TaxProf Blog

preLaw Magazine Grades Law Schools On Breadth Of Tax Curriculum: 2 A's, 9 A-'s, 8 B+'s

Top Schools for Taxation, preLaw 49 (Fall 2016):

There has never been a more exciting time to be a tax lawyer.

That's straight from the mouth of Paul Caron, professor of law at Pepperdine university School of Law and the publisher of TaxProf Blog.

Employment prospects are currently and will likely remain high, compared to other areas of law, making the specialty a fairly safe one to enter. Tax law is not subject to booms and busts like real estate, said Caron.

"There are always tax needs, and tax professionals need to meet those needs," Caron said. "It's never really a booming practice, but the upside is, it's never really a down practice area."

One hundred and nine schools offer either concentrations or certificates in taxation, but just two schools earned A grades [90% or higher] from preLaw magazine for the breadth of their curricular offerings [30% for a concentration, 24% for a clinic, 12% for a center, 12% for an externship, 9% for a journal, 8% for a student group and 5% for a certificate]:  Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. ... Nine schools earned A- [75%-89%], and eight more earned B+.

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Weapons Of Math Destruction: How U.S. News' 'Craven' Decision To Eschew Affordability In Its Rankings Increases Inequality

The Traps of Big Data (reviewing Cathy O'Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy (2016)):

As O’Neil defines it, a weapon of math destruction, or WMD, has three elements: Opacity, Scale, and Damage. Combined, these factors create traps with feedback loops, capturing victims in systems they can’t understand and can’t escape, all the while exploiting them. Of the three, Scale seems the most pernicious element, enabling Damage.

After a critique of value-add theory for teachers and a refresher course on the 2008 credit-default swaps and mortgage-backed securities that led to the Great Recession’s financial meltdown, O’Neil produces a trenchant analysis of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings. After reading this chapter about how higher education has become captured by a big data system, the limitations and difficulties of the Impact Factor seem downright charming.

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Focus On Reputation/Selectivity Over Earnings/Outcomes Will Render U.S. News Rankings An Anachronism

New York Times, How Much Graduates Earn Drives More College Rankings:

PayScale introduced its first college salary report in 2008, and the College Scorecard from the federal government followed last year, ushering an elephant into the hallowed halls of college admissions: What do the schools’ graduates actually earn?

Despite the hand-wringing of many in academia, who saw the immeasurable richness of a college education crassly reduced to a dollar sign, the data has wrought a sea change in the way students and families evaluate prospective colleges. Earnings data are finding their way into a proliferating number of mainstream college rankings, shifting the competitive landscape of American higher education in often surprising ways.

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Online Law School Rankings

35 Best Online Law Schools:

1. Villanova:  Villanova University offers an LL.M. in Taxation fully online. ... This degree is available 100 percent online and is taught in an interesting manner. Although most of the courses are asynchronous, there are debates, discussions, and class activities that are done in real-time on an almost weekly basis. This allows students to study on their own time and bring their knowledge and perspective to share with their class at appointed intervals. ... Students will also have the opportunity to partake in study and tutoring groups, do research with the help of the school’s online law library, speak with online advisors, and more. It is the best tax program for any lawyer in the country, and the overall experience of attending Villanova makes it the top pick for this ranking.
2. Washington University
3. USC
4. NYU
5. Florida
6. Boston University
7. George Washington
8. Illinois
9. Pittsburgh
10. Tulsa

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Princeton Review's Best 172 Law Schools (2017 Edition)

The Princeton Review has published the 2017 edition of The Best 172 Law Schools (press release) (FAQs) (methodology):

The Princeton Review tallied its lists based on its surveys of 19,400 students attending the 172 law schools [an average of 113 per school]. The 80-question survey asked students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their experiences. Some ranking list tallies also factored in school-reported data.

Best Professors:  Based on student answers to survey questions concerning how good their professors are as teachers and how accessible they are outside the classroom.

1. Boston University
2. Virginia
3. Chicago
4. Duke
5. Stanford
6. Washington & Lee
7. Pepperdine
8. St. Thomas (Minnesota)
9. Charleston
10. Georgia

Best Quality of Life:  Based on student answers to survey questions on: whether there is a strong sense of community at the school, whether differing opinions are tolerated in the classroom, the location of the school, the quality of social life at the school, the school's research resources (library, computer and database resources). 

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WSJ Should Publish Law School Rankings To Supplant U.S. News, Focusing On Student Outputs (Not Inputs), Quantitative Measures Of Faculty Research (Not Reputation Surveys)

John O. McGinnis (Northwestern), A WSJ Ranking of Law Schools Would Improve Legal Education:

The Wall Street Journal in partnership with the Times Educational Supplement has just released a ranking of colleges. It provides a useful corrective to the more famous rankings by U.S. News and World Report, because it focuses more on the student outputs rather than inputs. That is, while U.S. News heavily weights the credentials of incoming students, such as the SAT scores and high school grades, the Wall Street Journal weights the outputs, like student satisfaction and salaries earned at graduation. This ranking system also appears to take a more quantitative approach to the quality of the faculty, relying less on reputation and more on actual research output.

It would be hugely beneficial for legal education, if this consortium were to undertake similar rankings of law schools. It would undermine the unhealthy power of US News’ ranking of law schools, which, as with colleges, focuses more on student inputs than outputs. ...

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The Best (Columbia, NYU) And Worst (Pace, Seton Hall, Hofstra) New York Law Schools For BigLaw Jobs

Above the Law, The Best (And Worst) New York Law Schools For Biglaw Jobs:

[O]ne tipster has gone through and actually broken down how many students from each New York area school are landing at specific Biglaw firms. Here’s the methodology:

I scoured the websites of Cravath, S&C, DPW, Skadden, STB, Cleary, PW, Debevoise, Latham, and K&E (Weil’s website made it impractical to include them), and saw how many associates they each currently employ from Brooklyn, Columbia, Cardozo, Fordham, Hofstra, NYLS, NYU, Pace, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. Johns. Since I was mainly interested in recent placement, I kept the list to associates only (no partners, counsel, etc). My goal was to see how successful each school has been at placing students at these top firms, and if you’re really that much better off paying more to go to a better school (spoiler alert: you are). ...

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2017 Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings

Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings:

Outcomes (40%):

• Graduation rate (11%)
• Value added to graduate salary (12%)
• Value added to the loan repayment rate (7%)
• Academic reputation (10%)

Resources (30%):

• Finance per student (11%)
• Faculty per student (11%)
• Research papers per faculty (8%)

Engagement (20%):

• Student engagement (7%)
• Student recommendation (6%)
• Interaction with teachers and students (4%)
• Number of accredited programmes (3%)

Environment (10%):

• Proportion of international students (2%)
• Student diversity (3%) 
• Student inclusion (2%)
• Staff diversity (3%)

The inaugural WSJ/THE rankings list over 1,000 schools. Here are the Top 25:

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Illinois Law Review Publishes Ranking Of 81 Online Law Reviews

Nancy Levit (UMKC) & Allen Rostron (UMKC) maintain a guide to submitting articles to 204 law reviews (last updated in 2016).  The guide contains two charts:  (1) the mechanics of the submission process, and (2) the ranking of the law reviews and their schools in six measures: (a) US. News Overall Rank; (ii) U.S. News Peer Reputation; (iii) U.S. News Judge/Lawyer Reputation Rating; (iv) Washington & Lee Law Review Citation Ranking; (v) Washington & Lee Law Review Impact Factor; and (vi) Washington & Lee Law Review Combined Rating.

