Princeton Review's Best 172 Law Schools (2011 Edition)

The Princeton Review has published the 2011 edition of The Best 172 Law Schools (with the University of Cincinnati College of Law again on the cover):

We surveyed more than 18,000 students at 172 law schools, in addition to collecting data from school administrators, to create 11 ranking lists:

Best Classroom Experience:  Based on student assessment of professors' teaching abilities and recognition in their fields, the integration of new business trends and practices in the curricula, and the intellectual level of clasmmates' contributions in course discussions.

1. Stanford
2. Virginia 
3. Loyola-L.A.
4. Northwestern
5. Chicago

Best Quality of Life:  Based on student assessment of:  whether there is a strong sense of community at the school, how aesthetically pleasing the law school is, the location of the law school, the quality of the social life, classroom facilities, and the library staff.

1. Virginia
2. Duke
3. Stanford
4. St. Thomas (Miami)
5. Vanderbilt 

Best Career Prospects:  Based on the Career Rating. 

1. Pennsylvania
2. Northwestern
3. NYU
4. Vanderbilt
5. Harvard

Best Professors:  Based on the Professors Interesting and Professors Accessible Ratings.

1. Boston University
2. Duke
3. Chicago
4. Virginia
5. Stanford

(The press release issued today by the Princeton Review names "Brown University" as the law school with the "best professors" -- see Faculty Lounge, Volokh Conspiracy.)

Most Diverse Faculty:  Based on the percentage of the law school faculty that is from a minority group and student assessment of whether the faculty makes up a broadly diverse group of individuals.

1. Florida International
2. North Carolina Central
3. Southern
4. District of Columbia
5. Hawaii

Most Competitive Students:  Based on law student assessment of how competitive classmates are, how heavy the workload is, and the perceived academic pressure.

1. Baylor
2. Ohio Northern
3. Case Western
4. BYU
5. Thomas Cooley

Most Liberal Students:  Based on student assessment of the political bent of the student body at large.

1. American
2. District of Columbia 
3. Northeastern
4. CUNY
5. Vermont

Most Conservative Students:  Based on student assessment of the political bent of the student body at large.

1. George Mason
2. Regent
3. BYU
4. Ave Maria
5. Samford

Best Environment for Minority Students:  Based on the percentage of the student body that is from underrepresented minorities and student assessment of whether all students receive equal treatment by fellow students and the faculty, regardless of ethnicity.

1. Hawaii
2. Florida International
3. St. Thomas (Miami)
4. Santa Clara
5. Southern

Most Chosen by Older Students:  Based on the average age of entry of law school students and student reports of how many years they spent out of college before enrolling in law school.

1. CUNY
2. Idaho
3. New Mexico
4. Maine
5. Seattle

Toughest to Get Into:  Based on the Admissions Selectivity Rating.

1. Yale
2. Stanford
3. Harvard  
4. UC-Berkeley
5. Virginia

Unfortunately, the Princeton Review did not release the response rate per school, so it is impossible to determine how the rankings are affected by each school's representation among the respondents.

For prior Princeton Review Law School Rankings, see:

• 2010
• 2009
• 2008