# Top 10 NLUs in India 2025: NIRF Rankings, Placements, Fees and CLAT Cut-offs Compared
Every CLAT aspirant builds their preference list around a single question: which NLU is actually worth targeting, and what does getting in require? This guide answers that question with current data — NIRF 2025 rankings, CLAT 2026 closing ranks for the general category, verified placement figures, and an honest note on what distinguishes each institution beyond the numbers.
There are 27 National Law Universities in India. Twenty-six accept CLAT scores; NLU Delhi (AILET) does not. The NIRF 2025 law rankings, released by the Ministry of Education on 4 September 2025, had 267 law colleges participating, of which 13 NLUs made the top 40. The top five were all NLUs — the first time this has happened with such clarity. Here is what that list looks like, and what lies behind it.
How to read this guide
Each entry below covers five things: NIRF 2025 rank, what the institution is actually known for, the CLAT 2026 first-round closing rank for the general category (the most current data available), the approximate median placement package from NIRF-verified figures, and the annual fee for the BA LLB programme. Use the cut-off data directionally — closing ranks shift slightly each year based on exam difficulty and candidate volume, but the tier structure is stable.
1. NLSIU Bengaluru — National Law School of India University
NIRF 2025 rank: 1 (eighth consecutive year)
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, Round 1): 102
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹16 LPA
Annual fee (approximate): ₹2.1 lakh
NLSIU is India's oldest and most consistently top-ranked law university, established in 1987 as the country's first experiment in dedicated legal education. Eight years at NIRF Rank 1 is not an accident — it reflects genuine strength across every parameter the framework measures: faculty quality, research output, placement outcomes, infrastructure, and institutional perception within the legal profession.
What separates NLSIU in practice is the alumni network. Its graduates populate the senior partnerships of every major Indian law firm, the benches of several High Courts, key government legal positions, and a disproportionate share of India's academic legal faculty. This network compounds over time in ways that no ranking can fully capture. An NLSIU degree is not just an educational credential — it is an entry into a professional community that self-reinforces at every career stage.
The closing rank of 102 in Round 1 of CLAT 2026 counselling makes it the single most competitive NLU in the country. Realistically, you need to be within the top 120 ranks nationally, general category, to have a reliable shot at admission without domicile advantage. Karnataka domicile candidates have access to additional supernumerary seats.
NLSIU does not have a management quota. Every seat is merit-based. There are no exceptions.
2. NLU Delhi — National Law University, Delhi
NIRF 2025 rank: 2
Entrance exam: AILET (not CLAT)
AILET 2026 closing rank (General): approximately 110
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹19 LPA
Annual fee (approximate): ₹2.2 lakh
NLU Delhi occupies a unique position in Indian legal education. It does not accept CLAT — admissions are entirely through AILET, its own entrance exam, which was held on 14 December 2025. For CLAT aspirants, this means NLU Delhi requires separate preparation and registration. The investment is worth considering: NLU Delhi's placement figures rival NLSIU's, and its location — five minutes from the Supreme Court of India — gives students unmatched access to India's apex legal institutions.
Its research centres, particularly in areas of constitutional law, criminal justice, and international economic law, are among the most active in the country. Students who want to intern at the Supreme Court, observe parliamentary processes, or access Delhi's dense ecosystem of law firms and government legal offices will find NLU Delhi's location a genuine career asset, not just a geographic footnote.
The median placement figure of ₹19 LPA in 2024 reflects the strong pull that Delhi firms and corporates have toward NLU Delhi graduates. Pre-placement offers are a significant feature of its placement season — many students receive offers before formal placements begin, through internships that convert.
3. NALSAR Hyderabad — National Academy of Legal Studies and Research
NIRF 2025 rank: 3
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, Round 1): 159
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹17.5 LPA (93%+ placement rate)
Annual fee (approximate): ₹1.9 lakh
NALSAR is the choice that requires the least justification to anyone who has spent time in the legal profession. It produces lawyers who are routinely described — by the firms that hire them — as having the strongest combination of analytical rigour and practical awareness of any law school cohort in India. Its placement rate consistently exceeds 93%, which is particularly meaningful given that a proportion of NALSAR students opt out of campus placements to pursue litigation, civil services, or further studies.
The 55-acre residential campus in Hyderabad is often cited by students as a formative feature of the NALSAR experience. The enforced proximity of residential NLU life — debates at midnight, moot court practice on Sunday mornings, informal conversations with faculty — creates a kind of intellectual environment that commuter law schools cannot replicate.
