US News Law School Rankings 2023-2024: Controversy, Changes, and Top Schools
The US News Law School rankings for 2023-2024 have caused quite a stir in the legal education world. The rankings were delayed due to law schools refusing to provide details on their ranking methodology, with Yale’s Dean Heather Gerken calling them “profoundly flawed.” This led to several law schools withdrawing from the rankings altogether.
Influential legal blogger David Lat suggested using data from the American Bar Association instead. The ‘HYS’ triumvirate of Harvard, Yale, and Stanford continued to dominate the rankings, but a major screw-up by US News resulted in Harvard dropping to number 5.
The revised ranking methodology now focuses more on student outcomes, with employment and bar passage rates carrying more weight. The top 50 law schools saw some reshuffling, with Duke making a significant jump to crack the top 10.
State law schools with strong regional networks and bar prep programs saw significant gains in the rankings, while some prestigious schools like Georgetown fell out of the top 14. The rankings also saw some big climbers and losers further down the list.
Overall, the new ranking methodology aims to provide more meaningful data for students and employers, reflecting a shift towards outcomes-based evaluation in legal education.