Colin Miller (South Carolina) maintains a guide to submitting articles to 49 law review online supplements (last updated in 2013).  The guide contains a chart on the mechanics of the submission process.

The Illinois Law Review has just published a ranking of 81 online law reviews (SSRN) and their schools in three measures:  (1) US. News Overall Rank; (ii) U.S. News Peer Reputation Rank; and (iii) Washington & Lee Law Review Combined Ranking.

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2016-17 World University Rankings

London-based Times Higher Education has released its annual World University Rankings of the Top 980 universities in the world, based on this methodology of 13 variables in five categories:

Here are the Top 25 Universities in the World, along with their scores:

Rank	School	Score
1	Oxford	95.0
2	Cal-Tech	94.3
3	Stanford	93.8
4	Cambridge	93.6
5	MIT	93.4
6	Harvard	02.7
7	Princeton	90.2
8	Imperial College London	90.0
9	ETH Zurich	89.3
10	Chicago	88.9
10	UC-Berkeley	88.9
12	Yale	88.2
13	Pennsylvania	87.1
14	UCLA	86.6
15	University College London	86.5
16	Columbia	86.1
17	Johns Hopkins	85.9
18	Duke	84.7
19	Cornell	84.6
20	Northwestern	83.7
21	Michigan	83.6
22	Toronto	83.0
23	Carnegie Mellon	81.8
24	National University of Singapore	81.7
25	London School of Economics	80.7

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A Tale Of Two (Los Angeles) Law Schools: Enrollment, Student Quality, And Rankings

Last week, USC (23) passed UCLA (24) in the 2017 U.S. News College Rankings.  In the U.S. News Law School Rankings, UCLA consistently tops USC:

The gap may widen in the 2018 law school rankings.  USC welcomed 231 1Ls this Fall, an increase of 22% from last year (and a 5% increase from 2010), resulting in a one-point decrease in its 50th percentile LSAT, to 165.   UCLA welcomed 293 1Ls this Fall, the same number as last year (and a 5% decrease from 2010), resulting in a one-point increase in its 50th percentile LSAT, to 167.  UCLA now has a higher 50% percentile LSAT than UC-Berkeley (166).  Here are UCLA and USC's admissions data for the prior six years from Law School Transparency:

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2017 U.S. News College Rankings

U.S. News & World Report today released its 2017 College Rankings. Here are the Top 25 National Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges (along with their 2014-2016 rankings):

2017 Rank	National Universities	2016 Rank	2015 Rank	2014 Rank
1	Princeton	1	1	1
2	Harvard	2	2	2
3	Chicago	3	4	5
3	Yale	3	3	3
5	Columbia	4	4	4
5	Stanford	4	4	5
7	MIT	7	7	7
8	Duke	8	8	7
8	Penn	9	9	8
10	Johns Hopkins	10	12	12
11	Dartmouth	12	11	10
12	Cal-Tech	10	10	10
12	Northwestern	12	13	12
14	Brown	14	16	14
15	Cornell	15	15	16
15	Notre Dame	18	18	18
15	Rice	18	19	18
15	Vanderbilt	16	17	17
19	Washington (St. Louis)	15	15	14
20	Emory	21	21	20
20	Georgetown	21	21	20
20	UC-Berkeley	20	20	20
23	USC	23	25	23
24	Carnegie Mellon	23	25	23
24	UCLA	23	23	23
24	Virginia	26	23	23

Pepperdine is ranked #50 (tied with Florida, Penn State, and Villanova, above #54 Ohio State and University of Washington).

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Average Private Law School Tuition Discount: 28% (55% W&L, 54% WashU, 53% Case)

How Much Does Law School Really Cost?, preLaw, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2016, at 26:

[T]he vast majority of law schools discount their tuition through scholarships, some as much as 50 percent. The average tuition discount for private law schools was 28 percent in 2014-15, up from 25 percent the year before. ...

The ABA makes available the number of scholarships per school, the percentage of students receiving scholarships, the median scholarship amount and the scholarship amounts at the 25th and 75th percentiles. With this data. preLaw estimated the average grant amount and the average tuition discount per school. (PreLaw focused on private schools only because it is difficult to determine how much public schools discount, given that most have two tuition rates — one for residents and one for non-residents.)

Here are the nine law schools with tuition discounts in excess of 50%, and the ten law schools with tuition discounts under 15%:

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Law Faculty Rankings By Judicial Citations

Valerie Aggerbeck, Nick Farris, Megan McNevin & Gregory C. Sisk (all of St. Thomas-Minnesota), Judicial Impact of Law School Faculties:

This study is a follow-up to our scholarly impact study published in 2015, Scholarly Impact of Law School Faculties in 2015: Updating the Leiter Score Ranking for the Top Third. Looking at an expanded time period (2005-2014), we assessed the extent to which extensive citations in the legal literature translated into citations by courts. It is important to acknowledge that the judicial citation rates were very low, precluding extensive analysis and making it difficult to regard some of the results as reliable and robust. Our study indicates that a certain subset of scholars are both noticed and cited by the judiciary as well as their peers.

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How Prestige And Rankings Can Help Law Schools Avoid The Same Fate As The 12% Of Dental Schools That Closed In 1986-1997

Following up on my previous posts:

• Will Top Tier Law Schools be the First to Close, Like Emory and Georgetown Dental Schools? (Nov. 18, 2013)
• Will 10% of Law Schools Close by 2019, Just as 10% of Dental Schools Closed 25 Years Ago? (Oct. 21, 2014)

Eric A. Chiappinelli (Texas Tech), Like Pulling Teeth: How Dental Education's Crisis Shows the Way Forward for Law Schools:

Nearly all observers of the current law school crisis treat legal education as a unique discipline. In their view, legal education as a whole, and individual law schools, have nothing to learn from outsiders that would be useful in reacting to, or thriving in the face of, the radical changes in legal education that have resulted from the collapse of the admissions market.

I take an entirely different approach. I believe legal education is not sui generis. In fact, another profession faced a similar crisis. Its schools’ admissions market collapsed because of a fundamental change in the profession itself. Twelve percent of those schools were closed. That profession was dentistry, and the lessons from its crisis are the way forward for legal education and for law schools.

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Rankings Of 117 Private Law Schools By Tuition Increases Since 2010

Matt Leichter, So Just How Far Off Were My Tuition Projections?:

Thanks to the ABA’s 509 information reports, I get $44,413 mean-average tuition at the [117] private law schools that were around in 2010. ... On average, tuition is 17 percent higher than 2010. ... 

Below the fold, here’s a list of [the 117] private law schools by cumulative cost increase between 2010 and 2015.

