The Washburn University School of Law (Washburn Law) is a public law school located on the main campus of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Washburn Law was founded in 1903. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1905.
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Admissions
For the class entering in 2025, the school accepted 255 out of 549 applicants (a 46.45% acceptance rate) with 136 of those accepted enrolling, a 53.33% yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who enrolled). One student was not included in the acceptance statistics. The class consists of 137 students. The median LSAT score of enrolled students was 155 and the median undergraduate GPA was 3.68. Two students were not included in the GPA calculation and two were not included in the LSAT calculation. The reported 25th/75th percentile LSAT scores and GPAs were 151/159 and 3.37/3.88.
Centers and programs
Business and Transactional Law Center
Children and Family Law Center
Center for Excellence in Advocacy
Center for Law and Government
Center for Oil and Gas Law
Center for International and Comparative Law
The Washburn Law Clinic functions as an in-house general practice law firm, providing representation in practice concentration areas such as Children and Family Law, Criminal Defense, State Tribal Court Practice, Civil Litigation, Criminal Appellate Advocacy, and Small Business and Transactional Law.
Under Washburn Law's Third Year Anywhere Enrollment Option, selected students can extern in the geographic area where they plan to practice after graduation (subject to limitations based on student safety and educational integrity).
Publications
The Washburn Law Journal
Washburn Lawyer (alumni magazine)
Washburn Agricultural Law and Tax Report
Curriculum
The first-year curriculum includes Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing, Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Torts, Constitutional Law, and Property Law. All entering students participate in the law school's academic support program designed to teach law students the law school learning strategies they need to succeed.
Employment
According to Washburns Law's official 2020 ABA-required disclosures, 79.6% of the Class of 2020 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment within ten months of graduation. Washburns's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 13.3%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2020 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.
Costs
In 2025, the tuition and fees at Washburn Law for three years was $86,940 for residents of Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska and $128,430 for residents of other states, while the estimated living expenses for single students varied from $51,054 (living off campus) to $48,129 (living on campus) to $25,542 (living at home).
Notable alumni
Kay McFarland (JD 1964) (deceased), first female justice and chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court
Alex M. Fromme (LLB 1939) (deceased), justice of the Kansas Supreme Court
William A. Smith (LLB 1914) (deceased), justice of the Kansas Supreme Court
Nancy Moritz (JD 1985), judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit
Bill Kurtis (JD 1966), television journalist, television producer, narrator, and news anchor