{"id":118882,"date":"2025-05-13T10:02:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T18:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/13\/a-projection-of-the-2026-u-s-news-law-school-rankings\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T10:02:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T18:02:25","slug":"a-projection-of-the-2026-u-s-news-law-school-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/13\/a-projection-of-the-2026-u-s-news-law-school-rankings\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018Projection\u2019 Of The 2026 U.S. News Law School Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prospective law students, current law students, and law school alumni have seen the recently released edition of the 2025 U.S. News Law School Rankings, and they\u2019re wondering what could possibly happen next. With a tie for the most prestigious school in the nation and four schools tied at the bottom of the top to create a 17-school T14<\/a>, how many more ties can the legal profession possibly stand? Will any school ever be able to unseat Yale as #1? When will the rankings madness end?<\/p>\n

We suppose we\u2019ll have to wait and see\u2026 but what if we told you that we had an overall \u201cprojection\u201d of next year\u2019s rankings? Sounds great, right? Let us help you scratch that rankings itch.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>\u00a0(18%),\u00a0ultimate bar passage<\/a>\u00a0(7%), and\u00a0employment<\/a>\u00a0(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?<\/p>\n

Here are the Top 14 schools, using Caron\u2019s components \u2014 and he urges readers to \u201ctake these rankings with a grain of salt,\u201d 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:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
School<\/strong><\/td>\nProjected 2026-2027 Rank<\/strong><\/td>\nCurrent 2025-2026 Rank<\/strong><\/td>\nDifference<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chicago<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n+2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stanford<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Virginia<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Duke<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n+2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Penn<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yale<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n-3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Harvard<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n-1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michigan<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NYU<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Columbia<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Northwestern<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cornell<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n18<\/td>\n+6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Texas<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n+2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UC-Berkeley<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UCLA<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vanderbilt<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n+2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Down goes Yale! Of course, because this is U.S. News, Yale has been replaced at No. 1 with yet another tie between Chicago and Stanford. UVA 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 T12, now with 16 schools. Guess who\u2019s back? Back again? It\u2019s Cornell, but Wash U. is out, as is Georgetown. We have a feeling that U.S. News would like what it sees here.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to see the full rankings at TaxProf Blog.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll check back in sometime next spring to see how close to reality these partial rankings are. In the meantime, check out the\u00a0Above the Law Top 50 Law School Rankings<\/a>\u00a0for a better, outcome-based methodology.<\/p>\n

Projected 2026-27 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Overall<\/a> [TaxProf Blog]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post A \u2018Projection\u2019 Of The 2026 U.S. News Law School Rankings<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Prospective law students, current law students, and law school alumni have seen the recently released edition of the 2025 U.S. News Law School Rankings, and they\u2019re wondering what could possibly happen next. With a tie for the most prestigious school in the nation and four schools tied at the bottom of the top to create a 17-school T14<\/a>, how many more ties can the legal profession possibly stand? Will any school ever be able to unseat Yale as #1? When will the rankings madness end?<\/p>\n

We suppose we\u2019ll have to wait and see\u2026 but what if we told you that we had an overall \u201cprojection\u201d of next year\u2019s rankings? Sounds great, right? Let us help you scratch that rankings itch.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>\u00a0(18%),\u00a0ultimate bar passage<\/a>\u00a0(7%), and\u00a0employment<\/a>\u00a0(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?<\/p>\n

Here are the Top 14 schools, using Caron\u2019s components \u2014 and he urges readers to \u201ctake these rankings with a grain of salt,\u201d 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:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
School<\/strong><\/td>\nProjected 2026-2027 Rank<\/strong><\/td>\nCurrent 2025-2026 Rank<\/strong><\/td>\nDifference<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chicago<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n+2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stanford<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Virginia<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Duke<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n+2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Penn<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yale<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n-3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Harvard<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n-1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michigan<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NYU<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Columbia<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Northwestern<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cornell<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n18<\/td>\n+6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Texas<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n+2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UC-Berkeley<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n+1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UCLA<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vanderbilt<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n+2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Down goes Yale! Of course, because this is U.S. News, Yale has been replaced at No. 1 with yet another tie between Chicago and Stanford. UVA 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 T12, now with 16 schools. Guess who\u2019s back? Back again? It\u2019s Cornell, but Wash U. is out, as is Georgetown. We have a feeling that U.S. News would like what it sees here.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to see the full rankings at TaxProf Blog.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll check back in sometime next spring to see how close to reality these partial rankings are. In the meantime, check out the\u00a0Above the Law Top 50 Law School Rankings<\/a>\u00a0for a better, outcome-based methodology.<\/p>\n

Projected 2026-27 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Overall<\/a> [TaxProf Blog]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prospective law students, current law students, and law school alumni have seen the recently released edition of the 2025 U.S. News Law School Rankings, and they\u2019re wondering what could possibly happen next. With a tie for the most prestigious school in the nation and four schools tied at the bottom of the top to create […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":118870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Staci-Zaretsky-EKwFWo.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}