Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Preview Of The 2024-25 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Employment
Update:
- Preview Of The 2024-25 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Overall Ranking
- Preview Of The 2024-25 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Resources
- Preview Of The 2024-25 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Student Outcomes
Following up on my previous posts:
- Preview Of The 2024-25 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Ultimate Bar Passage
- Preview Of The 2024-25 U.S. News Law School Rankings: First-Time Bar Passage
- Preview Of The 2024-25 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Admissions
The current 2023-24 methodology is:
Outcomes 10 months after graduation (weighted by 0.33, previously 0.14): This measures the extent by which graduates obtain the most in-demand jobs – namely those that are long term, full time and requiring (or taking advantage of) bar passage. A change this year was that maximum credit was assigned for graduates with school-funded fellowships – as long as those fellowships were otherwise full-time, long-term jobs in which bar passage was required or the J.D. degree was an advantage. Maximum credit was also assigned to law school graduates pursuing additional graduate studies.
U.S. News published an outcomes 10 months after graduation employment value for information purposes on usnews.com that equals the percentage of 2021 graduates in positions awarded 100% credit in the rankings. However, the actual value used in the rankings is an index that also awards partial credit for other outcomes values described below.
These non-fully weighted jobs that were some combination of particular factors, namely short term, part time, in many cases funded by the law school and/or not utilizing bar passage received less credit by varying amounts, determined by an allocation of some or all of these factors.
Law schools are required to report these highly differentiated outcome measures each year to the ABA. For a more detailed explanation, see Notes on Employment Rates below.
Below are two previews of the 2024-2025 employment rankings. As noted below, U.S. News does not reveal the weights it gives to the 45 different job types, employment statuses, and durations. The first is a simple ranking for the Class of 2022, showing the 2024 methodology (including school-funded jobs and pursuit of a graduate degree). The second uses Z-scores to better approximate the U.S. News methodology.
| School | BPR & JD Adv | Funded BPR & JD Adv | Graduate Studies | BPR & JD Adv, Funded, Graduate | Rank |
| Texas A&M | 98.3% | 0.0% | 1.2% | 99.4% | 1 |
| Virginia | 96.3% | 2.1% | 0.6% | 99.1% | 2 |
| Duke | 98.1% | 0.9% | 0.0% | 99.1% | 3 |
| Yale | 85.9% | 11.7% | 0.9% | 98.6% | 4 |
| Northwestern | 95.5% | 2.6% | 0.4% | 98.5% | 5 |
| Penn | 93.9% | 3.8% | 0.8% | 98.5% | 6 |
| Columbia | 96.8% | 1.5% | 0.0% | 98.3% | 7 |
| North Carolina | 96.8% | 0.0% | 1.1% | 97.9% | 8 |
| Washington Univ. | 96.5% | 0.0% | 1.3% | 97.8% | 9 |
| SMU | 96.3% | 0.4% | 1.1% | 97.8% | 10 |
| Chicago | 94.5% | 2.3% | 0.9% | 97.7% | 11 |
| Wake Forest | 96.0% | 0.0% | 1.5% | 97.5% | 12 |
| Iowa | 96.3% | 0.0% | 1.2% | 97.5% | 13 |
| NYU | 94.7% | 2.7% | 0.0% | 97.5% | 14 |
