Each year, U.S. News & World Reports ranks ABA-accredited law schools. For the 2008-09 academic year, the Florida law schools that were ranked in the top half were the University of Florida, followed in rank by the Florida State University, University of Miami and Stetson University. Although The Institute of Higher Education does not specifically rank law schools, it does rank universities and colleges. Of the Florida universities that have law schools, the IHE ranked the University of Florida No. 67 among the top universities in the world. The other Florida schools with law schools which were ranked in the top 500 were the University of Miami and Florida State University.
In 2008, the University of Miami School of Law had the highest applicant acceptance rate with 49.7 percent being accepted for admission. Florida International University was the strictest with an applicant acceptance rate of 21.6 percent. Student-to-faculty ratios are one indication of quality of education. For the 2008-09 term, Florida State University School of Law had the lowest ratio at 13.8-to-1, while Florida Coastal School of Law had the highest ratio with 20.3-to-1. The median Law School Admission Test scores for law school applicants who were accepted for admission was highest at both the University of Florida and Florida State University at 159. The lowest median LSAT score for applicants accepted for admission was at Florida A&M University with 143.
Florida state bar examination pass rates are often indicative of the quality of learning at a law school. In 2009, the law schools with the three best bar exam pass rates were the University of Miami with a pass rate of 88 percent, followed by University of Florida with 83 percent, and Nova Southeastern University with 80.4 percent. The lowest pass rate was at St. Thomas University with a pass rate of 53 percent.
For 2009, annual Florida resident tuition costs for full-time attendance ranged from $10,312 at Florida A&M University School of Law to a high of $32,820 --- for both residents and non-residents --- at the University of Miami School of Law. For non-residents, tuition was lowest at Florida International University. Non-resident, full-time tuition at FIU was $23,061 per year.