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Paul L. Caron
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Friday, May 12, 2023

The Impact Of The U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott On Peer Reputation

Following up on my previous post, Will U.S. News Refuse To Count Votes From Deans, Faculty, Lawyers, And Judges From Boycotting Law Schools In Reputation Metric In 2024 Rankings?:  Derek Muller (Iowa; Google Scholar), Did "Boycotting" the USNWR Law Rankings Affect Those Schools' Peer Scores?:

US News (2023)USNWR’s methodology provides that it withdrew the survey responses of “boycotting” schools: “Peer assessment ratings were only used when submitted by law schools that also submitted their statistical surveys. This means the schools that declined to provide statistical information to U.S. News and its readers had their academic peer ratings programmatically discarded before any computations were made.” ... [D]id it affect those schools adversely?

But among these ~60 schools, 7 of them saw an increase in their peer score (12%). Another 28, nearly half, saw a decline. The average effect on their peer score was a decline of 0.043, slightly less than than the 0.1 I projected, but still an average decline.

Another 130 or so did not boycott. 29 of them (22%) saw an increase in their peer score, and 36 (27%) saw a decline—a mixed bag, with declining schools slightly outpacing increasing schools. The average effect on their peer was a marginal decrease of less than 0.01)—in other words, a decline, but somewhat less than the “boycotting” schools. (Peer scores have been long declining.)

Here are the changes in the peer reputation scores (now 12.5% of the methodology) of all 196 law schools, with an asterisk marking the 62 schools that boycotted the rankings:

Difference School 2023 Peer Score 2024 Peer Score
+0.2 Northern Kentucky 1.5 1.7
+0.1 Albany 2.0 2.1
+0.1 Arkansas-Little Rock 2.2 2.3
+0.1 Ave Maria 1.2 1.3
+0.1 Baltimore 2.1 2.2
+0.1 Barry* 1.2 1.3
+0.1 Campbell* 1.5 1.6
+0.1 Capital* 1.4 1.5
+0.1 Creighton* 1.9 2.0
+0.1 Drake 2.0 2.1
+0.1 Drexel 2.3 2.4
+0.1 Elon 1.7 1.8
+0.1 Georgia 3.2 3.3
+0.1 Illinois-Chicago 2.1 2.2
+0.1 Liberty 1.2 1.3
+0.1 Louisiana State 2.2 2.3
+0.1 Maine 2.1 2.2
+0.1 Mercer 1.9 2.0
+0.1 Mississippi 2.2 2.3
+0.1 Nova 1.6 1.7
+0.1 Pacific 2.0 2.1
+0.1 Pepperdine Caruso 2.8 2.9
+0.1 Quinnipiac* 1.9 2.0
+0.1 Regent 1.3 1.4
+0.1 Roger Williams* 1.7 1.8
+0.1 Seattle* 2.4 2.5
+0.1 Southern Illinois 1.7 1.8
+0.1 Southern* 1.7 1.8
+0.1 St. Mary's 1.8 1.9
+0.1 Suffolk 2.1 2.2
+0.1 Temple 2.8 2.9
+0.1 Tennessee 2.6 2.7
+0.1 Texas A&M 2.8 2.9
+0.1 UNLV 2.6 2.7
+0.1 Utah 3.0 3.1
+0.1 West Virginia 2.1 2.2
+0.1 Willamette 2.0 2.1
0 Alabama 3.2 3.2
0 Appalachian* 1.3 1.3
0 Arizona State 3.3 3.3
0 Arkansas-Fayetteville 2.4 2.4
0 Baylor 2.5 2.5
0 Belmont 1.5 1.5
0 BYU 2.9 2.9
0 Cal-Western* 1.7 1.7
0 Case Western 2.7 2.7
0 Catholic 2.2 2.2
0 Chapman 1.8 1.8
0 Charleston 1.4 1.4
0 Cincinnati 2.4 2.4
0 Cleveland State 1.9 1.9
0 Connecticut* 2.9 2.9
0 Cornell* 4.2 4.2
0 Dayton 1.8 1.8
0 DePaul 2.3 2.3
0 Duke* 4.2 4.2
0 Duquesne 1.9 1.9
0 Faulkner 1.3 1.3
0 Florida 3.3 3.3
0 Florida A&M* 1.8 1.8
0 Florida Int'l 2.1 2.1
0 Fordham 3.3 3.3
0 George Mason 2.7 2.7
0 Georgia State 2.8 2.8
0 Golden Gate 1.5 1.5
0 Gonzaga* 2.1 2.1
0 Hawaii 2.6 2.6
0 Howard 2.9 2.9
0 Indiana (Maurer) 3.2 3.2
0 John Marshall (GA)* 1.4 1.4
0 Kansas 2.6 2.6
0 Kentucky 2.5 2.5
0 Lewis & Clark 2.4 2.4
0 Lincoln Memorial 1.3 1.3
0 Louisville 2.2 2.2
0 Loyola-Chicago* 2.7 2.7
0 Loyola-New Orleans* 2.2 2.2
0 Memphis 1.9 1.9
0 Miami 2.7 2.7
0 Michigan State 2.5 2.5
0 Michigan* 4.4 4.4
0 Minnesota 3.6 3.6
0 Mississippi College 1.6 1.6
0 Missouri (Columbia) 2.5 2.5
0 Missouri-Kansas City 2.2 2.2
0 Mitchell | Hamline* 1.9 1.9
0 Montana 2.0 2.0
0 Nebraska* 2.4 2.4
0 New England 1.5 1.5
0 New Mexico 2.4 2.4
0 New York Law School 2.0 2.0
0 North Carolina Central* 1.7 1.7
0 North Dakota 1.8 1.8
0 Northeastern* 2.6 2.6
0 Northern Illinois 1.8 1.8
0 Notre Dame 3.4 3.4
0 Ohio Northern 1.5 1.5
0 Oklahoma 2.5 2.5
0 Oklahoma City 1.6 1.6
0 Oregon 2.8 2.8
0 Pace 2.1 2.1
0 Pittsburgh* 2.6 2.6
0 Richmond 2.8 2.8
0 Rutgers* 2.7 2.7
0 Samford 1.7 1.7
0 San Diego 2.9 2.9
0 San Francisco* 1.9 1.9
0 Santa Clara 2.5 2.5
0 Seton Hall 2.5 2.5
0 SMU 2.7 2.7
0 South Dakota 1.8 1.8
0 South Texas* 1.7 1.7
0 Southwestern* 1.9 1.9
0 St. John's* 2.3 2.3
0 St. Thomas (MN) 2.0 2.0
0 Stanford* 4.7 4.7
0 Stetson 2.2 2.2
0 SUNY-Buffalo 2.2 2.2
0 Texas Tech 2.0 2.0
0 Touro* 1.6 1.6
0 University of Arizona 3.2 3.2
0 Villanova 2.7 2.7
0 Wake Forest 3.0 3.0
0 Washburn 2.1 2.1
0 Western Michigan* 1.3 1.3
0 Western State 1.2 1.2
0 Widener (DE) 1.9 1.9
0 Wyoming 1.9 1.9
-0.1 Akron 1.8 1.7
-0.1 American* 3.0 2.9
-0.1 Boston College 3.4 3.3
-0.1 Boston University 3.6 3.5
-0.1 Brooklyn* 2.7 2.6
-0.1 Cardozo 3.0 2.9
-0.1 Chicago 4.6 4.5
-0.1 Colorado 3.2 3.1
-0.1 Columbia* 4.6 4.5
-0.1 CUNY 2.3 2.2
-0.1 Denver 2.8 2.7
-0.1 Detroit Mercy* 1.8 1.7
-0.1 District of Columbia 1.8 1.7
-0.1 Florida State 3.0 2.9
-0.1 George Washington 3.5 3.4
-0.1 Georgetown* 4.2 4.1
-0.1 Harvard* 4.7 4.6
-0.1 Hofstra 2.3 2.2
-0.1 Houston 2.8 2.7
-0.1 Idaho* 2.1 2.0
-0.1 Indiana (McKinney) 2.5 2.4
-0.1 Iowa 3.4 3.3
-0.1 Loyola-L.A. 2.8 2.7
-0.1 Marquette 2.3 2.2
-0.1 Maryland* 3.1 3.0
-0.1 Massachusetts 1.6 1.5
-0.1 North Carolina 3.5 3.4
-0.1 Northwestern* 4.2 4.1
-0.1 NYU* 4.6 4.5
-0.1 Ohio State 3.3 3.2
-0.1 Penn State-Dickinson* 2.5 2.4
-0.1 Penn State-University Park* 2.5 2.4
-0.1 Penn* 4.4 4.3
-0.1 South Carolina 2.6 2.5
-0.1 St. Louis 2.4 2.3
-0.1 Syracuse* 2.4 2.3
-0.1 Texas 4.1 4.0
-0.1 Texas Southern* 1.6 1.5
-0.1 Tulane* 3.1 3.0
-0.1 Tulsa 2.0 1.9
-0.1 UC-Berkeley* 4.5 4.4
-0.1 UC-Davis* 3.5 3.4
-0.1 UC-San Francisco* 3.2 3.1
-0.1 University of Washington* 3.2 3.1
-0.1 USC 3.7 3.6
-0.1 Vanderbilt* 4.0 3.9
-0.1 Vermont 2.0 1.9
-0.1 Virginia* 4.4 4.3
-0.1 Washington & Lee 3.2 3.1
-0.1 Washington University 3.8 3.7
-0.1 Wayne State 2.4 2.3
-0.1 Western New England 1.5 1.4
-0.1 Widener (PA) 1.7 1.6
-0.1 William & Mary 3.4 3.3
-0.1 Wisconsin* 3.3 3.2
-0.2 Chicago-Kent 2.6 2.4
-0.2 Emory 3.6 3.4
-0.2 Illinois 3.2 3.0
-0.2 New Hampshire* 2.2 2.0
-0.2 St. Thomas (FL) 1.6 1.4
-0.2 Toledo 1.9 1.7
-0.2 UC-Irvine* 3.6 3.4
-0.2 UCLA* 4.2 4.0
-0.2 Yale* 4.6 4.4