| Georgia | 96.4% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 97.4% | 15 |
| UCLA | 92.9% | 3.8% | 0.3% | 97.0% | 16 |
| Minnesota | 95.7% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 97.0% | 17 |
| Michigan | 95.4% | 1.5% | 0.0% | 96.9% | 18 |
| Notre Dame | 94.8% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 96.7% | 19 |
| Alabama | 93.9% | 0.0% | 2.3% | 96.2% | 20 |
| Utah | 95.2% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 96.2% | 21 |
| Georgetown | 93.7% | 1.7% | 0.8% | 96.1% | 22 |
| Florida State | 92.1% | 0.0% | 3.7% | 95.8% | 23 |
| Florida | 91.2% | 0.0% | 4.1% | 95.4% | 24 |
| Kentucky | 95.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 95.3% | 25 |
| Harvard | 91.8% | 2.5% | 1.0% | 95.3% | 26 |
| Stanford | 86.2% | 6.3% | 2.6% | 95.2% | 27 |
| George Mason | 93.8% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 95.2% | 28 |
| Texas | 91.7% | 2.4% | 1.0% | 95.2% | 29 |
| UC-Berkeley | 89.4% | 5.0% | 0.6% | 95.0% | 30 |
| Drexel | 92.4% | 0.0% | 2.5% | 94.9% | 31 |
| Washington & Lee | 94.1% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 94.9% | 32 |
| Boston Univ. | 89.2% | 3.0% | 2.2% | 94.4% | 33 |
| Vanderbilt | 92.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 94.4% | 34 |
| Indiana (Maurer) | 93.7% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 94.3% | 35 |
| Wisconsin | 92.0% | 0.0% | 2.2% | 94.2% | 36 |
| Boston College | 92.6% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 94.2% | 37 |
| Ohio State | 92.6% | 0.0% | 1.6% | 94.1% | 38 |
| UNLV | 92.6% | 0.0% | 1.5% | 94.1% | 39 |
| Penn State-Univ. Park | 92.6% | 0.0% | 1.5% | 94.1% | 40 |
| Cornell | 92.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 94.1% | 41 |
| Colorado | 93.4% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 94.0% | 42 |
| Kansas | 93.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 93.9% | 43 |
| Penn State-Dickinson | 90.2% | 0.0% | 3.7% | 93.9% | 44 |
| USC | 92.0% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 93.9% | 45 |
| Illinois | 93.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 93.8% | 46 |
| Nebraska | 91.4% | 0.0% | 2.2% | 93.5% | 47 |
| UC-Davis | 89.4% | 3.2% | 0.9% | 93.5% | 48 |
| Fordham | 92.8% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 93.5% | 49 |
| Oklahoma | 91.0% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 92.8% | 50 |
| Arizona State | 92.0% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 92.7% | 51 |
| Wayne State | 91.1% | 0.0% | 1.6% | 92.7% | 52 |
| Drake | 91.7% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 92.7% | 53 |
| Villanova | 92.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 92.4% | 54 |
| St. John's | 91.9% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 92.4% | 55 |
| Cardozo | 91.3% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 92.3% | 56 |
| Cincinnati | 92.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 92.3% | 57 |
| San Diego | 84.1% | 7.8% | 0.4% | 92.2% | 58 |
| William & Mary | 90.2% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 92.0% | 59 |
| Dayton | 91.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 91.9% | 60 |
| Catholic | 91.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 91.8% | 61 |
| Baylor | 91.0% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 91.7% | 62 |
| Pepperdine | 86.8% | 1.1% | 3.4% | 91.4% | 63 |