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Chodorow: A Derivative Market For U.S. News Rankings

TaxProf Blog op-ed:  A Derivative Market for U.S. News Rankings, by Adam Chodorow (Arizona State):

Our law and economic brethren never tire of telling us that markets are the perfect solution for just about any problem. So, what is the biggest problem facing law schools? The slowdown in the legal employment market? The steep decline in applicants? Rising tuition? If you ask law professors and administrators, many would likely say the U.S. News & World rankings, which evaluate schools on an ever changing array of factors, often leading to head scratching results. Who doesn’t know of a school that is over or underrated?

I say we unleash the market on this problem. And by that I don’t mean create competing ranking systems that focus on more relevant factors. Instead, let’s treat schools like securities or commodities, with the rankings as their value, and allow people to buy and sell derivatives. Think a school is overrated? Short it. Think it is underrated? Go long. (Yes, Brian Leiter, I’m thinking of you and USD) If there is truly wisdom in crowds, the derivative market for schools could tell us (legal academics, prospective students, and employers) a lot more about schools than a much-maligned magazine. Think of this as akin to unskewed polls. Or perhaps not. That didn’t end so well, if memory serves.

Now I know this sounds crazy—and I’m not saying it’s not—but bear with me for a moment. Significant research is being done into predictive markets in a variety of different contexts. For instance, there is now a derivative market for presidential candidates (distinct from the actual market in which large donors participate), which some believe are more accurate than polls. Some companies are using this approach with their employees to get a handle on anticipated sales and other figures. They’re finding that markets beat estimates made the traditional way. The key is that people must have some skin in the game. It turns out that it’s not only a pending execution that focuses the mind.

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Business Insider: The 50 Best Law Schools In America

Business Insider, The 50 Best Law Schools in America:

Methodology:

• 32% — Percentage of graduates securing a highly coveted position [BigLaw & federal clerkships]
• 20% — Percentage of graduates securing full-time, long-term positions requiring bar passage
• 20% — Percentage of graduates still seeking employment (negatively weighted)
• 12% — Percentage of graduates who pass the bar on their first try 
• 8% —  Cost of tuition for full-time, non-resident students
• 8%—  Median LSAT score for admitted students

Here are the Top 10:

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U.S. News: Law Schools With The Lowest Debt, Highest Rank—BYU, Georgia State, Nebraska, Tennessee

U.S. News & World Report, 10 Law Schools Where Alumni Have the Least Debt:

With tuition and fees often running at $30,000 per year or more, many students take out loans. Among the 183 ranked law schools that submitted debt data to U.S. News, the average debt for 2015 graduates who borrowed was $112,748. ... Of the 10 schools where graduates borrowed the least, the average debt was $62,735. ...

Below are the 10 schools where 2015 graduates who borrowed for law school had the least debt. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.

School	Average Debt	U.S. News Rank
Hawaii	$54,988	92 (tie)
South Dakota	$57,170	143
North Carolina Central	$57,924	RNP*
Nebraska	$58,744	57 (tie)
BYU	$62,423	38 (tie)
Arkansas (Fayetteville)	$64,901	86 (tie)
Georgia State	$66,637	57 (tie)
Tennessee	$66,939	65 (tie)
Liberty	$68,667	RNP
Arkansas (Little Rock)	$68,960	136 (tie)

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Law Grad Employment Rose At 158 Law Schools Over Past Five Years

National Jurist: Employment on the Rise, by Katie Thisdell:

Five law schools [Pace, BU, Hofstra, St. John's, Drexel] have improved their employment rates by an average of 5 percent or more during the past five years. ... Thirty-four law schools saw upward trends of 3 percent or more over this period. Of the 199 schools with more than three years worth of employment data analyzed, the vast majority had a positive trend line, even if just slight. Fifty-two schools saw less than a 1 percent increase over this time period.

Meanwhile, 41 schools saw an overall drop in their employment rates for the five-year period. Four had a downward trend greater than 4 percent, and three of those were in Texas — St. Mary’s University, South Texas College of Law and Texas Southern University.

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Pay To Play Hits Law School 'Rankings'

Above the Law, Schools Touting Appearance In ‘Best Law Schools’ Sponsored Content Article:

If your school is paying to be hailed as one of the “Best Law Schools [of] 2016,” then it’s probably not one of the actual “Best Law Schools of 2016.” And yet, a few law schools appear to be banking on some less-than-diligent prospective students who might take a passing reference in a sponsored article as genuine praise. Moreover, the schools are actively patting themselves on the back for these accolades that they actually paid for in the first place! ...

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U.S. News Law School Rankings: Yield

U.S. News & World Report, 10 Law Schools Where the Most Accepted Students Enroll:

Yale University, which ranks No. 1 in the 2017 Best Law Schools, topped the list of ranked ​institutions with the highest yield​—the percentage of accepted students who enrolled—at 74.3 percent in fall 2015. ... Harvard University, which ranked in a tie for No. 2 among top law schools, was third on the list with a yield of 60.4 percent. ...

​​Not all schools on the list were as highly ranked. Brigham Young University, where 68.8 percent of admitted students enrolled and which ranks No. 38, came second after Yale. The school, which is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,​ offers discounted tuition to members of the church.

School	Accepted	Enrolled	Yield	U.S. News Rank
1.  Yale	269	200	74.3%	1
2.  BYU	186	128	68.8%	38 (tie)
3.  Harvard	931	562	60.4%	2 (tie)
4.  Southern	408	210	51.5%	RNP*
5.  UNLV	224	104	46.4%	78 (tie)
6.  Indiana—Indianapolis	562	254	45.2%	100 (tie)
7.  Liberty​	113	51	45.1%	RNP
8.  UMKC	314	140	44.6%	123 (tie)
9.  Arkansas—Little Rock	266	115	43.2%	136 (tie)
10.  N. Carolina Central	473	199	42.1%	RNP

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The 69 Most-Cited Law Faculties (And The Most-Cited Tax Faculty At Those Schools)

Gregory C. Sisk (University of St. Thomas) et al.,  Scholarly Impact of Law School Faculties in 2015: Updating the Leiter Score Ranking for the Top Third, 12 U. St. Thomas L.J. 100 (2015):

This study explores the scholarly impact of law faculties, ranking the top third of ABA-accredited law schools. Refined by Professor Brian Leiter, the “Scholarly Impact Score” for a law faculty is calculated from the mean and the median of total law journal citations over the past five years to the work of tenured members of that law faculty. In addition to a school-by-school ranking, we report the mean, median, and weighted score, along with a listing of the tenured law faculty members at each ranked law school with the ten highest individual citation counts.

