Last week, US News and World Report released its annual ratings of law schools. As a general rule, these rankings are heavily relied upon by prospective law students who have seen the same schools in the top 14 for over twenty years.
Over the past 20 years, the rankings have been challenged and many law school deans and professors have raised questions concerning the way in which the rankings are determined, pointing out flaws in the system. Rumors were abound that this year the magazine’s rankings would be different; there were predictions that US News would take into account the number of law school graduates employed full-time nine months after graduation.
A review of the ratings shows that the same schools that have shown up in the top 14 are still there, despite the employment statistics. While the order fluctuated for some schools, Yale still remains number one; the law schools at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and the University of Chicago round out the top five.
Bob Morse, who directs data research at the magazine, said in an interview with Bloomberg News, employment data was a bigger factor for schools that were ranked between 50 and 150. Full weight was given to full-time, long term jobs requiring bar passage or those jobs when having a JD gave a candidate an advantage. Other types of jobs were counted less than full weight. Morse says that the employment numbers greatly affected the rankings, but less so at the top and bottom, but ultimately the greatest impact was felt at the middle. The greatest declines were seen for East Coast and West Coast schools, with increases for schools in the Midwest. The weighting methodology was not released.
To see the rankings as well as additional information on how they were determined, and some criticisms of the process, click on this link: http://abovethelaw.com/2013/03/the-2014-u-s-news-law-school-rankings/2/