| Temple | 89.5% | 1.7% | 0.0% | 91.2% | 64 |
| Samford | 86.9% | 0.0% | 4.1% | 91.0% | 65 |
| Marquette | 89.9% | 0.0% | 1.1% | 91.0% | 66 |
| South Carolina | 89.4% | 0.0% | 1.5% | 91.0% | 67 |
| Missouri-Kansas City | 88.4% | 1.7% | 0.8% | 90.9% | 68 |
| Northeastern | 90.3% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 90.9% | 69 |
| Connecticut | 90.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 90.7% | 70 |
| Chapman | 90.0% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 90.7% | 71 |
| Loyola-L.A. | 88.6% | 1.5% | 0.3% | 90.4% | 72 |
| Maine | 84.9% | 0.0% | 5.5% | 90.4% | 73 |
| Cleveland State | 89.4% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 90.2% | 74 |
| UC-Irvine | 82.4% | 4.2% | 3.5% | 90.1% | 75 |
| Missouri-Columbia | 86.8% | 1.1% | 2.2% | 90.1% | 76 |
| George Washington | 87.7% | 0.7% | 1.6% | 90.0% | 77 |
| Texas Tech | 87.4% | 0.0% | 2.4% | 89.8% | 78 |
| Regent | 89.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 89.7% | 79 |
| University of Arizona | 88.3% | 0.0% | 1.4% | 89.7% | 80 |
| West Virginia | 87.7% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 89.6% | 81 |
| Stetson | 88.5% | 0.0% | 1.1% | 89.6% | 82 |
| St. Thomas (MN) | 88.3% | 1.2% | 0.0% | 89.6% | 83 |
| Georgia State | 88.2% | 0.0% | 1.4% | 89.5% | 84 |
| University of Washington | 86.9% | 0.7% | 2.0% | 89.5% | 85 |
| Tennessee | 88.3% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 89.2% | 86 |
| St. Louis | 89.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 89.1% | 87 |
| Emory | 88.2% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 89.0% | 88 |
| Richmond | 88.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 88.9% | 89 |
| Hofstra | 88.4% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 88.8% | 90 |
| Detroit Mercy | 87.3% | 0.0% | 1.1% | 88.4% | 91 |
| Tulane | 86.2% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 88.4% | 91 |
| Duquesne | 87.6% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 88.4% | 93 |
| Belmont | 86.7% | 0.0% | 1.7% | 88.3% | 94 |
| Seton Hall | 87.8% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 88.3% | 95 |
| Lewis & Clark | 86.4% | 1.7% | 0.0% | 88.1% | 96 |
| Rutgers | 87.5% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 87.8% | 97 |
| Ave Maria | 87.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 87.7% | 98 |
| Mercer | 82.5% | 0.0% | 5.0% | 87.5% | 99 |
| Louisiana State | 86.4% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 87.4% | 100 |
| Suffolk | 87.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 87.3% | 101 |
| Pittsburgh | 85.6% | 0.0% | 1.6% | 87.2% | 102 |
| Denver | 86.3% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 87.1% | 103 |
| Maryland | 86.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 87.0% | 104 |
| BYU | 84.3% | 2.5% | 0.0% | 86.8% | 105 |
| Pace | 86.2% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 86.7% | 106 |
| Albany | 86.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 86.6% | 107 |
| Mississippi | 85.9% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 86.6% | 108 |
| Houston | 86.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 86.3% | 109 |
| Florida Int'l | 86.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 86.2% | 110 |
| New York Law School | 84.0% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 85.9% | 111 |
