Methodology: Law School Rankings

The rankings of 195 law schools fully accredited by the American Bar Association are based on a weighted average of the 12 measures of quality described here. Data were collected in fall 2011 and early 2012. Specialty rankings are based solely on nominations by legal educators at peer institutions.

[See the Best Law Schools rankings.]

Quality assessment (weighted by 0.40)

Peer assessment score (0.25): In the fall of 2011, law school deans, deans of academic affairs, chairs of faculty appointments, and the most recently tenured faculty members were asked to rate programs on a scale from marginal (1) to outstanding (5). Those individuals who did not know enough about a school to evaluate it fairly were asked to mark "don't know." A school's score is the average of all the respondents who rated it. Responses of "don't know" counted neither for nor against a school. About 63 percent of those surveyed responded.

Assessment score by lawyers/judges (0.15): In the fall of 2011, legal professionals, including the hiring partners of law firms, state attorneys general, and selected federal and state judges, were asked to rate programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Those individuals who did not know enough about a school to evaluate it fairly were asked to mark "don't know." A school's score is the average of all the respondents who rated it. Responses of "don't know" counted neither for nor against a school.

In the fall 2011 lawyer and judge survey, U.S. News for the second year in a row surveyed 750 hiring partners and recruiters at law firms who made the 2011 Best Law Firms rankings produced jointly by U.S. News and the publication Best Lawyers. Their ratings are included in the lawyer and judge survey score. About 12 percent of those lawyers and judges surveyed responded. The two most recent years lawyers' and judges' surveys were averaged and are weighted by 0.15.

Selectivity (weighted by 0.25)

Median LSAT scores (0.125): The combined median scores on the Law School Admission Test of all full-time and part-time entrants to the J.D. program's 2011 entering class.

Median undergrad GPA (0.10): The combined median undergraduate grade-point average of all the full-time and part-time entrants to the J.D. program's 2011 entering class.

Acceptance rate (0.025): The combined proportion of applicants to both the full-time and part-time J.D. program who were accepted for the 2011 entering class.

For the Best Graduate Schools 2013 edition, U.S. News continued the same main law school rankings methodology that was used in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 editions for admissions data. We used the combined fall 2011 class admissions data for both full-time and part-time entering students for the median LSAT scores, median undergraduate grade-point averages, and the acceptance rate in calculating the school's overall ranking.

Placement success (weighted by 0.20): There is currently much controversy over the veracity of some schools' placement data. Each year, schools report to the American Bar Association how many of their most recent grads had jobs lined up nine months after graduation. U.S. News collects this nine-month data—as well as information on how many from the class were employed at graduation—when we survey the schools for our annual rankings.

The ABA will start requiring more detailed jobs placement data for the 2011 graduating class that will require law schools to reveal such key stats as how many graduates had jobs that are full time or part time, short term or long term, and that actually require the J.D. degree. U.S. News plans to incorporate this more granular data into our methodology for future rankings.

Employment rates for graduates: The employment rates for the 2010 graduating class determine success in this category. Employment rates are measured at graduation (0.04 weight) and nine months after graduation (0.14 weight). For the second consecutive year, we have used the exact same formula to calculate the new J.D. employment rates used in the law school rankings in an effort to publish employment data that is somewhat more reflective of the current job market for new J.D. graduates. For the second year in row, both the at graduation and nine months after employment rates are figured solely based on the number of grads working at that point in time full or part time in a legal or non-legal job divided by the total number of J.D. graduates.