A closing rank of 159 in Round 1 of CLAT 2026 makes NALSAR the second most competitive CLAT-accepting NLU. Aspirants targeting NALSAR should plan for a general category rank within the top 170 as a working target.
4. WBNUJS Kolkata — West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences
NIRF 2025 rank: 4
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, BA LLB, Round 1): 277
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹20 LPA
Annual fee (approximate): ₹1.85 lakh
NUJS Kolkata holds a placement distinction that surprises many aspirants: it has the highest median salary figure among all NLUs, at ₹20 LPA for the most recently reported cycle. This is not a fluke — it reflects a consistent pattern of Tier-1 law firm recruitment (Trilegal, S&R Associates, AZB, Khaitan) and a strong alumni network embedded in India's corporate legal ecosystem.
NUJS is particularly known for its strength in corporate law and its culture of legal writing and publication. The Kolkata campus has a more literary, less corporate feel than some other NLUs — students here tend to be involved in legal aid, academic publishing, and policy work alongside the standard moot court circuit. If placement data alone made decisions, NUJS would rank higher than its NIRF position suggests, which is a useful reminder that NIRF measures research and institutional metrics as heavily as outcomes.
The CLAT 2026 closing rank of 277 for the BA LLB programme means NUJS is accessible to aspirants in the top 300 range. This is meaningfully wider than NLSIU and NALSAR, which makes it a strong target for aspirants ranked between 150 and 300.
5. GNLU Gandhinagar — Gujarat National Law University
NIRF 2025 rank: 5 (up from 8 in 2024 — the biggest jump in this year's top 10)
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, Round 1): approximately 464
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹18 LPA (97% placement rate)
Annual fee (approximate): ₹2.0 lakh
GNLU's jump from 8th to 5th in NIRF 2025 is the most significant movement in the top tier this year, and it is not random. The university has invested systematically in research output, international collaborations, and placement infrastructure over the past three years. Its 97% placement rate is the highest among all NLUs for the most recently reported cycle, and its ₹18 LPA median reflects strong demand from corporate and international law recruiters.
Gandhinagar's proximity to Ahmedabad — one of India's most active business hubs — gives GNLU students direct access to a commercial legal market that is growing faster than almost any other city in India. The Gujarat High Court, GIFT City's international arbitration infrastructure, and a dense ecosystem of manufacturing and infrastructure firms create internship and placement opportunities that are genuinely differentiated from the Delhi-Mumbai corridor.
For aspirants ranked between 300 and 500, GNLU is the strongest case in this tier. Its upward trajectory in NIRF, combined with placement outcomes that beat several higher-ranked NLUs, makes it the best value proposition at this rank band.
6. NLU Jodhpur — National Law University, Jodhpur
NIRF 2025 rank: approximately 11–13 (outside top 10 in NIRF law, but consistently top-tier in aspirant preference)
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, Round 1): approximately 367
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹14–16 LPA
Annual fee (approximate): ₹1.75 lakh
NLU Jodhpur occupies an interesting position: it consistently closes at a tighter rank than several NIRF-ranked universities above it, which reflects a gap between institutional research metrics (what NIRF measures) and aspirant demand and placement performance (what students actually care about). Law firms have a clear preference for NLU Jodhpur graduates, and its alumni network in corporate law is among the strongest outside the top four.
Its campus culture is heavily mooting-oriented — the university has produced disproportionate representation in national and international moot competitions. Students who want to pursue litigation or arbitration at the highest level often find that the skills developed through NLUJ's mooting culture open doors that placement season cannot.
The Rajasthan High Court's Jodhpur bench, located minutes from the campus, gives students access to courtroom observation and clerkship experience that is hard to replicate elsewhere.
7. NLIU Bhopal — National Law Institute University, Bhopal
NIRF 2025 rank: 27
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, BA LLB, Round 1): approximately 480
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹10–12 LPA
Annual fee (approximate): ₹1.5 lakh
NLIU Bhopal is the oldest NLU after NLSIU, established in 1997, and it has a history and institutional depth that newer NLUs in its rank range cannot match. Its alumni — now twenty-five-plus years into their careers — hold senior positions in litigation, judiciary, and corporate law that give the university a credibility floor that NIRF scores do not fully reflect.
Placement figures are more modest than the top five, but the fee structure is also significantly lower, making NLIU a strong option for aspirants who balance cost of education against career outcomes carefully. For aspirants in the 450–550 rank range, NLIU's combination of history, location (central India, with access to the Madhya Pradesh High Court), and fees makes it a rational choice.