1.   Yale
2.   Harvard
3.   Chicago
4.   NYU
5.   Stanford
6.   UC-Irvine
7.   Columbia
8.   Duke
9.   Vanderbilt, UC-Berkeley
11.  Pennsylvania
12.  Northwestern
13.  Cornell, UCLA
15.  Michigan, Georgetown
17.  Virginia, George Washington
19.  Minnesota
20.  Texas
21.  George Mason, Washington University, Boston University
24.  UC-Davis
25.  Case Western, Notre Dame
27.  Illinois, Emory
29.  Cardozo, Arizona, Colorado, Ohio State
33.  North Carolina, Brooklyn
35.  Indiana, Utah, Fordham, San Diego
39.  Florida State, Arizona State, USC, St. Thomas, Iowa
44.  UC-Hastings, William & Mary, Maryland
47.  BYU, Hofstra, Washington & Lee
50.  UNLV, Pittsburgh
52.  Temple, Wake Forest, Florida, Chicago-Kent, Alabama
57.  Georgia, Houston, Loyola-L.A., American, Boston College
62.  Missouri, Toledo
64.  DePaul, Rutgers-Camden, Kansas, Tulane, Hawaii, San Francisco

Here are the 17 Tax Profs among the 10-most cited faculty at the Top 69 law schools:

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Penn State Law Faculty 'Discontent' Amidst Failed Dean Search, Two Year 'Downward Descent (From #51) Into Rankings Oblivion (#86)'

Kimberly Krawiec (Duke), Rumblings of Discontent at Penn State Law:

Penn State Law’s dean search has been unsuccessful (announced to the faculty by the provost) and that at least some faculty have been unhappy with the search process and a perceived lack of faculty input. ... [T]he complaints apparently include search committee composition, a lack of openness and communication during the search process, the way in which candidates were vetted, and whether (or the extent to which?) faculty are polled on their views of candidates. Some of the discontent may also stem from the law school’s recent rankings drop. As Above the Law reported in March:

Penn State, fresh off separating its campuses into two separate law schools, continues its downward descent into oblivion by losing another 15 spots in the rankings, following up on a 20-spot drop just last year. To think, Penn State was once so close to being ranked as a Top 50 school.

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Above The Law Top 50 Law School Rankings

Above the Law, 2016 Top 50 Law School Rankings:

We welcome you to the fourth annual installment of the Above the Law Top 50 Law School Rankings. These are the only rankings to incorporate the latest ABA employment data concerning the class of 2015. The premise underlying our approach to ranking schools remains the same: that given the steep cost of law school and the new normal of the legal job market, potential students should prioritize their future employment prospects over all other factors in deciding whether and where to attend law school. The relative quality of schools is a function of how they deliver on the promise of gainful legal employment. 

The Top 10:

1. Yale
2. Stanford
3. Chicago
4. Penn
5. Harvard
6. Virginia
7. Duke
8. Northwestern
9. Cornell
10. UC-Berkeley

Methodology:

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2015-16 Moot Court Rankings

2015-16 Moot Court Rankings:

1.   Texas Tech
2.   Chicago-Kent
2.   Stetson
4.   Georgetown
5.   Regent
5.   SMU
7.   South Texas
7.   UC-Hastings
9.   Liberty
10. St. Mary's

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Law School Rankings: Federal Judicial Clerkships

Derek Muller (Pepperdine), Visualizing Law School Federal Judicial Clerkship Placement, 2013-2015:

The release of the latest ABA employment data offers an opportunity to update the three-year federal judicial clerkship placement rates. Here is the clerkship placement rate for the Classes of 2013, 2014, and 2015.

The Top 10 are:

1. Yale (31.3%)
2. Stanford (28.6%)
3. Harvard (16.8%)
4. Virginia (14.6%)
5. UC-Irvine (13.6%)
6. Chicago (13.5%)
7. UC-Berkeley (11.0%)
8. Duke (10.2%)
9. Vanderbilt (10.1%)
10. Michigan (9.4%)

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After U.S. News Stopped Giving Full Weight To Law School-Funded Jobs, 52% Of Those Jobs Disappeared

Derek Muller (Pepperdine), Law School-Funded Positions Dry Up With U.S. News Methodology Change:

[Previously, U.S. News & World Report made] no distinction between positions funded by law schools and those that weren't. Last year, for the first time, U.S. News & World Report announced a change to the methodology. The rankings now "discounted the value of these types of jobs." This year, the first full year of reporting after the change went into effect, law schools dramatically cut back on such positions. There were 520 law school-funded bar passage-required positions for the Class of 2012, up to 777 for the Class of 2013 and 833 for the Class of 2014. This year, however, the number plunged to 397. ...

Jerry Organ has more thoughts here. He attributes some of the decline to changes in reporting requirements and definitions from the ABA.

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Law School Rankings By Employment Outcomes: Florida, Texas

Following up on my previous posts on Law School Rankings By Employment Outcomes:

• California
• D.C./Maryland/Virginia
• New York
• Ohio

Derek Muller (Pepperdine) blogs legal employment outcomes among Florida's 11 law schools and Texas's 9 law schools:

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Law School Rankings: Graduates Who Made Partner In AmLaw 100 In 2015

Following up on my previous post,   NLJ: Law School Rankings By Graduates In BigLaw Jobs:  National Law Journal, Chart: The Go-To Law Schools' Associates to Partner

The law schools that saw the most alumni promoted to partner in the nation's 100 largest law firms during 2015:

1 (2 in U.S. News) Harvard (34 new partners)
2 (14) Georgetown (32)
3 (8) Michigan (24)
3 (8) Virginia (24)
5 (6) NYU (18)
6 (7) Penn (17)
6 (25) George Washington (17)
8 (12) Northwestern (16)
8 (8) UC-Berkeley (16)
10 (30) Boston College (15)
10 (37) Fordham (15)
12 (4) Columbia (14)
12 (74) Villanova (14)
14 (15) Texas (12)
15 (2) Stanford (11)
15 (17) UCLA (11)
15 (16) Vanderbilt (11)
15 (92) Rutgers (11)
19 (20) Boston University (10)
19 (72) Loyola-Chicago (10)
19 (50) Temple (10)
19 (50) Houston (10)
23 (97) Brooklyn (9)
23 (11) Duke (9)
23 (50) UC-Hastings (9)
23 (4) Chicago (9)
23 (48) Florida (9)
23 (40) Illinois (9)
23 (1) Yale (9)
30 (57) Case (8)
30 (22) Notre Dame (8)

American Lawyer, Law Schools that Feed Big Law Partnerships:

First, what's not a surprise: Harvard, NYU and Georgetown being top generators of partners. This make sense, because they are highly ranked schools with big graduating classes (Harvard had 590 grads, NYU 485 and Georgetown 676). Virtually all the top eight schools for new partners are T-14 schools, with the exception of GW, which ranked 22nd place in last year's U.S. News & World Report. (GW, however, has a big class—461 grads in 2015.)

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Law School Rankings By Employment Outcomes: California

Following up on Sunday's post, Law School Rankings By Employment Outcomes: New York And D.C./Maryland/Virginia:  Derek Muller (Pepperdine) blogs legal employment outcomes among California's 21 ABA-accredited law schools.  Stanford (92.3%, 8 law school funded jobs (LSF)), UCLA (91.3%, 34 LSF), and UC-Berkeley (91.0%, 11 LSF) are head and shoulders above the other California law schools in "total placement" (per U.S. News).

