Once Yale and Harvard announced they would no longer submit data to U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings, several other elite institutions followed suit and decided not to submit data for inclusion.
Deans complained about rankings misrepresenting the values espoused at their schools and were linked with an upcoming Supreme Court decision on affirmative action. The publication heard these concerns and promised modifications.
1. U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News’ rankings this year followed largely the formula and weights utilized in its previous rankings, which prioritized employment and bar passage data while decreasing emphasis on reputation, resources and selectivity. Furthermore, this year’s rankings featured additional ratings from lawyers and judges which were combined with school ratings; those schools opting out had their academic peer assessment ratings automatically disregarded from these rankings.
AbovetheLaw reports that this year’s ranking saw some dramatic shifts among elite law schools and far fewer ties compared to 2023, when AbovetheLaw overhauled their methodology by shifting away from Law School Admission Test scores and undergraduate grade-point averages toward employment and bar pass rates as criteria for ranking law schools.
Australian law programs make an appearance this year’s rankings, with University of Melbourne rising four places to joint 11th position and Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne rising five positions and becoming the sole European school to be featured amongst the top 50.
2. Above the Law
Above the Law ranks law schools based on employment outcomes rather than academic reputation or student satisfaction; its rankings provide students who are considering law degrees with an invaluable resource to find one that matches their career aspirations and goals best.
This ranking, created by experts at Above the Law blog, features full-time American Bar Association accredited law school programs as well as part-time law degrees with specializations such as clinical training, dispute resolution, health care law, international law, intellectual property law, tax law and legal writing.
As many schools refused to provide data to U.S. News, U.S. News altered its methodology last year by using data provided by ABA as the foundation for 75% of each school’s ranking, Spivey Consulting reports. With this change and the compressed timeline for publishing its 2024 ranking, analysts found it easier to predict the top 14 schools but were nevertheless surprised by three ties and sudden jumps in rankings.
3. The National Law Journal
The National Law Journal ranks schools on their employment outcomes, including factors like cost of attendance, debt-per-job ratio, and placement of graduates into Supreme Court clerkships and federal judgeships. While the top 14 (T14) has generally remained relatively consistent over time, this year we are seeing some noticeable shifts.
The T14 represents schools with high employment rates, low student-to-teacher ratios and competitive acceptance rates. Furthermore, these schools typically spend more on students, have the highest LSAT/GPA median scores among accepted applicants and provide legal clinic services.
Research, Writing and Advocacy programs at New York Law School were rated fifth overall while International, Criminal, Tax Law programs all finished within the top 10. Additionally, its clinical teaching facility allows students to explore areas like human rights law, intellectual property issues and environmental concerns; no wonder the university consistently ranks as a best New York Law School by rankings lists.
4. The Economist
The Economist provides content and services tailored to its readers and clients, with particular attention being given to high-quality analysis encompassing politics, business, finance and global affairs.
Law subject tables in this ranking use the same reliable and rigorous performance indicators used for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023; however, they have been tailored specifically for law programs worldwide. There are currently 148 globally-ranked programs.
China is well represented this year, with two universities from Mainland China featuring in the Top 50 ranking – Tsinghua University and Peking Law School both earning spots as premier law schools worldwide.
Cardozo Law School stands out among New York law schools by pioneering cutting-edge programs and legal clinics such as Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic and Fashion Law Practicum, while leading experiential learning with 23 clinical courses, several externships, and simulations.