| UC-San Francisco | 81.9% | 3.2% | 0.6% | 85.8% | 112 |
| Brooklyn | 84.8% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 85.7% | 113 |
| SUNY-Buffalo | 85.0% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 85.7% | 113 |
| Montana | 84.1% | 0.0% | 1.2% | 85.4% | 115 |
| Indiana (McKinney) | 84.9% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 85.3% | 116 |
| New Hampshire | 85.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 85.1% | 117 |
| Akron | 85.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 85.0% | 118 |
| Tulsa | 84.1% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 85.0% | 118 |
| Oregon | 84.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 84.9% | 120 |
| Northern Illinois | 83.7% | 1.0% | 0.0% | 84.6% | 121 |
| Seattle | 82.0% | 0.0% | 2.4% | 84.4% | 122 |
| Loyola-Chicago | 84.0% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 84.4% | 123 |
| Wyoming | 81.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 84.3% | 124 |
| Chicago-Kent | 83.4% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 84.3% | 125 |
| Loyola-New Orleans | 82.9% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 84.2% | 126 |
| Miami | 82.2% | 0.3% | 1.3% | 83.8% | 127 |
| Willamette | 82.7% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 83.7% | 128 |
| Massachusetts | 83.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 83.3% | 129 |
| Michigan State | 80.2% | 0.0% | 3.1% | 83.3% | 130 |
| American | 80.4% | 0.0% | 2.8% | 83.2% | 131 |
| South Dakota | 81.9% | 0.0% | 1.2% | 83.1% | 132 |
| Howard | 82.5% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 83.1% | 133 |
| South Texas | 80.7% | 0.0% | 2.4% | 83.1% | 134 |
| Elon | 82.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 82.7% | 135 |
| Washburn | 82.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 82.1% | 136 |
| Southern Illinois | 79.5% | 0.0% | 2.6% | 82.1% | 137 |
| DePaul | 80.4% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 81.0% | 138 |
| Arkansas-Little Rock | 80.1% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 80.8% | 139 |
| New Mexico | 76.9% | 2.6% | 1.3% | 80.8% | 140 |
| Hawaii | 75.2% | 0.0% | 4.8% | 80.0% | 141 |
| Idaho | 78.6% | 0.0% | 1.2% | 79.8% | 142 |
| Lincoln Memorial | 79.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 79.8% | 142 |
| Campbell | 79.0% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 79.6% | 144 |
| Case Western | 79.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 79.1% | 145 |
| Baltimore | 79.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 79.0% | 146 |
| Oklahoma City | 78.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 78.9% | 147 |
| Quinnipiac | 78.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 78.7% | 148 |
| Ohio Northern | 78.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 78.6% | 149 |
| Toledo | 76.3% | 0.0% | 2.2% | 78.5% | 150 |
| St. Thomas (FL) | 72.8% | 0.0% | 5.6% | 78.5% | 151 |
| Northern Kentucky | 78.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 78.4% | 152 |
| Creighton | 75.4% | 0.0% | 2.6% | 78.1% | 153 |
| Southwestern | 75.9% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 77.6% | 154 |
| Appalachian | 75.0% | 0.0% | 2.5% | 77.5% | 155 |
| Mississippi College | 74.5% | 0.0% | 2.8% | 77.4% | 156 |
| St. Mary's | 76.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 76.8% | 157 |