Princeton Review's Best 173 Law Schools (2016 Edition)

The Princeton Review has published the 2016 edition of The Best 173 Law Schools (press release) (FAQs) (methodology):

The Princeton Review surveyed over 19,700 students attending the 173 law schools.  The 80-question survey asked students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their experiences at them. Some ranking list tallies also factored in school-reported data.

Best Professors:  Based on student answers to survey questions concerning how good their professors are as teachers and how accessible they are outside the classroom.

1. Duke
2. Boston University
3. Virginia
4. Washington & Lee
5. Chicago
6. Pepperdine
7. St. Thomas (Minnesota)
8. Stanford
9. Samford
10. Charleston

Best Quality of Life:  Based on student answers to survey questions on: whether there is a strong sense of community at the school whether differing opinions are tolerated in the classroom, the location of the school, the quality of social life at the school, the school's research resources (library, computer and database resources).

1. Virginia
2. Vanderbilt
3. St. Thomas (Minnesota)
4. NYU
5. Florida State

Best Classroom Experience:  Based on student answers to survey questions concerning their professors' teaching abilities and overall accessibility outside of the classroom, the balance of theory and practical skills in the curricula and the range of courses available, the level of tolerance for differing opinions in class discussion, and their assessments of research resources available.

1. Stanford
2. Virginia
3. Chicago
4. Northwestern
5. Duke

Best Career Prospects:  Based on school reported data and student surveys. School data include: the median starting salaries of graduating students, the percent of students employed in a job that requires bar passage (and not employed by the school) and the percent of these students who pass the bar exam the first time they take it. Student answers to survey questions on: how much the law program encourages practical experience; the opportunities for externships, internships and clerkships, and how prepared the students feel they will be to practice the law after graduating.

1. Pennsylvania
2. NYU
3. Chicago
4. Stanford
5. Columbia

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Law School Rankings By Employment Outcomes: New York And D.C./Maryland/Virginia

Derek Muller (Pepperdine) has two great posts on visualizing legal employment outcomes among New York's 15 law schools and D.C/Maryland/Virginia's 16 law schools. 

In New York, Columbia (98.8%, goosed by 31 law school funded jobs (LSF)), NYU (96.7%, 39 LSF), and Cornell (95.5%, 11 LSF) again are head and shoulders above the other New York law schools in "total placement" (per U.S. News).  Cardozo (76.8%, 1 LSF) and Fordham (76.1%, 0 LSF) surprisingly trail St. John's (81.9%, 0 LSF) and Albany (80.3%, 0 LSF).

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2016 Religious Law School Rankings

Firm in the Faith (pre-Law Magazine, Spring 2016):

As gay marriage and other cultural changes sweep the nation, the most devout law schools seek to hold onto their core beliefs.

2014 Religious Law School Rankings:

We compiled a ranking based on the following: percentage and activity of students who belong to the faith; percentage and activity of faculty who belong to the faith; number of religion-focused courses and other ways the school incorporates the faith into the curricula; religion-based journals, centers and clinics; religious services and clergy at the law school; mission of the law school.

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The Most Diverse Law Schools

Following up on my previous posts on two new papers by J.T. Manhire (Texas A&M):

• Beyond the U.S. News Index: A Better Measure of Law School Diversity, 101 Iowa L. Rev. Online 1 (2015)
• The Most (And Least) Representative Law Schools For Gender, Race, and Ethnicity

Kevin R. Johnson (Dean, UC-Davis), Measuring Law School Excellence: Diversity Among Law Students, 101 Iowa L. Rev. Online 50 (2015):

Professor J.T. Manhire constructively offers measures of a variety of kinds of diversity among law students that might be worthy of U.S. News consideration. He appears to accept as a starting premise the continued use of the “diversity index” that U.S. News publishes as a supplement to the annual rankings of law schools. As Professor Manhire summarizes his position, “[t]he U.S. News index assumes race/ethnicity to be the sole indicator of diversity. This Essay disagrees and proposes an expansion of a law school diversity index by incorporating, at a minimum, indicators organized across three categories that cause cognitive diversity: identity, experience, and training.” He proposes to improve the index by measuring diversity beyond simply the race and ethnicity of the student body. Professor Manhire ultimately hopes to address the question, “[h]ow do law schools know how diverse their student bodies are?”

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Law School Rankings By Influential Judicial Alumni Measured By H-Index: Michigan Is #1

Ravel, The Law School with the Most Influence Will Surprise You:

Forget Yale and Harvard as the training grounds for future judges. It turns out that Michigan Law has the most concentrated impact on national jurisprudence. Surprised? So were we.

In Ravel’s new power ranking of law schools based on which schools turn out influential judges, Michigan Law tops the list. Instead of looking just at the number of judges a school graduated, we used a new data analysis to rank judges based on both quantity and quality of their work, and then we connected that analysis to where the most influential judges studied.

More About Our Methodology
We based Ravel’s Influence Score on Hirsch’s index. Originally, the h-index was used to compute the impact of researchers in the scientific community, with the goal being to quantify the impact and relevance of an individual’s scientific output. Studies have shown that the h-index is predictive of career trajectory and that it could be applied to compute the impact of research groups. For more on how an h-index score is calculated, check out this explanation.

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Map Of The Top 50 Law Schools: 1/3 Are West Of The Mississippi River

U.S. News & World Report, Map: See the Top 50 Law Schools in the U.S.:

The law schools on the map below placed in the top 50 of the 2017 Best Graduate Schools rankings. The map includes data on each school's acceptance rate, tuition costs and more. Due to ties, there are 54 law schools represented on the map.

NYU B-School Did Not Provide GMAT Scores To U.S. News, Falls From #11 To #20 In Rankings

Robert Morse (Director of Data Research, U.S. News & World Report), Why New York University Fell in the Best Business Schools Rankings:

When U.S. News calculates our annual rankings of the Best Graduate Schools, we get all the statistical data we use from the schools themselves. This means U.S. News depends on those schools to provide accurate and complete data in response to our statistical surveys.

When a school does not provide data that are used in the rankings methodologies, that can have a significant effect on its position in the rankings.

During the statistical data collection process for the newly released 2017 edition of Best Business Schools, New York University's Stern School of Business did not submit its data for the number of new entrants to both its full-time and part-time MBA programs who provided GMAT scores. These data were for the fall 2015 entering class. ...

The data are used as part of the calculation to compute a value for a school's average GMAT and GRE scores. This measure is included in the rankings to determine the strength of a school's entering class relative to other full-time and part-time MBA programs. The average GMAT and GRE scores have a weight of 16.25 percent in the full-time MBA rankings and 15 percent in the part-time MBA rankings.

The Stern School of Business' position in both the full-time and part-time MBA rankings for the 2017 edition were negatively affected as a result of the data omission. The school is ranked at No. 20 in the full-time rankings and No. 10 in the part-time rankings. In the 2016 edition of the rankings, the school tied for No. 11 among full-time programs and ranked fourth among part-time programs.

Stern later provided U.S. News with the omitted data points, which are noted on its profile page on usnews.com. These data points are only visible to U.S. News Grad School Compass users, as is the case for all business schools.