Derek Muller (Iowa; Google Scholar), Yale, Harvard Law Peer Scores in USNWR Law Rankings Plunge to Lowest Scores on Record:

Until last year, Yale & Harvard had always been either a 4.8 or 4.9 on a 5-point scale in every survey since 1998.

Last year, Harvard’s peer score dropped to 4.7 Yale’s dropped to 4.6.

USNWR changed its methodology and reduced the peer score from 25% of the rankings to 12.5% of the rankings. It also explained, “Peer assessment ratings were only used when submitted by law schools that also submitted their statistical surveys. This means the schools that declined to provide statistical information to U.S. News and its readers had their academic peer ratings programmatically discarded before any computations were made.”

Harvard’s score dropped again to 4.6. Yale’s score plunged again this year, to 4.4

Muller

It’s entirely possible that voters are “reacting” against Yale (or Harvard) for actions over the last couple of years. Whether it’s responding to public disputes arising from politically-charged episodes on campus or negative reaction to initiating the “boycott” that caused a change in methodology, some unwanted for some schools. The ~63 “boycotting” schools are clustered closer to the top of the overall rankings, and it’s possible those schools (staffed with more graduates of these schools) thought more highly of these schools—with their responses out of the rankings, the peer score fell. It’s possible that the composition of administrators or recently-tenured faculty across the country have fewer graduates of these schools than in years past, a slower shift away from institutional loyalty to their “status.” On it goes.

US News Yale

Mike Spivey:  "Of schools that participated in rankings 44% went down, 55% went up. Average move up 2.03. Boycotters 49% went down and 41% went up. Average move down 1.46. But we don't know the causal arrow and thus can’t make any conclusions. The 4 biggest drops were all participators."

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/05/the-impact-of-the-us-news-law-school-rankings-boycott-on-peer-reputation.html

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