| Gonzaga | 75.4% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 76.2% | 158 |
| Western New England | 75.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 75.9% | 159 |
| Syracuse | 73.6% | 0.0% | 1.5% | 75.1% | 160 |
| Illinois-Chicago | 74.2% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 74.6% | 161 |
| Roger Williams | 70.4% | 0.7% | 3.3% | 74.3% | 162 |
| New England | 72.4% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 74.2% | 163 |
| Touro | 74.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 74.1% | 164 |
| Memphis | 71.9% | 0.0% | 1.7% | 73.6% | 165 |
| Widener (PA) | 71.4% | 0.0% | 2.0% | 73.5% | 166 |
| CUNY | 71.8% | 1.1% | 0.0% | 72.9% | 167 |
| Arkansas-Fayetteville | 67.3% | 0.0% | 5.5% | 72.7% | 168 |
| North Dakota | 72.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 72.5% | 169 |
| Liberty | 69.6% | 0.0% | 2.9% | 72.5% | 170 |
| Charleston | 71.1% | 0.0% | 1.2% | 72.3% | 171 |
| Louisville | 71.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 71.7% | 172 |
| Vermont | 69.7% | 0.0% | 1.9% | 71.6% | 173 |
| Santa Clara | 69.5% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 69.9% | 174 |
| District of Columbia | 61.9% | 6.3% | 1.6% | 69.8% | 175 |
| Widener (DE) | 69.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 69.1% | 176 |
| Cal-Western | 67.2% | 0.0% | 1.3% | 68.5% | 177 |
| Mitchell | Hamline | 67.3% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 68.2% | 178 |
| John Marshall (GA) | 67.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 67.9% | 179 |
| San Francisco | 66.9% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 67.7% | 180 |
| Western State | 67.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 67.4% | 181 |
| North Texas | 67.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 67.0% | 182 |
| Barry | 65.7% | 0.0% | 1.1% | 66.9% | 183 |
| Pacific | 66.0% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 66.7% | 184 |
| Faulkner | 66.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 66.0% | 185 |
| Florida A&M | 62.7% | 0.6% | 2.5% | 65.8% | 186 |
| Nova | 62.0% | 0.0% | 2.4% | 64.5% | 187 |
| Cooley | 62.5% | 0.0% | 1.4% | 63.9% | 188 |
| North Carolina Central | 62.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 62.3% | 189 |
| Capital | 61.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 61.9% | 190 |
| Golden Gate | 59.3% | 0.0% | 1.7% | 61.0% | 191 |
| Texas Southern | 59.1% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 61.0% | 192 |
| Southern | 57.8% | 0.0% | 2.0% | 59.8% | 193 |
| Puerto Rico | 50.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 50.7% | 194 |
| Inter-American (PR) | 41.3% | 0.0% | 2.1% | 43.4% | 195 |
| Pontifical Catholic (PR) | 17.5% | 0.0% | 3.9% | 21.4% | 196 |
Z-score ranking:
| School | Employment Rate | Z-score | Z-score Rank |
| Texas A&M | 99.4% | 1.29 | 1 |
| Virginia | 99.1% | 1.26 | 2 |
| Duke | 99.1% | 1.26 | 3 |
| Yale | 98.6% | 1.22 | 4 |
| Northwestern | 98.5% | 1.21 | 5 |
| Penn | 98.5% | 1.21 | 6 |
| Columbia | 98.3% | 1.19 | 7 |
| North Carolina | 97.9% | 1.16 | 8 |
| Washington Univ. | 97.8% | 1.15 | 9 |
| SMU | 97.8% | 1.15 | 10 |
| Chicago | 97.7% | 1.14 | 11 |
| Wake Forest | 97.5% | 1.12 | 12 |
| Iowa | 97.5% | 1.12 | 13 |
| NYU | 97.5% | 1.12 | 14 |
| Georgia | 97.4% | 1.11 | 15 |
