U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott Is A Big Nothing Burger

Bloomberg Law:  Law School Boycott of U.S. News Ranking Is a Big Nothing Burger, by Vivia Chen:

What’s getting more shade than Donald Trump in the aftermath of the midterm elections? The U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of the nation’s law schools.

Since Yale Law School first announced its boycott of that publication’s ranking of law schools a few weeks ago, it seems that any law school with a claim to being a “top” school has noisily withdrawn from cooperating with the yearly lineup.

Question is, does all this hoopla and protest really matter to schools, prospective students, or the legal market? ...

Elite law schools opting out of the U.S. News ranking won’t change a damn thing. If anything, it highlights the big class divide among law schools. Tony schools can afford to turn their noses up at the game because they know their position in the hierarchy is secured.

Fact is there’s very little movement in the T14, especially among those schools in the top seven or so. Further down the food chain, the situation is much more volatile. Last year, for instance, the University of Wisconsin dropped from 29th to 43rd place, while George Mason’s Antonin Scalia Law School climbed to 30th place from 41st.

So let the pedestrian schools duke it out for their place in their various divisions—those vying for the top 15 to 25 spots, followed by those in the 26 to 50 group, and the next two quadrants, up to the 100th rank.

As for schools beyond the 100th place (U.S. News ranks up to 192 law schools)? Well, that’s an entirely different neighborhood, far removed from the vista of the T14 or Big Law.

What all this means is that the vast majority of law schools have little choice but to participate in the rankings rat race—and that will keep the machine humming. ...

Love them or hate them, rankings carry weight. According to a 2021 Bloomberg Law survey, 50% of respondents stated that ranking was a factor in deciding which law school to attend.

U.S. News coverage:

Boycott

• Yale Law School Will No Longer Participate In 'Profoundly Flawed' U.S. News Rankings (Nov. 16, 2022)
• Harvard Joins Yale In No Longer Participating In The U.S. News Law School Rankings (Nov. 16, 2022)
• UC-Berkeley Is The Third Top 10 Law School To Refuse To Participate In The U.S. News Rankings (Nov. 17, 2022)
• With Stanford, Columbia And Georgetown, 6 Of The T14 Refuse To Participate In The U.S. News Law School Rankings (Nov. 19, 2022)
• The U.S. News Law School Rankings Are Like The Hotel California: You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, But You Can Never Leave (Nov. 19, 2022)
• U.S. News Law School Rankings, ABA Optional LSAT, And Harvard Affirmative Action Supreme Court's Case (Nov. 21, 2022)
• Why Law Schools Outside The T14 (Like UCLA, Wash U, George Mason, Boston University, Pepperdine) May Refuse To Join The U.S. News Rankings Boycott (Nov. 21, 2022)
• Michigan Is Seventh T14 Law School To Refuse To Participate In The U.S. News Rankings (Nov. 21, 2022)
• Antitrust Implications Of The U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott (Nov. 21, 2022)
• With Duke And Northwestern, Nine Of T14 Refuse To Participate In U.S. News Law School Rankings (Nov. 22, 2022)
• Colin Diver: Are The U.S. News Rankings Finally Going To Die? (Nov. 22, 2022)
• UCLA Is Tenth Top 15 Law School To Refuse To Participate In U.S. News Rankings (Nov. 22, 2022)
• Dan Solove: Slaying The U.S. News Law School Rankings Dragon (Nov. 23, 2022)
• Bill Henderson: The Dollars And Math Behind Yale Law School's Withdrawal From U.S. News — 'Are Limits on Federal Student Loans The Best Way To End The Rankings Madness?' (Nov. 23, 2022)
• UC-Irvine Is First Non-Elite Law School To Join U.S. News Rankings Boycott (Nov. 24, 2022)
• Chicago And (Maybe) Cornell Are First Elite Law Schools To Refuse To Join U.S. News Rankings Boycott (Nov. 24, 2022)
• Is This The Beginning Of The End Of The U.S. News Rankings Dominance? (Nov. 25, 2022)
• Penn Evaluates Whether To Join Boycott Of U.S. News Rankings By Ten Of Top 15 Law Schools (Nov. 26, 2022)
• Law School Admissions Without LSATs, Race, And Rankings (Nov. 26, 2022)
• Here’s Why Top Law Schools May Be Pulling Out Of The U.S. News Rankings (Nov. 28, 2022)
• Yale Law School’s Revolt Of The Elites (Nov. 28, 2022)
• UC-Davis Is 12th Law School (5th In California) To Boycott U.S. News Rankings (Nov. 29, 2022)
• More Commentary On The U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott (Part 1) (Nov. 30, 2022)
• Wash U Joins Chicago And Cornell In Refusing To Boycott U.S. News Law School Rankings (Dec. 1, 2022)
• More Commentary On The U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott (Part 2) (Dec. 2, 2022)
• With Penn And University Of Washington, 14 Law Schools Are Not Participating In U.S. News Rankings; Georgia Is 4th School To Resist Boycott (Dec. 3, 2022)
• George Mason Is 5th Law School To Reject Boycott Of U.S. News Rankings  (Dec. 5, 2022)
• The Impact Of The U.S. News Rankings Boycott On Individual Law Schools (Dec. 5, 2022)
• NYU Is 15th Law School (And 12th Of Top 15) To Boycott U.S. News Rankings (Dec. 5, 2022)
• More Commentary On The U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott (Part 3) (Dec. 6, 2022)
• U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott Is A Big Nothing Burger (Dec. 8, 2022)
• A Law School Rankings Revolution? Hardly. (Dec. 9, 2022)
• The U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott Is A Chance To Rethink Legal Education (Dec. 10, 2022)
• Virginia Is 16th Law School (And 13th Of Top 15) To Boycott U.S. News Rankings (Dec. 10, 2022)
• Simkovic On The U.S. News Rankings Boycott (Dec. 12, 2022)
• Deans Of Lower Ranked Law Schools Join Boycott And Criticize U.S. News Rankings (Dec. 13, 2022)
• Dean Of Georgia Law School (1 Of 5 Schools Publicly Not Joining Boycott Of U.S. News Rankings) Has Questions For The 17 Boycotting Schools (Dec. 15, 2022)
• New Hampshire Is 18th Law School To Boycott U.S. News Rankings (Dec. 16, 2022)
• CLEA Statement On U.S. News Rankings For Clinical Programs (Dec. 17, 2022)
• More Commentary On The U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott (Part 4) (Dec. 20, 2022)
• With Southwestern, 10% Of ABA-Accredited Law Schools Are Boycotting The U.S. News Rankings (Dec. 20, 2022)
• Cal-Western Is 20th Law School To Boycott U.S. News Rankings (Dec. 24, 2022)
• Morrison: AALS Should Provide A Law School Guide To Supplant The U.S. News Rankings (Dec. 27, 2022)
• Muller: What Is The Endgame For Law Schools Boycotting The U.S. News Rankings? (Dec. 28, 2022)
• With UC-SF, St. John's, And Idaho: 23 Schools Are Now Boycotting The U.S. News Law School Rankings (Jan. 7, 2023)
• U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott Scorecard (Jan. 9, 2023)
• Fordham Is 24th Law School To Boycott U.S. News Rankings (Jan. 14, 2023)
• Roger Williams Is 25th Law School To Boycott U.S. News Rankings (Jan. 18, 2023)
• Law School Rankings Revolt Spreads To Medical Schools: #1 Harvard Will Not Send Data To U.S. News (Jan. 18, 2023)
• With Maryland, USF, And South Texas, 28 Schools Are Now Boycotting The U.S. News Law School Rankings (Jan. 19, 2023)
• U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott Scorecard (Updated) (Jan 23, 2023)
• Will The U.S. News Law School Rankings Arms Race Resume In Three Years? (Jan. 23, 2023)
• The Clash And The U.S. News Law School Rankings: Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (Jan. 25, 2023)
• With Gonzaga, Quinnipiac, Rutgers, And Seattle, 36 Law Schools Are Boycotting The U.S. News Rankings (Jan. 26, 2023)
• With Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Tulane, And Creighton, 40 Law Schools Are Boycotting The U.S. News Rankings (Jan. 28, 2023)
• WSJ: Rebellion Over U.S. News Rankings Seems Likely To Fail (Jan. 30, 2023)
• Two Perspectives On The Growing U.S. News Rankings Boycott (Feb. 2, 2023)
• In Defense Of The U.S. News Law School Rankings (Feb. 4, 2023)
• Will The Boycott Actually Strengthen The U.S. News Rankings? (Feb. 9, 2023)
• With Connecticut And Pittsburgh, 42 Law Schools Are Boycotting The U.S. News Rankings (Feb. 10, 2022)

U.S. News Response to Boycott

• In Response To Boycott, U.S. News Dramatically Changes Law School Rankings Methodology. Who Are The Winners And Losers? Will Harvard Be #1? (Jan. 2, 2023)
• U.S. News Drops Student Loans And Employment-At-Graduation (In Addition To Expenditures-Per-Student) From Forthcoming Law School Rankings (Jan. 3, 2023)
• Muller: Did Schools Boycotting The U.S. News Rankings Kill Law Faculty's Golden Goose? (Jan. 4, 2023)
• More Coverage Of The U.S. News Law School Rankings Methodology Changes (Jan. 4, 2023)
• Muller: Winners And Losers In The Elimination Of At-Graduation Employment In The U.S. News Law School Rankings (Jan. 11, 2023)
• U.S. News Provides Additional Information On Forthcoming Law School Rankings (Jan. 13, 2023)
• Summary Of Changes To The Forthcoming U.S. News Law School Rankings (Jan. 14, 2023)
• Muller Models And Projects Forthcoming U.S. News Law School Rankings (Jan. 18, 2023)