Rankings, U.S. News

Open Thread: 2010 U.S. News Law School Rankings (50 - 75)

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Our review of the most recent U.S. News law school rankings now moves out of the top 50. Some of these schools have regional significance. Others are second or third choices for students who didn’t do quite as well on the LSAT as they might have liked. But we don’t think any of these schools are “J.D. mills.” To refresh your memory, here is the next batch of rankings:

51. University of Florida (Levin)
52. FSU; Cincinnati; Connecticut
55. ASU (O’Connor); Case Western Reserve; Pepperdine; Kentucky
59. University of Houston; Tennessee-Knoxville
61. Brooklyn Law School; Lewis & Clark College; San Diego; Villanova
65. Baylor; Georgia State; Penn St. (Dickinson); Temple; Kansas; Missouri
71. Loyola (L.A.); Miami; Oklahoma; Pitt
75. LSU; UNLV

There are a lot of good basketball programs here. But are there meaningful distinctions to be made about their law programs?
We get into it after the jump.


Last year the University of Florida was barely hanging on to a top-50 spot. Now that they’ve fallen out of the top 50, does it actually mean anything about the opportunities for its recent graduates?
Probably not in the near term. But Florida State’s march up the rankings should be at least a little disturbing for the UF administration. At the point where FSU can claim “best law school in Florida” status, that would mean something.
Assuming, of course, that students from either school can actually pass that Florida bar exam.
Moving on, the ridiculous cluster between 55 and 65 suggests that even U.S. News can’t really distinguish between these law schools. Does anybody want to suggest any reason for a student to pay out-of-state tuition at say, Kentucky, instead of in-state tuition at Tennessee? Or LSU? Or any other Southeastern Conference school?
For the private schools in this cluster, the choice seems even more stark. Is access to the Philadelphia market worth the $33,490 that Villanova wants over the $16,758 Temple charges its in-state residents?
And what do you make of Brooklyn’s $42,375 tuition for access to New York City during the Great Recession. Here’s how one recent Brooklyn Law School graduate put it in a posting on Craigslist:

Dear Brooklyn Law School,
Thanks for nothing. 200K and 3 years after graduation, I STILL do not have a permanent job (even after passing the bar on the first attempt). In fact, I don’t even live in NY anymore because I couldn’t procure employment with your useless f****** degree. My parents house is warm and cozy. My unemployment checks are still rolling in. Every time the loan company calls, I just laugh to myself and think “Damn, those jokers at BLS, they really pulled one over on me.” You’d figure that with over a 3.0 GPA and an undergrad degree from a Top 25 school that I’d be able to land A job. Any job. But no. Apparently a Brooklyn Law Degree is as big of a black mark as your name popping up on the Sex Offenders list. Thanks to the Career Center’s groundbreaking advice to “temp,” I look like a f****** schlub that cannot hold down a job. I’m down to 3 options thanks to your degree – 1. Flee the country; 2. Get sued and f*** myself for the rest of my life; or 3. Find a ton of booze and drugs to OD on. Good times, BLS. If it comes down to it, I can dedicate the rest of my life to dissuading people from ruining their lives at your school. I finally have a purpose in life. Thanks.

At this point on the list, does cost matter more than location?
Earlier: U.S. News 2010 Law School Rankings
Open Thread: 2010 U.S. News Law School Rankings (1-5)

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