| UCLA | 97.0% | 1.08 | 16 |
| Minnesota | 97.0% | 1.08 | 17 |
| Michigan | 96.9% | 1.07 | 18 |
| Notre Dame | 96.7% | 1.05 | 19 |
| Alabama | 96.2% | 1.01 | 20 |
| Utah | 96.2% | 1.01 | 21 |
| Georgetown | 96.1% | 1.00 | 22 |
| Florida State | 95.8% | 0.97 | 23 |
| Florida | 95.4% | 0.93 | 24 |
| Kentucky | 95.3% | 0.93 | 25 |
| Harvard | 95.3% | 0.92 | 26 |
| Stanford | 95.2% | 0.92 | 27 |
| George Mason | 95.2% | 0.92 | 28 |
| Texas | 95.2% | 0.91 | 29 |
| UC-Berkeley | 95.0% | 0.90 | 30 |
| Drexel | 94.9% | 0.89 | 31 |
| Washington & Lee | 94.9% | 0.89 | 32 |
| Boston Univ. | 94.4% | 0.85 | 33 |
| Vanderbilt | 94.4% | 0.84 | 34 |
| Indiana (Maurer) | 94.3% | 0.84 | 35 |
| Wisconsin | 94.2% | 0.83 | 36 |
| Boston College | 94.2% | 0.83 | 37 |
| Ohio State | 94.1% | 0.82 | 38 |
| UNLV | 94.1% | 0.82 | 39 |
| Penn State-Univ. Park | 94.1% | 0.82 | 40 |
| Cornell | 94.1% | 0.82 | 41 |
| Colorado | 94.0% | 0.81 | 42 |
| Kansas | 93.9% | 0.81 | 43 |
| Penn State-Dickinson | 93.9% | 0.80 | 44 |
| USC | 93.9% | 0.80 | 45 |
| Illinois | 93.8% | 0.79 | 46 |
| Nebraska | 93.5% | 0.77 | 47 |
| UC-Davis | 93.5% | 0.77 | 48 |
| Fordham | 93.5% | 0.77 | 49 |
| Oklahoma | 92.8% | 0.71 | 50 |
| Arizona State | 92.7% | 0.70 | 51 |
| Wayne State | 92.7% | 0.69 | 52 |
| Drake | 92.7% | 0.69 | 53 |
| Villanova | 92.4% | 0.67 | 54 |
| St. John's | 92.4% | 0.67 | 55 |
| Cardozo | 92.3% | 0.66 | 56 |
| Cincinnati | 92.3% | 0.66 | 57 |
| San Diego | 92.2% | 0.66 | 58 |
| William & Mary | 92.0% | 0.63 | 59 |
| Dayton | 91.9% | 0.62 | 60 |
| Catholic | 91.8% | 0.62 | 61 |
| Baylor | 91.7% | 0.61 | 62 |
| Pepperdine | 91.4% | 0.58 | 63 |
| Temple | 91.2% | 0.56 | 64 |
| Samford | 91.0% | 0.55 | 65 |
| Marquette | 91.0% | 0.54 | 66 |
| South Carolina | 91.0% | 0.54 | 67 |
| Missouri-Kansas City | 90.9% | 0.54 | 68 |
| Northeastern | 90.9% | 0.53 | 69 |
| Connecticut | 90.7% | 0.52 | 70 |
| Chapman | 90.7% | 0.52 | 71 |
| Loyola-L.A. | 90.4% | 0.49 | 72 |
| Maine | 90.4% | 0.49 | 73 |
| Cleveland State | 90.2% | 0.47 | 74 |
| UC-Irvine | 90.1% | 0.47 | 75 |
| Missouri-Columbia | 90.1% | 0.47 | 76 |
| George Washington | 90.0% | 0.46 | 77 |
| Texas Tech | 89.8% | 0.44 | 78 |
| Regent | 89.7% | 0.43 | 79 |
| University of Arizona | 89.7% | 0.43 | 80 |
| West Virginia | 89.6% | 0.42 | 81 |
| Stetson | 89.6% | 0.42 | 82 |
| St. Thomas (MN) | 89.6% | 0.42 | 83 |
| Georgia State | 89.5% | 0.42 | 84 |
| Univ. of Washington | 89.5% | 0.42 | 85 |
| Tennessee | 89.2% | 0.38 | 86 |
| St. Louis | 89.1% | 0.37 | 87 |
| Emory | 89.0% | 0.37 | 88 |
| Richmond | 88.9% | 0.36 | 89 |
| Hofstra | 88.8% | 0.35 | 90 |
| Detroit Mercy | 88.4% | 0.31 | 91 |
| Tulane | 88.4% | 0.31 | 91 |
| Duquesne | 88.4% | 0.31 | 93 |
| Belmont | 88.3% | 0.31 | 94 |
| Seton Hall | 88.3% | 0.31 | 95 |
| Lewis & Clark | 88.1% | 0.29 | 96 |
| Rutgers | 87.8% | 0.26 | 97 |
| Ave Maria | 87.7% | 0.25 | 98 |
| Mercer | 87.5% | 0.24 | 99 |
| Louisiana State | 87.4% | 0.23 | 100 |
| Suffolk | 87.3% | 0.22 | 101 |
| Pittsburgh | 87.2% | 0.21 | 102 |
| Denver | 87.1% | 0.20 | 103 |
| Maryland | 87.0% | 0.19 | 104 |
| BYU | 86.8% | 0.17 | 105 |
| Pace | 86.7% | 0.16 | 106 |
| Albany | 86.6% | 0.15 | 107 |
| Mississippi | 86.6% | 0.15 | 108 |
| Houston | 86.3% | 0.13 | 109 |
| Florida Int'l | 86.2% | 0.12 | 110 |
| New York Law School | 85.9% | 0.09 | 111 |
| UC-San Francisco | 85.8% | 0.08 | 112 |
