Find the full story in our Fall 2016 preLaw magazine.
Four law schools shot up to the top 20 of The National Jurist’s annual best value ranking, and 12 private schools will be honored in this year’s annual Best Value law school ranking, which will be released in its entirety in the Fall edition of preLaw magazine.
The newcomers to the top 20 include The University of Idaho, which has a substantially reduced cost of living and increased employment; University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a lowered debt load and higher employment; and University of Tennessee and West Virginia University, which both have increased employment rates.
This year, the number of schools on the magazine’s list dropped from 64 to 58, but was up from the 53 on the list in 2014.
Employment, which accounts for 35 percent of the ranking, inched up. The average employment of the best value law schools increased from 79.4 percent to 80.3 percent. But all other factors worked in the opposite direction. Bar pass rates dropped slightly, and tuition and average debt increased by modest amounts.
Law schools new to the overall list include University of Wyoming, University of Colorado, George Mason University and UCLA Law.
Schools that fell off the list were: Michigan State University, Boston College, Southern Illinois University, UC – Irvine, UC Davis School of Law, Emory University School of Law, University of Illinois and Notre Dame Law School.
The National Jurist also used a true tuition figure to identify the best value private schools. It did this by subtracting the school’s estimated average scholarship from tuition. Twelve schools made the list of best value private law schools.
The annual rankings will be published in the Fall issue of preLaw magazine, and will include grades for each school.
Top 20 Best Value Law Schools 2016 (in alphabetical order)
Brigham Young University
Florida State University
Georgia State University
Louisiana State University
Ohio State University
University of Alabama
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
University of Florida Levin College of Law
University of Georgia
University of Idaho
University of Iowa
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky
University of Nebraska
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of New Mexico
University of South Dakota
University of Tennessee
University of Wisconsin
West Virginia University
Private law schools
Belmont University
Boston College
Boston University
Drake University
Drexel University Kline School of Law
Lincoln Memorial University
University of St. Thomas – Mn.
University of Tulsa
Vanderbilt Law School
Wake Forest University
Washington and Lee University
Washington University