Law Schools

A Law School's Quest To Scale The Rankings

All in all, a solid plan to boost the academics -- and the rankings.

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Sure, the yearly rankings done by U.S. News & World Report can be a little problematic, what, with skewed inputs and administrators trying to game the system. (May we suggest an alternative?) But it is undeniable that, particularly as it applies to law schools, they still play a vital role in many a law school applicant’s decision on where to attend.

As a result, we know that moving up in the rankings (or at least not falling in them) is frequently a priority for law school administrators. The sticky proposition is how to best implement that plan. As TaxProf Blog reports, the University of Florida Law School is on a mission to crack the Top 35 in the USNWR ranking, and they’re doing it by raising their standards and throwing money — scholarship money — at the problem:

Florida is continuing its march toward Dean Laura Rosenbury’s goal to increase its U.S. News ranking to the Top 35 (from 41 this year and 48 last year). Florida increased its median LSAT (to 161, from 160 in 2016 and 157 in 2015) and UGPA (to 3.69, from 3.60 in 2016 and 3.50 in 2015) while keeping the entering class roughly flat (301, compared to 314 in 2016 and 310 in 2015), fueled by raising $4.5 million in non-endowed scholarship funds.

That’s right — about half of Florida Law’s incoming class is receiving scholarship money. And, according to Dean Rosenbury, those are three year scholarships not the one year kind that entice students to attend and then wind up with a high bill in years 2 and 3.

All in all, a solid plan to boost the academics — and the rankings — of Florida Law.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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