| Brooklyn | 85.7% | 0.08 | 113 |
| SUNY-Buffalo | 85.7% | 0.08 | 113 |
| Montana | 85.4% | 0.05 | 115 |
| Indiana (McKinney) | 85.3% | 0.04 | 116 |
| New Hampshire | 85.1% | 0.03 | 117 |
| Akron | 85.0% | 0.02 | 118 |
| Tulsa | 85.0% | 0.02 | 118 |
| Oregon | 84.9% | 0.00 | 120 |
| Northern Illinois | 84.6% | -0.02 | 121 |
| Seattle | 84.4% | -0.04 | 122 |
| Loyola-Chicago | 84.4% | -0.04 | 123 |
| Wyoming | 84.3% | -0.05 | 124 |
| Chicago-Kent | 84.3% | -0.05 | 125 |
| Loyola-New Orleans | 84.2% | -0.06 | 126 |
| Miami | 83.8% | -0.10 | 127 |
| Willamette | 83.7% | -0.10 | 128 |
| Massachusetts | 83.3% | -0.13 | 129 |
| Michigan State | 83.3% | -0.14 | 130 |
| American | 83.2% | -0.15 | 131 |
| South Dakota | 83.1% | -0.15 | 132 |
| Howard | 83.1% | -0.15 | 133 |
| South Texas | 83.1% | -0.15 | 134 |
| Elon | 82.7% | -0.19 | 135 |
| Washburn | 82.1% | -0.24 | 136 |
| Southern Illinois | 82.1% | -0.25 | 137 |
| DePaul | 81.0% | -0.34 | 138 |
| Arkansas-Little Rock | 80.8% | -0.36 | 139 |
| New Mexico | 80.8% | -0.36 | 140 |
| Hawaii | 80.0% | -0.43 | 141 |
| Idaho | 79.8% | -0.45 | 142 |
| Lincoln Memorial | 79.8% | -0.45 | 142 |
| Campbell | 79.6% | -0.46 | 144 |
| Case Western | 79.1% | -0.51 | 145 |
| Baltimore | 79.0% | -0.52 | 146 |
| Oklahoma City | 78.9% | -0.52 | 147 |
| Quinnipiac | 78.7% | -0.54 | 148 |
| Ohio Northern | 78.6% | -0.56 | 149 |
| Toledo | 78.5% | -0.56 | 150 |
| St. Thomas (FL) | 78.5% | -0.57 | 151 |
| Northern Kentucky | 78.4% | -0.57 | 152 |
| Creighton | 78.1% | -0.60 | 153 |
| Southwestern | 77.6% | -0.64 | 154 |
| Appalachian | 77.5% | -0.65 | 155 |
| Mississippi College | 77.4% | -0.66 | 156 |
| St. Mary's | 76.8% | -0.71 | 157 |
| Gonzaga | 76.2% | -0.77 | 158 |
| Western New England | 75.9% | -0.79 | 159 |
| Syracuse | 75.1% | -0.86 | 160 |
| Illinois-Chicago | 74.6% | -0.91 | 161 |
| Roger Williams | 74.3% | -0.93 | 162 |
| New England | 74.2% | -0.94 | 163 |
| Touro | 74.1% | -0.96 | 164 |
| Memphis | 73.6% | -1.00 | 165 |
| Widener (PA) | 73.5% | -1.01 | 166 |
| CUNY | 72.9% | -1.06 | 167 |
| Arkansas-Fayetteville | 72.7% | -1.07 | 168 |
| North Dakota | 72.5% | -1.09 | 169 |
| Liberty | 72.5% | -1.10 | 170 |
| Charleston | 72.3% | -1.11 | 171 |
| Louisville | 71.7% | -1.16 | 172 |
| Vermont | 71.6% | -1.17 | 173 |
| Santa Clara | 69.9% | -1.32 | 174 |
| District of Columbia | 69.8% | -1.33 | 175 |
| Widener (DE) | 69.1% | -1.39 | 176 |
| Cal-Western | 68.5% | -1.45 | 177 |
| Mitchell | Hamline | 68.2% | -1.48 | 178 |
| John Marshall (GA) | 67.9% | -1.50 | 179 |
| San Francisco | 67.7% | -1.52 | 180 |
| Western State | 67.4% | -1.54 | 181 |
| North Texas | 67.0% | -1.58 | 182 |
| Barry | 66.9% | -1.59 | 183 |
| Pacific | 66.7% | -1.61 | 184 |
| Faulkner | 66.0% | -1.67 | 185 |
| Florida A&M | 65.8% | -1.68 | 186 |
| Nova | 64.5% | -1.81 | 187 |
| Cooley | 63.9% | -1.85 | 188 |
| North Carolina Central | 62.3% | -2.00 | 189 |
| Capital | 61.9% | -2.03 | 190 |
| Golden Gate | 61.0% | -2.11 | 191 |
| Texas Southern | 61.0% | -2.11 | 192 |
| Southern | 59.8% | -2.22 | 193 |
| Puerto Rico | 50.7% | -3.03 | 194 |
| Inter-American (PR) | 43.4% | -3.67 | 195 |
| Pontifical Catholic (PR) | 21.4% | -5.62 | 196 |
For the Z-scores used to calculate this ranking, see here.