U.S. News will not recalculate NYU’s rankings – or any other school’s rankings – because of nonreporting.

NYU Press Release, Why Stern’s Ranking Fell to 20, and Why You Shouldn’t Take it at Face Value:

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The Best Law Schools For Practical Training

Best Schools for Practical Training, Nat'l Jurist, p. 22, Spring 2016:

Annually, The National Jurist honors those schools that go above and beyond in preparing law students for the real world in our ranking of Best Law Schools for Practical Training. We look at a number of factors, including which schools have the greatest percentage of students in clinics, externships and simulation courses. We also look at the most robust moot court options.  [Methodology (number of positions filled/number of 2Ls & 3Ls):  Clinics (38%), Externships (24%), Simulations (21%), Additional Offerings (0%), Interschool Competitions (5%).]

Jeffrey Baker witnesses the power of practical training on a daily basis. He's the director of clinical education at Pepperdine University School of Law, which finished 10th on our list, with an A+. "Students are hungry for it," he said.

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U.S. News Data: Law School Costs, Starting Salaries For Grads

U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News Data: Law School Costs, J.D. Salaries:

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Texas A&M Law School Shrinks Entering Class By 42% (To 140), Vaults 38 Spots (To 111) In U.S. News Rankings

Texas Lawyer, Which Texas Law School Zoomed Up in Rankings?:

Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth zoomed up in the 2017 Best Law Schools rankings compiled and made public this week by U.S. News & World Report.

Texas A&M ranked 111th on the list this year, up from 149th the previous year.

Andrew Morriss, dean of the Texas A&M law school, wrote in an email that the school's investment in new faculty (12 hired last year) paid off in its reputation scores, used for the magazine's ranking. The dean also credited for the ranking rise the school's decisions to cut class size over two years from 240 to 140, boost scholarships, and slash tuition by more than 15 percent. "That enabled us to be the fifth most selective school in the country," Morriss wrote.

Fort Worth Star Telegram, Our A&M Law School Climbs in Rankings:

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After Topping Florida State Law School Again With #48 U.S. News Ranking, University Of Florida's New Dean Sets Sights On #35 Ranking Within 3-5 Years

Daily Business Review, Florida Law School Proves to be King of State:

The University of Florida has done it again.

Its law school, one of the oldest and largest in the state, scored highest overall among Florida's law schools on the U.S. News & World Report annual ranking of the nation's law schools.

UF landed in 48th place, two spots ahead of its top rival, Florida State University. This is the second consecutive year UF took the number one spot, stealing it from Florida State two years ago.

UF law dean Laura Ann Rosenbury, who took over this year, was pleased but nowhere near satisfied with the score, which was down one from last year. "I still think we are undervalued as far our overall score, and I'm going to work hard to make sure we move up the national rankings," Rosenbury said, adding she hopes to move to the mid 30s within three to five years. Boosting the school's ranking was one of the goals she listed in her job interview with UF, she said. ...

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2017 U.S News Law School Rankings: Average Student Debt

Following up on my posts (links below) on the 2017 U.S. News Law School Rankings:  Matt Leichter, Record 16 Law Schools Didn’t Report 2015 Graduate Debt to U.S. News:

[F]or some reason U.S. News didn’t rank law schools by debt, generously offering me an opportunity to do so in its stead. Each year U.S. News lists the amount of debt law schools’ recent graduates took out. Importantly, the figure excludes accrued interest, which can be quite considerable. However, these figures are probably the best estimate of the cost of attendance at a particular law school, presented in a comparable form. The ABA does not publicize graduate debt in the 509 information reports, making U.S. News an unfortunately necessary source.

Here are the 25 law schools with the highest amount of average law school debt (among those students with law school debt).

#	SCHOOL	2014 DEBT	2015 DEBT	PCT. CHANGE
1.	Thomas Jefferson	172,445	172,726	0.2%
2.	Columbia	154,076	168,627	9.4%
3.	New York University	147,744	166,022	12.4%
4.	San Francisco	154,321	162,434	5.3%
5.	John Marshall (Chicago)	143,518	162,264	13.1%
6.	California Western	151,197	162,260	7.3%
7.	New York Law School	166,622	161,910	-2.8%
8.	Florida Coastal	162,785	160,942	-1.1%
9.	Georgetown	150,529	160,606	6.7%
10.	American	159,316	160,274	0.6%
11.	Vermont	156,713	156,710	0.0%
12.	Miami	143,845	155,796	8.3%
13.	Northwestern	163,065	155,796	-4.5%
14.	Tulane	140,965	153,606	9.0%
15.	Harvard	137,599	149,754	8.8%
16.	Pacific, McGeorge	140,517	149,470	6.4%
17.	Fordham	140,577	149,058	6.0%
18.	Pepperdine	145,525	148,959	2.4%
19.	Widener (Commonwealth)		148,496
20.	Whittier	151,602	148,316	-2.2%
21.	Loyola (CA)	147,701	148,035	0.2%
22.	Virginia	132,182	146,907	11.1%
23.	Charleston	147,031	146,230	-0.5%
24.	California-Berkeley	143,546	144,981	1.0%
25.	Pennsylvania	130,002	144,153	10.9%

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2017 U.S. News Tax Rankings

Here are the new 2017 U.S. News Tax Rankings, along with last year's rankings:

2017 Rank	Tax Program	2016 Rank
1	NYU	1
2	Georgetown	2
3	Florida	2
4	Northwestern	4
5	Loyola-L.A.	10
6	Virginia	5
7	Harvard	8
8	Boston University	7
9	Columbia	8
9	UCLA.	11
9	Michigan	14
12	Miami	13
12	San Diego	6
12	USC	12
15	Texas	19
16	U. Washington	15
17	Boston College	19
18	Duke	22
18	Pennsylvania	17
20	Indiana	16
20	Yale	24
22	Chicago	19
23	Florida State	n/r
23	Villanova	18
25	Stanford	n/r

The biggest upward moves:

• +5:  Michigan (#9), Loyola-L.A. (#5)
• +4   Texas (#15), Duke (#18), Yale (#20)
• +2:  UCLA (#9), Boston College (#17)
• Florida State (#23) and Stanford (#25) were unranked last year

The biggest downward moves:

• -6:  San Diego (#12)
• -5:  Villanova (#23)
• -4:  Indiana (#20)
• -3:  Chicago (#22)
• Washington University (#22 last year) and Denver (#24 last year) are unranked this year

Here are the rankings of the graduate tax programs, along with last year's rankings.

