US News & World Report law school rankings show shakeup at the top
Cornell Law School fell out of the T-14 with a four-spot decline to No. 18, while four schools tied at No. 14, meaning there are now 17 schools in the T-14, according to the closely watched list, opens new tab, released on Tuesday. Georgetown University Law Center held steady at No. 14 but was joined by T-14 newcomers the University of Texas School of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School and Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. Vanderbilt and Washington University have traditionally landed just outside the T-14, while Texas has slipped into the No. 14 spot several times before.
Changes U.S. News made to its methodology three years ago in response to a boycott sparked by elite schools have resulted in greater rankings volatility, especially among the top schools, said Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller, who writes about the rankings on his blog Excess of Democracy. The boycotting schools said that the former rankings methodology hurt student diversity and affordability.
U.S. News now relies heavily on data schools report annually to the American Bar Association. Small increases or decreases in bar passage and employment rates result in larger rankings shifts because top schools tend to have very similar outcomes in those areas.
Harvard Law School and Duke University School of Law both fell two spots to No. 6, while Columbia Law School landed at No. 10 after also falling two positions. The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School dropped one spot to No. 5; Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law fell one spot to No. 10; and the University of California, Berkeley School of Law also dropped one spot to No. 13.
The University of Chicago Law School and the University of Virginia School of Law remained at Nos. 3 and 4. New York University School of Law and the University of Michigan Law School both moved up one spot to tie at No. 8, while the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law gained one spot, landing at No. 12.
The U.S. News rankings have traditionally been viewed as the single-most influential measure of the law schools among prospective students, but that may be on the decline. In a new survey of law school admissions officers by test prep company Kaplan, 62% said they believe the rankings 'have lost some of their prestige over the last couple of years.'
The law school rankings methodology remained largely the same this year, with much of a school's ranking based on its employment outcomes and bar passage rates and less weight on Law School Admission Test scores and undergraduate grade-point averages. Other factors include reputation scores from law school faculty, judges and practitioners.
The University of Maine School of Law had the single largest rankings gain this year, jumping 32 spots to No. 88. The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law saw the biggest decline, falling 27 positions to No. 125.
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