which students can choose their electives, and the school has a unique approach to grading in the “intense” first year. Students don’t receive grades for the first semester (with the exception of criminal law and civil procedure), and at the end of 1L, fall semester performance counts toward the final grade, but it’s weighted significantly less than spring exam scores.

Read also: History of the Block 'M'

Master of Laws (LL.M.)

The Master of Laws (LL.M.) is for foreign-trained lawyers.

Master in the Study of Law (M.S.L.)

The Master in the Study of Law (M.S.L.) is for those who do not want to practice law, but wish to gain an understanding of legal principles and perspectives in order to advance their careers.

Dual Degree Programs

Students may also choose to pursue interdisciplinary coursework in other University schools and colleges, or to earn one of many dual degrees including a J.D./M.B.A.

Programs/courses offered

Georgia Law provides programs and courses in:

clinical training
dispute resolution
environmental law
health care law
intellectual property law
international law
business/corporate law
constitutional law
contracts/commercial law
criminal law
JD/M.Ed. Sports Studies
JD/MA Historic Preservation

Tuition, Fees, and Financial Aid

Tuition & Fees (Doctorate)$19,460 (in-state). The total of tuition and fees for one year at Georgia Law is $18,994 for Georgia residents and $37,752 for non-residents.

Read also: Legacy of Fordham University

Non-resident students may apply for in-state rates after the first year, and many out-of-state residents receive scholarships for their first year, which waive the tuition difference. Our student borrowing has declined by more than $8.4 million (55%) since 2013. For 2024-25, 52% of students did not borrow. 85% of 2023-24 students received financial aid. 100% of veterans and first-gen college graduates in J.D.

Library Resources

The Alexander Campbell King Law Library is the oldest and largest law library in the state of Georgia. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black gave the keynote address at an outdoor ceremony to dedicate a modern law library building adjacent to Hirsch Hall. Housing a collection of more than 500,000 digital and print titles, the law library is a founding member of the Legal Information Preservation Alliance and the Law Library Microform Consortium. It has been designated a Federal Depository Library. The library is also one of the United States' Specialized European Documentation Centres, houses the Faculty Writings Collection, the Phillips Nuremberg Trials Collection, the Rare Book Collection, and the J. The Louis B. Sohn Library on International Relations is housed within the school's Dean Rusk International Law Center. The Sohn library is the extensive international law collection of Louis B.

Students love its “huge, picturesque windows and accommodating seating and tables”-and it’s embarking on a renovation and expansion that will only improve the quality of life.

Experiential Learning and Practical Training

For the 2024-25 academic year, more than 425 Georgia Law students enrolled in clinical and field placement programs for approximately 82,000 hours. There are over 100 organizations, experiential learning and practical training offerings, and other additional education opportunities at Georgia Law. Some of the offerings include, without limitation, the Business Law Clinic, Civil Law Practice Externships, the Corporate Counsel Externship, the Environmental Law Practicum, the Washington D.C. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Ninth, Eleventh, and D.C.

Georgia Law “provides a wide range of clinical opportunities for its students,” as well as its nationally recognized moot court and mock trial programs and three major journals. It also offers study and work abroad programs to help reinforce its focus on global issues, and concurrent enrollment with the university’s other programs is an option.

Student Life and Culture

UGA Law offers a “great balance between traditional legal education and strong social environment.” Small class sizes mean everyone is very independently driven,” providing at most a “friendly competition,” instead of a cutthroat one, but “grabbing a beer with friends after a long Friday full of classes makes law school really bearable.” “No one is hiding books; no one is refusing to help. We are all in this together and at the end of the day, the person next to you is a future referral and professional colleague,” says a 2L. The camaraderie of the students, an awesome social scene, and proximity to Atlanta make a good educational experience that much better.

Student Organizations

There are many student organizations. Some of the organizations include, without limitation, the Business Law Clinic, Civil Law Practice Externships, the Corporate Counsel Externship, the Environmental Law Practicum, the Washington D.C. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Ninth, Eleventh, and D.C.

Location

Students say that the “small Southern town” of Athens, with its coffee shops and music scene, is the “quintessential college town,” but one that can be “somewhat limiting for older students.” Though the school is just a couple of blocks from downtown, “Housing options are pretty limited around the law school and most students live two to three miles away,” and often must drive to school as “the Athens bus service is not great.” Atlanta is about an hour-and-a-half away, so students who must frequently travel for their internships have a bit of a hike, but it’s still close enough that its myriad entertainment options can be enjoyed without much trouble.

Career Opportunities and Outcomes

The School of Law aims to prepare well-rounded students and connect them to opportunities where they will succeed and thrive as leaders in their future professions and communities. The school measures its success by creating access and limiting debt, with a focus on real-world outcomes like bar passage and graduate job placement.