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March Madness Law School Bracket

Here is the March Madness Law School Bracket, with outcomes determined by the 2017 U.S. News Law School Rankings (using academic peer reputation as a tiebreaker). The Final Four are Yale (1 in U.S. News), Michigan (8), UC-Berkeley (8), and Virginia (8), with Yale beating Michigan in the championship game.   The closest match ups are:

• First Round:  Michigan (8) over Notre Dame
• Second Round:  Yale (1) over Duke (11)
• Sweet 16:  USC (19) over Indiana (25)
• Elite 8:  Michigan (8) over USC (19)
• Final Four:  Michigan (8, 4.4 peer) over Virginia (8, 4.3 peer)
• Championship:  Yale (1) over Michigan (8) 

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2017 U.S. News Peer Reputation Rankings (v. Overall Rankings)

Continuing a TaxProf Blog tradition (see links below for 2009-2016), here is the full list of the 196 law schools ranked by academic peer reputation, as well as their overall rank, in the new 2017 U.S. News Law School Rankings (methodology here):

Peer Rank	Peer Score	School	Overall Rank
1	4.8	Yale	1
1	4.8	Harvard	2
1	4.8	Stanford	2
4	4.6	Columbia	4
4	4.6	Chicago	4
6	4.5	NYU	6
6	4.5	UC-Berkeley	8
8	4.4	Penn	7
8	4.4	Michigan	8
10	4.3	Virginia	8
11	4.2	Duke	11
11	4.2	Cornell	13
11	4.2	Northwestern	12
14	4.1	Georgetown	14
15	4.0	Texas	15
16	3.9	UCLA	17
16	3.9	Vanderbilt	16
18	3.6	Emory	22
19	3.5	Washington U.	18
19	3.5	Minnesota	22
21	3.4	USC	19
21	3.4	Boston University	20
21	3.4	Notre Dame	22
21	3.4	Wisconsin	33
21	3.4	North Carolina	38
26	3.3	Iowa	20
26	3.3	Geo. Washington	25
26	3.3	Indiana-Bloom.	25
26	3.3	Ohio State	30
26	3.3	UC-Davis	30
31	3.2	Alabama	28
31	3.2	UC-Irvine	28
31	3.2	Boston College	30
31	3.2	William & Mary	33
31	3.2	Georgia	33
31	3.2	U. Washington	33
37	3.1	Arizona State	25
37	3.1	Fordham	37
37	3.1	Arizona	40
37	3.1	Colorado	40
37	3.1	Illinois	40
37	3.1	Florida	48
37	3.1	UC-Hastings	50
44	3.0	Wake Forest	40
44	3.0	Wash. & Lee	40
44	3.0	Maryland	48
44	3.0	Tulane	50
48	2.9	Florida State	50
49	2.8	BYU	38
49	2.8	Utah	45
51	2.7	George Mason	45
51	2.7	Miami	60
51	2.7	Connecticut	65
51	2.7	Kansas	65
51	2.7	Tennessee	65
51	2.7	Denver	72
51	2.7	Cardozo	74
51	2.7	American	78
51	2.7	Oregon	78
60	2.6	SMU	45
60	2.6	Temple	50
60	2.6	Houston	50
60	2.6	Case Western	57
60	2.6	Georgia State	57
60	2.6	Kentucky	60
60	2.6	Loyola-L.A.	65
60	2.6	Pepperdine	65
60	2.6	Missouri	65
60	2.6	San Diego	74
60	2.6	Pittsburgh	78
71	2.5	Nebraska	57
71	2.5	Loyola-Chicago	72
71	2.5	Chicago-Kent	86
71	2.5	Hawaii	92
75	2.4	Baylor	55
75	2.4	Richmond	55
75	2.4	Cincinnati	60
75	2.4	Oklahoma	60
75	2.4	UNLV	78
75	2.4	Northeastern	82
75	2.4	Lewis & Clark	92
75	2.4	Rutgers	92
75	2.4	South Carolina	92
75	2.4	Brooklyn	97
75	2.4	Indiana-Indy	100
75	2.4	Santa Clara	129
87	2.3	New Mexico	60
87	2.3	Seton Hall	65
87	2.3	Villanova	74
87	2.3	St. Louis	82
87	2.3	Syracuse	86
87	2.3	Arkansas-Fay.	86
87	2.3	Michigan State	100
87	2.3	Howard	106
87	2.3	Seattle	111
87	2.3	Marquette	123
97	2.2	LSU	82
97	2.2	Louisville	92
97	2.2	West Virginia	97
97	2.2	SUNY-Buffalo	100
97	2.2	Mississippi	106
97	2.2	DePaul	111
97	2.2	Hofstra	111
97	2.2	Maine	111
97	2.2	UMKC	123
97	2.2	Arkansas-LR	136
107	2.1	St. John's	74
107	2.1	Penn State-Dick.	86
107	2.1	Penn State-Univ.	86
107	2.1	Catholic	103
107	2.1	Stetson	103
107	2.1	Texas A&M	111
107	2.1	Idaho	111
107	2.1	Wyoming	123
107	2.1	CUNY	131
107	2.1	Vermont	132
117	2.0	Tulsa	86
117	2.0	Wayne State	97
117	2.0	Drexel	111
117	2.0	Baltimore	111
117	2.0	Mercer	123
117	2.0	Montana	123
117	2.0	Gonzaga	132
117	2.0	Willamette	132
117	2.0	Loyola-NO	140
117	2.0	San Francisco	Tier 2
127	1.9	New Hampshire	82
127	1.9	Creighton	106
127	1.9	Washburn	106
127	1.9	Drake	111
127	1.9	New York Law S.	111
127	1.9	St. Thomas (MN)	111
127	1.9	Texas Tech	123
127	1.9	Albany	129
127	1.9	Quinnipiac	132
127	1.9	Pace	136
127	1.9	North Dakota	144
127	1.9	Memphis	Tier 2
139	1.8	Cleveland State	106
139	1.8	Duquesne	111
139	1.8	Chapman	136
139	1.8	Akron	136
139	1.8	South Dakota	143
139	1.8	McGeorge	144
139	1.8	Toledo	144
139	1.8	Southwestern	Tier 2
139	1.8	Suffolk	Tier 2
148	1.7	William Mitchell	140
148	1.7	John Marshall (IL)	Tier 2
148	1.7	Samford	Tier 2
148	1.7	S. Illinois	Tier 2
148	1.7	Dayton	Tier 2
148	1.7	Valparaiso	Tier 2
148	1.7	Widener (DE)	Tier 2
155	1.6	Florida Int'l	103
155	1.6	Hamline	140
155	1.6	N. Illinois	144
155	1.6	Oklahoma City	144
155	1.6	Elon	Tier 2
155	1.6	Golden Gate	Tier 2
155	1.6	Mississippi C.	Tier 2
155	1.6	N. Kentucky	Tier 2
155	1.6	Nova	Tier 2
155	1.6	Roger Williams	Tier 2
155	1.6	S. Texas	Tier 2
155	1.6	St. Mary's	Tier 2
155	1.6	Widener (PA)	Tier 2
168	1.5	Campbell	144
168	1.5	Cal-Western	Tier 2
168	1.5	Capital	Tier 2
168	1.5	NC Central	Tier 2
168	1.5	Ohio Northern	Tier 2
168	1.5	Touro	Tier 2
168	1.5	Detroit Mercy	Tier 2
175	1.4	John Marshall (GA)	Tier 2
175	1.4	Florida A&M	Tier 2
175	1.4	New England	Tier 2
175	1.4	Southern	Tier 2
175	1.4	Texas Southern	Tier 2
175	1.4	Dist. of Columbia	Tier 2
175	1.4	W. New England	Tier 2
182	1.3	Faulkner	Tier 2
182	1.3	Regent	Tier 2
182	1.3	St. Thomas (FL)	Tier 2
182	1.3	Whittier	Tier 2
186	1.2	Appalachian	Tier 2
186	1.2	Ariz. Summit	Tier 2
186	1.2	Charleston	Tier 2
186	1.2	Liberty	Tier 2
186	1.2	Thomas Jefferson	Tier 2
191	1.1	Ave Maria	Tier 2
191	1.1	Barry	Tier 2
191	1.1	Charlotte	Tier 2
191	1.1	Florida Coastal	Tier 2
191	1.1	W. Mich. Cooley	Tier 2
191	1.1	Western State	Tier 2

