A Peek Behind the U.S. News Rankings Curtain: Law School Hiring of Graduating 3Ls

Bernard A. Burk (North Carolina) reports some eye-popping numbers of unemployed graduates hired on a short-term basis by several law schools to improve their placement data, which count 18% in the U.S. News rankings (employed at graduation (4%) and employed nine months after graduation (14%)):

		Reported		School Hires		Recalculated
School	Rank	@ Grad	@ 9 Mos	@ Grad	@ 9 Mos	@ Grad	@ 9 Mos
Wash & Lee	24	89.4%	90.2%	41%	10%	48.4%	80.2%
Vanderbilt	16	89.6%	91.6%	21%	11%	68.6%	80.6%
Minnesota	19		91.9%		14.1%		77.8%
Notre Dame	22		91.3%		12.2%		79.1%
Arizona St.	26		98.2%		12.0%		86.2%
NYU	6		96.6%		7.6%		89.0%

Update: Paul Campos (Colorado), How Bad Things Really Are:

Here are a few numbers to add to Burk's list:

• Fordham:  70 graduates (14.7% of those reporting employment status)
• Virginia:  40 graduates  (10.9% of the class)
• Michigan State:  37 graduates   (10.6% of those reporting employment status)
• Ohio State:  Approximately 14 (6.7% of the class ... )