Living Georgia Law graduates work in all 50 states and more than 60 countries. Those who graduated in 2021 are working in 26 states and abroad. According to ABA required disclosures, not including those choosing to open their own practices, to pursue additional education, etc., 98% of the 2022 graduating class were hired to perform high-value jobs within nine months after graduation, and 94.79% held full-time, long-term, JD-required positions at that point (Georgia Law being the nation's #1 law school for high-value jobs out of 196 ABA-approved schools). For the class graduating in 2022, Georgia Law was ranked in the top four of all 196 ABA approved law schools for the highest percentage of graduates obtaining full-time legal jobs requiring bar passage. Georgia Law was among the top law schools that sent the highest percentage of juris doctor graduates into associate positions at the largest 100 law firms in the country. Of 202 students who graduated in 2021 - not including those who opened their own practices, pursued additional education, etc.

Clerkships

Serving as a judicial clerk is considered one of the most prestigious positions in legal circles, and often opens up wide-ranging opportunities in private practice, high-ranking government work, and academia. Georgia Law has had six alumni serve as judicial clerks for justices of the United States Supreme Court since 2005.

Notable Alumni

Georgia Law recent graduates include 11 governors, over 110 state and federal legislators, approximately 70 federal judges, and numerous state supreme court justices, practitioners, government officials, ambassadors, trial court judges, academics and law firm principals.

Luis A. Aguilar (J.D.
M. Neil Andrews (LL.B.
Ellis Arnall (LL.B.
R. Stan Baker (J.D.
Roy Barnes (J.D.
Timothy Batten (J.D.
Robert Benham (J.D.
Charlie Bethel (J.D.
Keith R. Blackwell (J.D.
Thomas C. Bordeaux, Jr. (J.D.
J. P. Boulee (J.D.
Dudley Hollingsworth Bowen Jr. (LL.B.
Mike Bowers (J.D.
Michael Lawrence Brown (J.D.
George Busbee (J.D.
Valerie E. Caproni (J.D.
Julie E. Carnes (J.D.
Christopher M. Carr (J.D.
John William Carter (J.D.
Jason Carter (J.D.
Thomas Alonzo Clark (LL.B.
Harold G. Clarke (LL.B.
Verda Colvin (J.D.
Christian A. Coomer (J.D.
Ertharin Cousin (J.D.
Bill Cowsert (J.D.
George W. Darden III (J.D.
Bertis Downs IV (J.D.
Berry Avant Edenfield (LL.B.
Newell Edenfield (LL.B.
James Larry Edmondson (J.D.
John J. Ellington (J.D.
Randy Evans (J.D.
Stacey Evans (J.D.
Duross Fitzpatrick (LL.B.
Norman S. Fletcher (J.D.
Joan Gabel (J.D.
Elizabeth Gobeil (J.D.
Stephen S. Goss (J.D.
Kenneth E. Gross, Jr. (J.D. 1978), Washington, D.C. Foreign Service member in Germany, Nepal, Iraq, Malaysia, et al.
James Randal Hall (J.D.
Frank Hanna III (J.D. 1986), former corporate attorney, now entrepreneur, merchant banker, philanthropist, and Grand Cross Knight of the Order of St.
Kenneth B. Hodges, III (J.D.
Pierre Howard (J.D.
C. Donald Johnson Jr. (J.D.
Francys Johnson (J.D.
Steve C. Jones (J.D.
Dar'shun N. Kendrick (J.D.
Benjamin Land (J.D.
Clay D. Land (J.D.
Edward H. Lindsey Jr. (J.D.
Thomas O. Marshall (J.D.
Beverly B. Martin (J.D.
Leigh Martin May (J.D.
Scott F. McAfee (J.D.
Christopher J. McFadden (J.D.
Carla Wong McMillian (J.D.
Peter Meldrim (LL.B.
Harold D. Melton (J.D.
Patrick N. Millsaps (J.D.
Tamika Montgomery-Reeves (J.D.
William Theodore Moore Jr. (J. D.
Jere Morehead (J.D.
Lewis Render Morgan (J. D.
Thomas B. Murphy (J.D.
Harold Lloyd Murphy (J. D. 1949), Judge, U. S.
Wilbur Dawson Owens Jr. (J.D.
Charles A. Pannell Jr. (J.D.
Phaedra Parks (J.D.
William Porter Payne (J.D.
Charles Peeler (J.D.
Andrew Pinson (J.D.
David Ralston (J.D.
William McCrary Ray II (J.D. 1990), Judge, U. S.
Brian M. Rickman (J.D.
Jack L. Rives (J.D.
William V. Roebuck (J.D.
C. Ashley Royal (J.D. 1974), Judge, U. S.
Richard B. Russell Jr. (LL.B.
Carl Sanders (J. D.
Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler (J.D.
Tilman E. Self (J.D.
Marvin Herman Shoob (J.D.
Samuel Hale Sibley (LL.B.
Sidney Oslin Smith Jr. (J.D.
George T. Smith (J. D.
Richard W. Story (J.D.
Stephanie Stuckey (J.D.
Herman E. Talmadge (J.D.
Charles B. Tanksley (J.D.
Edward J.
Robert L. Vining Jr. (J.D.
Joe D. Whitley (J.D.
Robert Whitlow (J.D.
Melanie D. Wilson (J.D.
Lisa Godbey Wood (J.D.
William Robert Woodall III (J.D.
Sally Quillian Yates (J.D.

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