Dean’s Welcome
Recent media attention has focused on the rapid and significant decline in law school applications. Although media acknowledge that the application decline may be viewed as a rational response to a national decline in jobs for lawyers, they simultaneously blame law schools for high tuition costs, education that fails to train lawyers for the market, and misinformation about job placement.
What the media fail to do is focus on law schools like WVU. WVU College of Law has been proactive, implementing changes that make law school and a law career rewarding and relevant pursuits. In five years, we decreased our class size; expanded our clinics, externships, and other experiential learning options; and built the best energy and sustainable development curriculum in the United States — all while keeping our tuition low. WVU Law continues to be one of the Best Value Law Schools in the country (ranked #16 by The National Jurist). In terms of return on investment, WVU Law’s job placement rate is much higher than the national average.
- Find out more about WVU Law rankings and statistics.
West Virginia University College of Law continues to provide students a unique opportunity to attend a small public law school within a nationally recognized research university. Here you can join diverse students from around the globe who come together in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia to experience public legal education with the intimacy of a fine private law school. Small class sizes and an excellent faculty-student ratio tell part of the story, but not all.
What makes the West Virginia College of Law experience different is the commitment of the faculty, staff, and students to an excellent, inclusive, exciting, and supportive educational community in which each student can pursue an individual vision of success in the legal profession.
Our faculty members are outstanding teachers, scholars, and leaders in legal education. What distinguishes our faculty from others, however, is the remarkable commitment they have in mentoring students to help them achieve individual goals. The faculty can be found supervising student articles for publication, assisting in obtaining prestigious federal judicial clerkships, or providing guidance for student-led symposia exploring cutting edge and relevant topics. In addition, whether our faculty members teach corporate securities or civil disobedience, each one exemplifies the duty of a lawyer to serve the public interest.
- Find our more about our Career Services.
To fulfill its commitment to individual student success and to improving the profession by producing the leaders of the future, the West Virginia University College of Law has a rapidly developing curriculum that combines the best of traditional legal education with new courses and opportunities necessary to practice law in a global economy in the 21st Century.
The West Virginia University College of Law offers an excellent legal education in a beautiful location that offers activities that allow students and faculty alike to establish the work-life balance so important to a life in the law. The College of Law is fortunate to be located in Morgantown, West Virginia, which is repeatedly ranked one of the best small college towns as well as one of the best areas for outdoor recreation. We are committed to helping you fulfill your dream of becoming a lawyer and a leader in the profession.
I am grateful for your interest in the law school.
Joyce E. McConnell
The William J. Maier, Jr. Dean
& Thomas R. Goodwin Professor of Law