The long-anticipated 2025 U.S. News rankings have been released! And a whole generation of law applicants is wondering how important they are.
While the rankings remain the most significant indicator of how legal professionals view each law school, it’s only one of the many factors that should impact your law school decision. In this blog, we’ll discuss how the rankings are calculated, how much they matter, and what else you should consider when choosing a law school.
Ranking Methodology
The highly controversial U.S. News ranking methodology has caused many high-profile law schools to refuse to hand over information. In response, U.S. News was forced to switch its methodology since it could no longer rely on data from these schools (but still wanted to rank them).
The new method only uses information that law schools are legally required to disclose. And as you can see, it puts more of an emphasis on job outcomes and assessments from legal professionals than on the school’s expenditures, scores, and selectivity.
U.S. News determines the rankings by 10 factors, each making up a certain percentage of the calculation.
- Job Outcomes 10 Months after Graduation (33%)
- Bar Passage Rate for First-Time Test-Takers (18%)
- Assessment by Other Law Schools (12.5%)
- Assessment by Lawyers and Judges (12.5%)
- Ultimate Bar Passage Rate (7%)
- Student Faculty Ratio (5%)
- Average LSAT (or GRE) Score (5%)
- Average Undergraduate GPA (4%)
- Student Librarian Ratio (2%)
- Acceptance Rate (1%)
Movers and Shakers
As in most years, there are some significant changes in the 2025 law school rankings that you should be aware of as you send out applications.
U.S. News is handing out T14 rankings like your kindergarten teacher handing out participation trophies. WashU, Vanderbilt, and UT Austin all joined Georgetown for a four-way tie at spot 14. This is significant as you now have three more options to get into that coveted top 14.
Here are some significant changes in the rankings:
| Law School | 2024 Rank | 2025 Rank | Point Change |
| Harvard | 4 | 6 | -2 |
| Duke | 4 | 6 | -2 |
| Columbia | 8 | 10 | -2 |
| WashU | 16 | 14 | +2 |
| Vanderbilt | 19 | 14 | +5 |
| UT Austin | 16 | 14 | +2 |
| Cornell | 14 | 18 | -4 |
| University of Wisconsin, Madison | 36 | 28 | +8 |
| George Washington University | 41 | 31 | +10 |
| Florida State University | 48 | 38 | +10 |
| University of Florida, Levin | 28 | 38 | -10 |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 36 | 48 | -12 |
| Penn State Dickson | 75 | 59 | +16 |
| Catholic University of America | 94 | 71 | +23 |
| University of Maine | 120 | 88 | +32 |
| University of Hawaii, Manoa | 127 | 99 | +28 |
| University of New Hampshire | 98 | 125 | -27 |
Only one school, Cornell Law, dropped out of the top 14 this year. Harvard Law and Duke Law both dropped to tie for 6. Columbia Law dropped to 10. We are seeing a continual shift downward of the old guard like Harvard, Columbia, and Cornell, and a climb for non-traditional top 14 schools like UCLA Law, WashU Law, and Vanderbilt Law.
Who Even Cares About the Rankings?
A study last year by two law professors concluded that law school applicants don’t care that much about rankings.
Rankings are, in large part, based on job outcomes and assessment of legal professionals. So while perhaps they could be done better, they do offer a reasonable window into how the people who hire you will see your degree.
Another group that cares is law schools themselves. The rankings push law schools to put funding towards things that help their ranking. This could be a positive, if you care about student-faculty ratio, for instance, or a negative if something that is not on the list is important for you (like funding for legal clinics).
But the crucial question is not whether applicants care, but whether applicants should care.
Should Applicants Care About Law School Rankings?
Short answer, yes. While U.S. News is not perfect by any means, they remain the most used ranking system in the country. The rankings are largely based on job results and assessment of legal professionals (y’know, the people who are going to hire you).
While the difference between spots 6 and 10 or between 15 and 22 may not matter that much, a difference between 35 and 14 certainly does.
Still, Law School Rankings Aren’t The End-All-Be-All
Although a higher rank has its advantages, too much emphasis is often placed on it (looking at you, Reddit). If you have a family commitment or you just love a certain city, location can end up being more important than any ranking. Also, attending a law school in the area you want to practice might be more valuable for employment than a significantly higher-ranked school in a totally different area of the country.
Additionally, different schools have different focuses. For example, the University of Florida Levin College of Law ranked 38th this year overall, but its tax law program ranked 2nd in the country. I highly recommend looking at the U.S. News law school program rankings to see which schools excel in the areas you want to practice.
Another reason not to prioritize rankings over everything else is that the amount of money you spend on law school matters, A LOT. Going to law school with minimal or no debt gives you the freedom to practice any type of law you want. So, think long and hard before you choose to attend a slightly higher-ranked law school for more money. Make sure to send some applications to lower-ranked schools where you are more likely to get big law school scholarships.
Also, the U.S. News ranking is not the only game in town! Maybe you don’t care very much about the ratio of librarians to students (said no one ever). However, there are other rankings that don’t take this into consideration.
For example, Above the Law’s rankings are based 80% on job outcomes. You could also use “MyRank” which lets you create your own custom rankings based on the factors that YOU find valuable.
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What Should You Do?
First, take rankings into account, but don’t get too stressed about a 10-spot or less difference. Second, check several different rankings to see where your law school of choice lines up, not just U.S. News. Third, check 509 ABA disclosures to look at the raw data that is used to come up with the rankings.
The bottom line: a high ranking? Yeah, that’s great, but it’s not everything. The difference between a half dozen spots is not worth going to a law school that isn’t a good fit for you.
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Further Reading
🎓 How to Choose a Law School: Choosing the right law school is a crucial decision. With hundreds of options available, it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. However, with proper research and consideration, you can find the perfect law school that aligns with your academic goals and career aspirations.
🤔 To Transfer Law Schools or Not To Transfer? That Is the Question: What if you didn’t get accepted to your dream law school, went to another law school, and then just transferred to your dream school after 1L? This thought crosses many future law students’ minds at one point or another, but before you make this your Plan B, read this.