In recent years, enhanced ABA reporting rules have led to more information becoming available from law schools about the many types of positions law students take after they graduate. Each year, schools are required to report to the ABA how many of their most recent graduates had various types of jobs lined up after graduation.
As in previous years, the ABA mandated that schools report law school and university positions separately from all other nonuniversity-funded positions to make the difference between the two types of jobs very clear. U.S. News continued to use this standard for data collection for the class of 2021 for 10 months after graduation, which is the ABA-required time frame. The ABA chose that 10-month time frame in order to provide enough time for J.D. graduates to take the bar exam in the state of their choosing, get results and look for a job.
These ABA standards require law schools to go into great detail by reporting 45 different job types, as well as employment -status and duration. That includes, for example, whether each graduate's employment was long term – defined as lasting at least a year – or short term, whether it was full or part time, and whether it required passage of a bar exam.
U.S. News collected these same statistics when schools were surveyed for the annual rankings and gathered the same data on members of the class who were employed 10 months after graduation. U.S. News also collected data on students' jobs when the law school was unable to determine length of employment or full- or part-time status, as well as when employment status was unknown.
U.S. News incorporated this rich 10 months after graduation data into its computation of the employment measure for the class of 2021 at 10 months after graduation. Placement success was calculated by assigning various weights to the number of graduates employed in 45 of these different types of post-J.D. jobs, employment statuses and durations.
Full weight was given for graduates who had these types of jobs. The 100% weighted jobs were those who had a full-time job that lasted at least a year and for which bar passage was required, or a full-time job that lasted at least a year where a J.D. degree was an advantage.
New this year, we also give full weight to school-funded full-time, long-term fellowships where bar passage is required or where the J.D. degree is an advantage. We also now give full weight to those enrolled in graduate studies in the ABA employment outcomes grid.
Less weight went to full-time, long-term jobs that were professional or nonprofessional and did not require bar passage and to positions whose start dates were deferred. The lowest weight applied to jobs categorized as both part-time and short-term and those jobs for which a law school was unable to determine length of employment or whether they were full time.
In terms of all law school and university positions, U.S. News continues to apply a discount for some law school-funded jobs which aren’t fully weighted in our rankings calculations.
All these weighted employment figures were divided by the total number of 2021 J.D. graduates. They were used in the ranking formula only and are not published.
Actual rates for the other types of positions of each school's latest graduating class appear in the profiles.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2024/03/preview-of-the-2024-2025-us-news-law-school-rankings-employment.html
