The Most Affordable Law Schools in the US: Lowest Tuition, Ranked — Including the Elite Bargains

Two Kinds of Cheap

Against a median in-state tuition of about $49,500, the affordable tier of American legal education — $11,000 to $19,000 a year — looks like a single category. It is actually two. One group is open-access schools where low price accompanies low medians and sometimes troubling bar outcomes. The other is a short list of nationally ranked schools that happen to be public (or subsidized) and cheap — and those are among the best deals in all of professional education.

The 15 Cheapest ABA Law Schools (In-State Tuition)

School	In-state	Median LSAT	Acceptance	Bar pass
Southern University	$11,338	147	56.6%	60.3%
South Dakota	$12,076	152	62.6%	72.6%
UDC (Clarke)	$12,438	151	37.0%	65.6%
NC Central	$13,444	151	39.1%	55.9%
Arkansas–Little Rock (Bowen)	$13,770	153	54.9%	73.5%
CUNY	$15,450	155	28.7%	65.7%
BYU	$15,992	170	22.8%	90.4%
Georgia State	$16,162	160	30.6%	90.0%
Tennessee	$16,696	164	24.8%	91.9%
Georgia	$18,044	169	12.7%	90.4%
Memphis	$18,634	155	41.1%	73.4%
Oklahoma	$18,739	162	33.4%	88.8%
Florida (Levin)	$19,139	169	16.5%	88.6%

(Puerto Rico's Inter American, at about $16,600, also belongs on the full list. Compare every school on the law school tuition page.)

The Elite Bargains

Five schools on this list are simply top-tier programs at discount prices. Georgia (top-30, LSAT 169) and Florida (top-25, LSAT 169) give their residents a nationally ranked JD for under $60,000 in total tuition. BYU pairs a 170 median with 100% reported employment at about $16,000 for LDS members. Tennessee (LSAT 164, 91.9% bar passage) and Georgia State — which owns the Atlanta market alongside its more expensive neighbors — round out the group. For these schools, "affordable" is not a caveat; it is a superpower that lets graduates take clerkships, government roles, and small-market practice without debt dictating the choice.

The Caution Tier

At the other end, price deserves scrutiny. Southern (60.3% bar passage), NC Central (55.9%), UDC (65.6%), and CUNY (65.7%) offer genuine access and, in CUNY's case, a distinctive public-interest mission — but a JD only pays off if it converts to a license. Three cheap years followed by failed bar attempts is the most expensive outcome in legal education. Weigh these schools' bar and employment numbers against your own academic record honestly.

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Sticker Price vs Net Price

The final trap: almost nobody pays sticker. Median grants run from $5,000 at open-access schools to $40,000+ at wealthy privates, and merit money flows to applicants above a school's LSAT median. If your numbers beat a school's 75th percentile, a nominally expensive program may offer a package that undercuts every school on this list. Run both paths — cheap sticker and big scholarship — before deciding; law school scholarships explains how the negotiation works, and law school cost, debt, and ROI covers the full debt math.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cheapest ABA-accredited law school?

Southern University Law Center in Louisiana, at about $11,300 per year in-state, followed by South Dakota (about $12,100), UDC (about $12,400), and North Carolina Central (about $13,400). All are accessible admits, but check bar pass rates carefully at this tier — several run below 75%.

What is the best cheap law school?

BYU: a 170 LSAT median, top-45 ranking, 90%+ bar passage, and 100% reported employment at about $16,000 per year (LDS members; about $32,000 otherwise — still cheap). Georgia (top-30, about $18,000) and Florida (top-25, about $19,100 in-state) are the strongest public bargains.

Does going to a cheap law school hurt your career?

It depends entirely on which cheap school. Georgia and Florida place into Big Law and federal clerkships like the top-30 schools they are. Open-access schools with sub-75% bar pass rates are a different proposition: the low sticker price can conceal a high risk of never being licensed. Judge affordable schools by outcomes, not price.

Is sticker tuition what you actually pay for law school?

Usually not. Most law students receive merit scholarships — median grants run $5,000-$40,000 per year depending on the school and your numbers. An applicant above a school's 75th percentile LSAT often pays less at a nominally expensive school than at a cheap one offering nothing. Always compare net cost after realistic scholarship estimates.

How much does law school cost in total?

At the median in-state tuition of about $49,500, three years runs about $148,000 in tuition alone, plus living costs. At the affordable tier — $11,000-19,000 per year — total tuition falls to $34,000-57,000, which is why residents of Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and similar states have such a structural advantage.