DETROIT – With students hailing from Albion College to Yeshiva University (and 44 other undergraduate schools), Wayne State University Law School’s 1L class is settling in.

Resident tuition is approximately $27,135, the lowest tuition rate of the state’s five law schools. To help make higher education more affordable, Wayne Law has eliminated its $50 application fee for applicants for the class entering in Fall 2013 and offers in-state tuition rates to residents of Fulton, Lucas, Ottawa and Williams counties in Ohio, and Ontario, Canada.

Blake Edwards, a graduate of Cass Tech High School and Johns Hopkins University, is eager to get started. He received a Damon J. Keith Legacy Scholarship.

“Detroit is home, and I wanted to be here, but receiving the scholarship was the icing on the cake,” he says. “The cost of higher education has been significantly reduced for me because of the scholarship, and that has reduced my stress. I want to work in the public sector doing something for the social good, and now I don’t have as much pressure to find a job just to pay back my loans.”

Edwards, 24, most recently lived in Manhattan where he was a member of the New York City Urban Fellows Program. His fellow students at Wayne Law come from Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Canada, China and New Zealand. 

Deborah Johnson, a Renaissance High School and University of Michigan graduate, also received a Legacy scholarship.

“I didn’t really realize the debt I would accrue in law school,” she says. “I would not be able to be in school without the scholarship and probably would have deferred a year while I saved money. This allowed me to start school when I wanted to.”

Johnson lived in Lansing while working for Gov. Snyder’s administration. She was stunned to find that the occupancy rate in Midtown Detroit would keep her from finding a residence near campus.

“Midtown is full,” she says, with both a smile and a sigh. “That’s one of the things I like about Wayne Law. It’s right in the middle of everything that is happening. There’s a great vibe here, and I want the professional networking opportunities Wayne offers because big firms are all just down the street. I am glad I am here.”

Class size             148

Age range           21 – 45

Median LSAT      75/50/25 percentile        159/156/153 

Median GPA      75/50/25 percentile        3.60/3.38/3.12

Gender                43 percent female           57 percent male

Minority              16 percent

More than 35 undergraduate majors represented