How Much Does The LSAT Cost In 2026?

LSAT registration costs $253 for the August 2026 to June 2027 testing year. That is the fee for the test alone, and almost nobody pays only that.

Most applicants also pay $219 for the Credential Assembly Service and $45 for every law school report they send. Three schools puts you at $607. Fourteen schools puts you at $1,102.

Key takeaways

• LSAC lists LSAT registration at $253, CAS at $219, and each law school report at $45 for the 2026-2027 testing year.
• The realistic total runs about $607 for three schools to $1,102 for fourteen, before any prep spending.
• You pay in full when you register, not on test day, and the refund window closes at the registration deadline.
• Changing your test date costs $0, $153, or $253 depending on when you ask. Withdrawing costs you everything.
• An LSAC fee waiver is worth $1,087 at Tier 1 or $653 at Tier 2, but the LSAT and CAS benefits unlock only after two LawHub tasks.

LSAT Cost Breakdown for the 2026-2027 Testing Year

Per LSAC's LSAT & CAS Fees page, read on October 11, 2026:

Two of those went up this testing year. Registration moved from $248 to $253 and CAS from $215 to $219, so any page still quoting those older numbers is a cycle behind. The report fee held at $45.

The two report types cost the same. Some law schools require the CAS version, which packages your transcripts and letters; others accept the LSAT-only version. Either way you need one report per application, so the count that drives your bill is the number of schools, not the type of report.

What Most Applicants Actually Spend

Your total depends mostly on how many schools you apply to. LSAT plus CAS is a fixed $472 before a single report.

These are baseline totals before prep materials, tutoring, individual law school application fees, or optional LSAT add-ons.

When Do You Pay for the LSAT?

You pay LSAC in full at the moment you register online, not on test day and not at the test center. LSAC's fees page lists the accepted methods as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover, or an approved LSAC fee waiver. All fees are charged in US dollars, and LSAC notes that if you live outside the United States your country's taxes and exchange rate may change what you are actually billed.

That timing matters because your money is committed well before you sit the test. Per LSAC's JD Refunds policy, the full refund deadline is generally the same date as the registration deadline, and every LSAC deadline falls at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Register early and you are paying early, with a refund window that closes on the same clock as everyone else's.

Optional LSAT Fees That Can Increase Your Total

From the same LSAC fees page:

Score Preview lets you see your score and then take six calendar days to decide whether to keep it or cancel it. Buying it before testing saves $41, and the catch is the deadline: LSAC sets the $46 price by the day before the first test session of the whole administration, not the day before your own sitting, so a later test date does not buy you more time. Anyone with an approved LSAT fee waiver gets Score Preview free. The Official Candidate LSAT Score Report is a separate $50 purchase that includes nonreportable scores.

Changing Your Date vs Withdrawing: Two Different Bills

These are separate decisions with different money attached, and mixing them up is expensive.

A test date change only moves you to another date inside the same testing year, which runs July through June, and the window closes at 11:59 p.m. ET the night before the first day of testing. Two traps are worth naming. A change eight days past the deadline costs $253, exactly what a fresh registration costs, so at that point moving your date is only worth it if you would otherwise forfeit the original fee anyway. Withdrawing is not a pause either: LSAC says that if you later register for another date, you pay the full registration fee again. And if you never schedule a testing time through Prometric by your administration's scheduling deadline, LSAC withdraws you automatically with no refund, which turns simple inattention into a $253 loss.

Refund Rules You Should Know Before Registering

From the same JD Refunds policy:

• LSAT registration is fully refundable if you request it through your administration's full refund deadline, submitted on the LSAT Status page of your LSAC account.
• CAS fees are not refunded at all. LSAC ended CAS refunds on May 20, 2024.
• Test date change, Score Preview, and Score Audit fees are explicitly nonrefundable.
• If you registered with a fee waiver or coupon and refund within an eligible window, the waiver or coupon returns to your account for a future test.

So if your timeline is uncertain, register only when you are likely to sit for that administration. Because the refund window for most administrations closes on the registration deadline, the 2026-2027 LSAT test dates are worth checking before you pay, not after.

