Loyola University Chicago School of Law

LL.M. Program 

With customized curricula, personalized support, and a world-class location, Loyola Chicago’s LLM Program for International Lawyers is designed to help you meet your professional goals. Launched in 2012, the program is klein aber fein and has attracted accomplished law school graduates from over 55 different countries. We consider all applicants automatically for tuition-reduction scholarships to maintain the high quality and diversity of our international student group.

Choose the US Law Track or the International Law track and add a certificate focus in any field that matches your career goals. You will study alongside the JD students and will design your curriculum from the over 200 doctrinal and skills courses Loyola Chicago offers each year. Popular among our students are specializations in Business/Transactional Law, Tax Law, Dispute Resolution, IP Law, Human Rights, Immigration Law, and Environmental Law.

Our program has ranked among the top U.S. LLM programs for best law school experience by the International Jurist magazine for three consecutive years. We admit only a fairly small group of students both in January and in August. The Loyola community is welcoming and inclusive. Our professors are noted researchers, inspiring teachers, and engaged advisors who deeply care about their students’ progress.

Our mission is to provide you with the tools you need to succeed. That includes one-on-one advising, curriculum flexibility, academic support, and career counseling. We are proud of our graduates’ high bar passage and employment rate. Many our accomplished LLM graduates begin their post-graduate careers in Chicago and stay involved with Loyola’s community in their professional life.

Join Loyola Chicago for a live-changing and career-enhancing experience!

Scholarships / Financial Aid Information

The full tuition for an LLM degree at Loyola Chicago is around $40,000.

We offer a generous tuition-reduction scholarship for international law students and consider all international applicants automatically for an award to maintain the high quality and diversity of our international student group. The scholarship will cover a percentage of the tuition.

The Loyola University will offer 50% tuition-discount scholarship (approximately $20,000) to DAJV LL.M. Day 2022 participants. Please ask the representative at the event.

Application requirements

For any questions, contact Director Insa Blanke directly at iblanke1@luc.edu.

Start the application by submitting the free application form even if you do not have all of the supporting documents available at this point. You may add additional documents later to complete the application.

+ Current curriculum vitae or resume: The curriculum vitae (CV) or resume provides the Admissions Committee with an overview of your background. This list should include your education, work experience, professional and academic degrees, honors and achievements, bar and other professional memberships, speeches or lectures given, presentations or publications, language skills, community engagement, and any other pertinent information. The CV should be limited to one or two pages, written in English.

+ Personal statement: The personal statement is a one to two-page narrative that supplements your CV. This is your opportunity to highlight specific aspects of your educational, professional, personal, and cultural background, and to state your motivation to continue your legal education. You also may discuss how you anticipate contributing to the intellectual life and community at Loyola, and how you plan to further your career with an LLM degree.

+ Transcript evaluation: All international education credentials (e.g. transcripts, mark sheets, degree certificates, graduation diplomas) must be evaluated by an official U.S. evaluation agency. You are required to submit your official documents and evaluation fee directly to any evaluation agency that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).
We also accept CAS reports from LSAC in place of NACES evaluations. Please fill out Loyola’s free application form and select Loyola Chicago as one of your designated schools in ACES. When the CAS report is ready, email your LSAC account number to us and we will request your CAS report.

+ Language Test Scores: The law school requires a minimum overall TOEFL iBT score of 95 with minimum scores of 24 in the writing and reading sections, or a minimum overall IELTS score of 7 with minimum scores of 7 in the writing and reading sections. Individual language assessments conducted in person or by telephone may also be required at the Law School’s discretion. If your on-campus legal education was primarily conducted in English, you may be exempt from submitting a test score.
If you satisfy all other admissions requirements, but do not have a sufficient TOEFL/IELTS score, we may offer conditional admission. You would be admitted to Loyola, but would first complete a semester or two—depending on your level upon beginning the program—of ESL classes in the English Language Learning Program (ELLP) here at Loyola before you may begin your law school courses.

+ Letters of recommendation: Your application must be supported by at least one confidential letter of recommendation from a professional reference contact – ideally a professor of your law school or a judge or current or other previous employer who can assess your professional and legal skills. The recommender should be familiar with your academic or professional performance to provide a written statement about your capacity for advanced legal study and your professional promise.