Which Law School Has The Best Career Prospects? (2017)

Did your law school or alma mater make the cut?

lawyer suit need a jobIt’s that time of year again: with the crisp fall air comes crisp new law school rankings. Today, the Princeton Review released its annual law school ranking, covering the best 172 law schools in the country (down from 173 last year, and disregarding the fact that there are 205 law schools with varying degrees of accreditation by the American Bar Association). Our condolences to the 33 law schools that were unable to make the cut for the Princeton Review’s 2017 edition of the rankings — it must sting knowing that your institution is part of the small sliver of law schools that aren’t among the “best.”

We’ve focused on one of the 11 rankings categories that we thought people would be the most interested in: the law schools where graduates have the best career prospects. Last year, the Princeton Review decided to change its methodology to include data people actually care about — like whether these law schools are helping their graduates become lawyers. Prior to this change being made, the Princeton Review’s loose definition of “career prospects” meant an entire class of law graduates could be putting the “bar” in “barista” and their school would still be ranked because they were all employed, period. Congratulations on finally publishing a ranking that actually means something.

Given the drastic methodology change, there was a huge shake-up in the rankings last year. How did things pan out this year? Before we get into that, let’s discuss everything that’s taken into account for this all important ranking. Princeton Review’s “Best Career Prospects” results were based on a survey of students as well as data reported by law school administrators, including median starting salaries, the percentage of students employed in jobs requiring bar passage (and not employed by the school), and the percentage of students who were able to pass the bar exam on their first try.

Here are the top 10 law schools on the Princeton Review’s “Best Career Prospects” list for 2017. Things change when you care about people who are working as lawyers:

princeton-review-law-school-rankings1. University of Pennsylvania Law School (no change)

2. New York University School of Law (no change)

3. University of Chicago Law School (no change)

4. Columbia University School of Law (ranked #5 last year)

5. University of Virginia School of Law (ranked #9 last year)

6. Harvard University Law School (no change)

7. Stanford University School of Law (ranked #4 last year)

8. Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (no change)

9. University of Michigan Law School (unranked in 2016)

10. UC Berkeley School of Law (ranked #7 last year)

Let’s chat for a moment further about the Princeton Review’s methodology. Each law school was given a “career rating,” which on top of all of the statistical data reported by law school administrators, includes the following information:

This rating measures the confidence students have in their school’s ability to lead them to fruitful employment opportunities, as well as the school’s own record of having done so. … We ask students about how much the law program encourages practical experience; the opportunities for externships, internships, and clerkships; and how prepared to practice law they expect to feel after graduating.

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This all goes to show that Princeton Review continues to rely too heavily upon students’ feedback over actual data. Once again, people who felt like they’d get great jobs were more important than the people who were actually able to get great jobs. This may explain why UVA Law, with 76.6 percent of the class of 2015 employed in full-time, long-term jobs where bar passage was required (discounting 30 school-funded positions) skyrocketed in the rankings, while Stanford Law, with 82.1 percent of the class of 2015 employed in full-time, long-term jobs where bar passage was required (discounting six school-funded positions), sank like a stone. The “career rating” is far too subjective.

Did your law school or alma mater make the cut? If it did, do you think it was ranked fairly? If it didn’t make the list for best career prospects, do you agree with that assessment? Please email us or text us (646-820-8477) with your thoughts. Thanks.


Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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