8. HNLU Raipur — Hidayatullah National Law University
NIRF 2025 rank: not in top 10, but in top 40
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, Round 1): approximately 807
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹8–10 LPA
Annual fee (approximate): ₹1.4 lakh
HNLU has made consistent improvements in research output over the past three years, which is beginning to show in its NIRF scores. Its placement figures are lower than the upper-tier NLUs, but the closing rank is also meaningfully wider — aspirants ranked between 700 and 900 will find HNLU a realistic and credible target. The Chhattisgarh High Court's proximity creates solid internship opportunity in a market that is less saturated with NLU interns than Delhi, Mumbai, or Bengaluru.
9. RMLNLU Lucknow — Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University
NIRF 2025 rank: 21
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, Round 1): approximately 764
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹8–10 LPA
Annual fee (approximate): ₹1.45 lakh
RMLNLU has shown steady improvement in NIRF rankings and is one of the mid-tier NLUs with the most visible upward momentum. Located in Lucknow — a city with one of the highest concentrations of litigation-focused legal practice outside Delhi and Mumbai — it offers students unusual exposure to the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench, which handles some of India's highest-volume constitutional and civil litigation.
For aspirants who want a career in litigation rather than corporate law, RMLNLU's location makes it genuinely compelling at its rank band.
10. CNLU Patna — Chanakya National Law University
NIRF 2025 rank: 17
CLAT 2026 closing rank (General, Round 1): approximately 1,200–1,500
Median BA LLB placement package: ₹6–8 LPA
Annual fee (approximate): ₹1.3 lakh
CNLU Patna punches slightly above its placement weight in NIRF terms — its research output has been growing, which is reflected in its rank of 17, meaningfully higher than several NLUs with better placement figures. The Patna High Court's proximity is a genuine asset for students pursuing litigation, and Bihar's fast-growing legal market is increasingly attracting national firms for local matters.
For aspirants in the 1,000–1,500 rank range who want an NLU degree with a credible institutional history and a low fee structure, CNLU is a rational choice.
How to use this data for your CLAT 2027 preference list
The rankings and cut-offs above are tools, not verdicts. Here is how to actually use them.
Build three tiers in your preference list. Your top two or three choices should be stretch targets — NLUs where your target rank just clears the closing rank. The middle section should be reliable targets — NLUs where your rank comfortably clears the cut-off. The bottom of the list should be safe choices — NLUs with closing ranks significantly below your target.
Closing ranks move between rounds. Round 1 closing ranks are always the tightest. By Round 3 and 4, mid-tier NLUs often become accessible at 200–400 ranks below the Round 1 figure, as students move up to preferred institutions and leave seats behind. If your rank is close to but outside a particular NLU's Round 1 closing rank, do not remove it from your list — it may become available in later rounds.
Category and domicile change everything. The figures in this guide are for the general category, all-India. OBC, EWS, SC, and ST closing ranks are substantially different — in some NLUs, reserved category closing ranks are thousands of positions lower than general category figures. Domicile reservations (Karnataka domicile for NLSIU, Rajasthan for NLUJ, and so on) add another layer. Always check your specific category's closing rank for each NLU.
NIRF rank is not the same as placement rank. GNLU and NUJS outperform their NIRF positions significantly in placement outcomes. NLU Jodhpur is preferred by law firm recruiters over several NLUs that rank above it in NIRF. Use NIRF as one signal among several, not as the final word on institutional quality.
Frequently asked questions
Which NLU has the best placements? NUJS Kolkata reported the highest median salary (₹20 LPA) in the most recently verified cycle. NLSIU, NALSAR, and GNLU also consistently report median packages above ₹16 LPA. NLU Delhi, which admits through AILET not CLAT, reported ₹19 LPA median in 2024.
Which NLU is the easiest to get into? Among NLUs with credible placement records, RMLNLU Lucknow and HNLU Raipur have the most accessible closing ranks in the top tier, closing at approximately 764 and 807 respectively in CLAT 2026 Round 1. Newer NLUs have closing ranks in the thousands.
Does NLSIU accept CLAT? Yes. NLSIU Bengaluru accepts CLAT scores. NLU Delhi does not — it conducts its own exam, AILET.
What score do I need for a top 5 NLU? Based on CLAT 2026 data: 100+ marks (general category) for NLSIU. 95+ for NALSAR. 93+ for NUJS. 90+ for GNLU and NLU Jodhpur. These are approximate targets and shift slightly each year.
Is NLU Jodhpur better than GNLU? Both are strong choices in the 300–500 rank band. NLU Jodhpur has a stronger litigation culture and moot court reputation; GNLU has higher placement figures and a faster-improving NIRF trajectory. The better choice depends on your career direction.