Prospective law students, current law students, and law school alumni have seen the historic 2026 edition of the U.S. News Law School Rankings, and they’re wondering what could possibly happen next. As a quick recap, Yale was kicked out of the top spot for the first time ever, sharing second place with Chicago; Stanford found itself as the new #1; Harvard remained outside of the Top 5; and we saw a 15-school T14, complete with ties upon ties. Will Yale be able to reclaim its place in the sun? When will the rankings madness end?
We suppose we’ll have to wait and see… but what if we told you that we had an overall “projection” of next year’s rankings? Sounds great, right? Let us help you scratch that rankings itch.
The current U.S. News methodology uses ABA data for student outcomes, accounting for more than half (58%) of the rankings scheme. That data includes first-time bar passage (18%), ultimate bar passage (7%), and employment (33%). Dean Paul Caron of Pepperdine University School of Law has created a chart using that ABA data, as well as data from the current U.S. News ranking, for all other parts of his projection (admissions (10%): median LSAT (5%), median UGPA (4%), acceptance rate (1%); resources (7%): student-faculty ratio (5%); student-librarian ratio (2%); and quality assessment (25%: dean/faculty (12.5%) and lawyer/judge (12.5%)). Which schools come out on top using this data?
Here are the Top 14 schools, using Caron’s components — and he urges readers to “take these rankings with a grain of salt,” as 42% of the data is subject to change. We heard you like ties, so this version of the top of the U.S. News rankings has even MORE ties:
| School | Projected 2027-2028 Rank |
Current 2026-2027 Rank |
Difference |
| Chicago | 1 | 2 | +1 |
| Stanford | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Yale | 3 | 2 | -1 |
| Duke | 4 | 7 | +3 |
| Harvard | 4 | 6 | +2 |
| NYU | 4 | 7 | +3 |
| Penn | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Virginia | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Columbia | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Cornell | 9 | 13 | +4 |
| Michigan | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| UC-Berkeley | 9 | 16 | +7 |
| Northwestern | 13 | 9 | -4 |
| Texas | 13 | 16 | +3 |
| Vanderbilt | 13 | 12 | -1 |
Down goes Yale, again! The elite school has been cast down to third place in this version of the rankings. Stanford is now tied at No. 1 with Chicago. But, perhaps on the plus side, Yale is the only school here that gets its very own rank. On top of all of that interesting news, say hello to not-the-T14, but the T13, now with 15 schools. Guess who’s back? Back again? It’s Texas, but UCLA is out, as is Wash U. We have a feeling that U.S. News might just like what it sees here….
Click here to see the full rankings at TaxProf Blog.
We’ll check back in sometime next spring to see how close to reality these partial rankings are. In the meantime, check out the Above the Law Top 50 Law School Rankings for a better, outcome-based methodology.
Projected 2027-28 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Overall [TaxProf Blog]
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
The post A ‘Projection’ Of The 2027 U.S. News Law School Rankings appeared first on Above the Law.
Prospective law students, current law students, and law school alumni have seen the historic 2026 edition of the U.S. News Law School Rankings, and they’re wondering what could possibly happen next. As a quick recap, Yale was kicked out of the top spot for the first time ever, sharing second place with Chicago; Stanford found itself as the new #1; Harvard remained outside of the Top 5; and we saw a 15-school T14, complete with ties upon ties. Will Yale be able to reclaim its place in the sun? When will the rankings madness end?
We suppose we’ll have to wait and see… but what if we told you that we had an overall “projection” of next year’s rankings? Sounds great, right? Let us help you scratch that rankings itch.
The current U.S. News methodology uses ABA data for student outcomes, accounting for more than half (58%) of the rankings scheme. That data includes first-time bar passage (18%), ultimate bar passage (7%), and employment (33%). Dean Paul Caron of Pepperdine University School of Law has created a chart using that ABA data, as well as data from the current U.S. News ranking, for all other parts of his projection (admissions (10%): median LSAT (5%), median UGPA (4%), acceptance rate (1%); resources (7%): student-faculty ratio (5%); student-librarian ratio (2%); and quality assessment (25%: dean/faculty (12.5%) and lawyer/judge (12.5%)). Which schools come out on top using this data?
Here are the Top 14 schools, using Caron’s components — and he urges readers to “take these rankings with a grain of salt,” as 42% of the data is subject to change. We heard you like ties, so this version of the top of the U.S. News rankings has even MORE ties:
| School | Projected 2027-2028 Rank |
Current 2026-2027 Rank |
Difference |
| Chicago | 1 | 2 | +1 |
| Stanford | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Yale | 3 | 2 | -1 |
| Duke | 4 | 7 | +3 |
| Harvard | 4 | 6 | +2 |
| NYU | 4 | 7 | +3 |
| Penn | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Virginia | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Columbia | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Cornell | 9 | 13 | +4 |
| Michigan | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| UC-Berkeley | 9 | 16 | +7 |
| Northwestern | 13 | 9 | -4 |
| Texas | 13 | 16 | +3 |
| Vanderbilt | 13 | 12 | -1 |
Down goes Yale, again! The elite school has been cast down to third place in this version of the rankings. Stanford is now tied at No. 1 with Chicago. But, perhaps on the plus side, Yale is the only school here that gets its very own rank. On top of all of that interesting news, say hello to not-the-T14, but the T13, now with 15 schools. Guess who’s back? Back again? It’s Texas, but UCLA is out, as is Wash U. We have a feeling that U.S. News might just like what it sees here….
Click here to see the full rankings at TaxProf Blog.
We’ll check back in sometime next spring to see how close to reality these partial rankings are. In the meantime, check out the Above the Law Top 50 Law School Rankings for a better, outcome-based methodology.
Projected 2027-28 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Overall [TaxProf Blog]
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
The post A ‘Projection’ Of The 2027 U.S. News Law School Rankings appeared first on Above the Law.