Press Release, Kaplan Test Prep Survey: Pre-Law Students Put Heavy Emphasis on U.S. News & World Report’s Rankings, but Most Law School Admissions Officers Want Them Gone:

According to a Kaplan survey of over 1,000 pre-law students, 73% say U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings will be an important factor in their decision of where to apply and enroll.* But most law school admissions officers think rankings should play a less important role. A separate Kaplan survey of 120 law schools across the United States shows that only 40% think U.S. News & World Report’s rankings should be an important factor in future applicants’ decision making processes.** In fact, over half (52%) of admissions officers agree with the statement, “I think it would be in everyone's interests - prospective students, current students, alumni and school administrators - if there were no rankings lists at all.” In contrast, only 31% of pre-law students share the view that the rankings should be done away with.

• ABA Journal, Yale Law School Remains No. 1 in US News Rankings
• Above the Law, The OFFICIAL 2017 U.S. News Law School Rankings Are Here!
• National Law Journal, U.S. News Law School Rankings: Few Shifts at the Top, Plenty Below

Prior years' rankings:

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2017 U.S. News Law School Rankings Leak: The Top 50 100

Although the new 2017 law school rankings will be released online on Wednesday, March 16, the Top 50 has been leaked online. 

The biggest winners are Houston (+9), Indiana (+9), UC-Hastings (+9), Wake Forest (+7), Boston University (+6), Boston College (+4), Ohio State (+4), Michigan (+3), Arizona (+2), Iowa (+2), Temple (+2), UC-Irvine (+2), Washington & Lee (+2)

The biggest losers are Alabama (-6), University of Washington (-5), BYU (-4), North Carolina (-4), William & Mary (-4), Duke (-3), Emory (-3), Fordham (-3), George Mason (-3), George Washington (-3), Utah (-3), Georgia (-2), Minnesota (-2), Wisconsin (-2)

Update: The Top 100 is now available here and here.

NLJ: Law School Rankings By Graduates In BigLaw Jobs

National Law Journal, The 2016 Go-To Law Schools:

New associate hiring held steady in 2015 after three years of growth, with the country’s largest 100 law firms bringing on 3,412 new law school graduates. Among the 50 law schools most popular with those employers, 23 percent of last year’s graduates landed associate jobs—the same percentage as the previous year.

We’ve ranked the top 50 law schools by percentage of 2015 juris doctors who took associate jobs at the largest 100 firms. The selection of those 100 law firms was based on lawyer count—as identified on the NLJ 350, The National Law Journal’s annual survey of the nation’s largest law firms. We also examined tuition at the schools that produced the most Big Law associates, and we ranked the schools with the most alumni promoted to partner in 2015.

The Top 50 Go-To Law Schools:  These schools sent the highest percentage of new graduates to the largest 100 law firms:

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2017 U.S. News Law School Rankings

Robert Morse (Director of Data Research, U.S. News & World Report) announced today that the new 2017 law school rankings will be released online on Wednesday, March 16 and in hard copy on Tuesday, April 5.  Here is my coverage of the current 2016 law school rankings:

• 2016 U.S. News Peer Reputation Rankings (v. Overall Rankings)
• U.S. News Rankings: 2016 v. 2015 Changes in All Reported Categories for All Law Schools
• The U.S. News Law School Academic Reputation Scores, 1998-2015
• A California Law Schools Rankings Renaissance?
• New 2016 U.S. News Tax Rankings
• Brophy Law School Rankings: Median LSAT, Full-Time J.D.-Required Jobs, And Law Review Citations
• 2016 U.S News Law School Rankings: Average Student Debt
• The Law Schools That Most Goosed Their U.S. News Ranking With School-Funded Jobs
• Dean Advises Other Deans to Punish Law Schools in U.S. News Peer Reputation Voting for Manipulating Rankings With School-Funded Jobs and Transfer Students
• More on the 2016 U.S. News Law School Rankings
• Ayres: The U.S. News Rankings Keep Dozens Of Weak Law Schools Afloat, Preventing A 'Culling Of Legal Education's Herd'
• Ayres Data On 1L Enrollment Changes, 2011 To 2014
• Here’s What Happened When A Law School Dean Challenged A U.S. News Ranker
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• Lipshaw: Law Schools Whose Rankings Are Helped (Or Hurt) By Their Law Reviews
• Henderson, McEntee & Shepard Propose Changes To U.S. News Law School Rankings Methodology
• Rethinking Measures Of Quality And Value In The U.S. News Law School Rankings
• The U.S. News Rankings And Law School Grading Curves

Is Wake Forest Law School's Offer To Pay Students To Take The GRE A U.S. News Rankings Ploy?

Above the Law, This Law School Will Pay You To Take The GRE To Save Its U.S. News Rank From The Dreaded LSAT:

Law schools have been trying to do away with using the LSAT as an admissions requirement for quite some time. The ABA first took up the idea of axing the LSAT in 2011, and then in 2014, instituted a new rule that would allow some law schools (i.e., law schools connected to a university or college with an undergraduate program) to fill up to 10 percent of their entering classes with students who hadn’t taken the LSAT. Several law schools, including SUNY Buffalo, Drake, the University of Iowa, the University of Hawaii, and St. John’s University quickly rushed to begin enrolling students without LSAT scores. Just one year later, the ABA voted to repeal its LSAT exemption rule, effective with the incoming class of fall 2017.

Now that evidence of the great law school brain drain is on display for all the world to see, with LSAT profiles of matriculants dipping lower and lower every year, law school administrators are trying even harder to find a way to weasel out of having to admit students who have taken the LSAT (unless, of course, their LSAT scores are amazing; those students are allowed to continue taking the LSAT, if only because those high scores will help the law school’s U.S. News ranking instead of hurting it).

What are law schools trying to do now to keep the LSAT far, far away from their U.S. news ranking? At Wake Forest University School of Law ... has teamed up with Educational Testing Service (ETS) and two other law schools to see if the GRE would work as an alternative to the LSAT for law school admissions, and the school needs assistance from both current students and recent graduates for some experimentation. ...

How desperate is Wake Forest to get rid of the LSAT? Wake Forest is so desperate that it’s willing to pay people to take a standardized test with a math component. Yikes.

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