Picture this campus in Ann Arbor as it stood in 1859, when Michigan Law was founded. Founded in 1859, this institution now offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL), Juris Doctor (JD), and Doctor of the Science of Law (SJD) degree programs. The school is primarily supported through student tuition, private gifts, and endowment payouts, with less than 2% of its expenses covered by state appropriations.
As of 2024, Michigan Law enrolls 990 students and employs 119 full-time and 89 part–time faculty members, a community that has produced U.S. Supreme Court Justices Frank Murphy, William Rufus Day, and George Sutherland, along with heads of state and corporate executives. Outcomes here are strong: approximately 98% of the Class of 2022 were employed within ten months, the first-time bar passage rate in 2023 was 95.45%, and the passage rate for all graduates within two years reached 99.20%. A notable moment in the school’s history: in 1870 Gabriel Franklin Hargo graduated as the second African American to graduate from law school in the United States.
Notice the building, and the campus beyond it.