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Law Schools in Rhode Island
by Cheyenne Cartwright
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Overview
Rhode Island has only one law school, the Roger Williams University School of Law on Narragansett Bay in Bristol, about 18 miles southeast of Providence. The American Bar Association has accredited the law program there.
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Strengths
The law school specializes in clinical offerings in mediation, legal assistance, immigration and criminal defense, in which students work with actual clients on their cases. The Feinstein Institute for Legal Service gives law students the opportunity to experience what practicing law in the public interest arena is like. A joint venture with the University of Rhode Island, the Marine Affairs Institute offers legal studies pertaining to oceans and coastal areas.
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International Studies
Students also can study abroad in Lisbon and London. The Portuguese-American Comparative Law Center gives students an international context for evaluating their legal education. Finally, the law school offers cross-disciplinary joint degrees in marine affairs, labor relations and human resources, and criminal justice.
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Clerking Opportunities
Because the Roger Williams University School of Law is the only law school in the state, students have excellent chances to clerk for federal and state judges, state offices and agencies.
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Entering Class of 2008
Roger Williams University School of Law received 1,233 applications for admission for the fall of 2008. One hundred and eight-one accepted students enrolled in the program. The overall median Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score of students in the entering class of 2008 was 152; the median grade point average was 3.2.
The class ranged in age from 20 to 44 years, with the average age being 24. Forty-five percent of the students was male and 55 percent was female. Nine percent of the members of the entering class identified themselves as minority students.
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Tuition and Fees
Tuition for the 2009/2010 school year was $1,165 per credit. Fees, which include a student activity fee and recreation center fee, totaled $300. Students could opt to pay for health services ($185) or for health insurance for a year that included health services ($810). As appropriate, the university also assesses fees for such services as parking, transcripts and graduation.
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Financial Aid
The university is committed to seeing to it that all admitted applicants to the law school can pay for their education. Students should feel free to discuss their situations with the financial aid office, which can assist with direct costs (tuition, books, fees and supplies) and indirect costs (housing, utilities, food, transportation and loan fees).