Retaking the LSAT: What It Costs

There is no discounted retake price. LSAC states it plainly: the cost is the same for first-time and repeat test takers, which means a second attempt is another $253.

What you do not pay twice is LSAT Argumentative Writing. Once you have one completed writing sample on file, from either LSAT Writing or LSAT Argumentative Writing, your LSAT counts as complete and you do not need to submit another.

If you are deciding whether to retake, compare the expected score gain against the extra $253 and the timeline delay. This is where how long to study for LSAT matters as much as money, and what counts as a good LSAT score for your target schools decides whether the gain is worth buying.

How Fee Waivers Change the Math

LSAC's Fee Waiver program uses two tiers, set by tax-filing status and income against the federal poverty guidelines.

Income alone does not decide it. LSAC also applies maximum asset and cash balance limits, and the program is open only to US and Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and several named statuses including DACA recipients and affirmative asylum applicants.

What each tier is actually worth

Those totals price each included item at what LSAC charges for it today: $253 per registration, $46 per Score Preview, $219 for CAS, and $45 per report, with the LawHub Advantage subscription on top and not counted.

The part most pages leave out

The benefits are not handed over at once. LSAC releases them in three pieces, and two are locked behind tasks in LawHub:

• LawHub Advantage and your law school reports arrive as soon as the waiver gets Final Approval.
• The LSAT registrations unlock only after you complete 2 unique PrepTests in LawHub using Exam Mode. Self-Paced Mode is the default and does not count.
• The five-year CAS subscription unlocks only after you finish the "How Do I Apply to Law School?" course in LawHub.

A few more terms decide whether a waiver arrives in time to help. The waiver is valid for two years from conditional approval. LSAC usually decides within two to five business days once it has everything, but supporting documents are due within 45 days of applying, and LSAC recommends applying six months before the registration deadline for the test you want. Fees you have already paid are never waived retroactively, so apply before you register, not after.

Hidden Costs Outside LSAC Fees

Even when LSAC fees are controlled, many students still spend significantly on:

• prep courses and tutoring
• extra prep tests and resources
• school-specific application fees, if not waived
• transcript and document logistics

To control this part of spending, start with a realistic prep plan from best way to study for the LSAT, and compare options in our roundup of the best LSAT prep courses (including the strongest free path). If you want to know what you are buying before you spend, our review methodology explains how we price and test them.

If the total is the reason you are hesitating, check the schools that accept the GRE or other tests instead before you register. Switching tests does not avoid a testing fee, and most of those schools require every LSAT score you already hold, so it rarely saves money once you have sat the LSAT once.

FAQs About LSAT Cost

How much does it cost to apply to law school through LSAC?

Budget $472 for LSAT registration plus CAS, then $45 for each law school report. That is $607 for three schools and $1,102 for fourteen. Individual law schools may also charge their own application fee on top, separate from anything LSAC bills you.

Do you pay for the LSAT on test day or when you register?

You pay in full when you register online, well before test day. LSAC takes Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, or an approved fee waiver, and nothing is collected at the test center. Your full refund deadline is generally the same date as the registration deadline, so the money is committed from that point on.

Does LSAT Writing cost extra?

No. LSAT registration includes LSAT Argumentative Writing. If you already have a completed writing sample on file from a previous attempt, you do not need to take it again when you retake the test.

Is Score Preview required?

No, it is optional. It costs $46 if you sign up before the first day of testing for your administration and $87 during the window after testing concludes, so buying it late costs $41 more for the same thing.

Can I get all my law school application fees waived through LSAC?

Not automatically. An LSAC fee waiver covers LSAC's own fees, including your LSAT registrations, CAS, and a set number of law school reports. Individual law schools set their own application fee policies, and while some waive theirs for LSAC fee-waiver recipients, that varies school by school.

What is the best budget-safe strategy?

Pick a target test date you can actually keep, so you never pay the $153 or $253 date-change fee, and decide your school list early so report costs are planned rather than discovered. Apply for a fee waiver before you register if you might qualify, because LSAC does not refund fees retroactively. On the prep side, the cheapest way to own official practice outright is a book that licenses real PrepTests, such as Princeton Review LSAT Premium Prep.

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