Law Schools

Which Law Schools Provide The 'Most Value'? (2017)

The Top 25 "Best Value" law schools.

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There are seemingly an unending number of ways to slice and dice law school data to create a definitive ranking. U.S. News and World Report does it, hell, we do it. And so does The National Jurist. Their ranking is interesting because it claims to focus solely on providing the best value for students, something quite distinct from the prestige that usually drives rankings.

Their methodology tries to assess the school’s ability to get their students legal jobs (with no finger on the scale to weigh the quality of legal job) and get the student graduated with minimal debt. As such, the Best Value ranking system takes into account a law school’s tuition (weighted 25 percent), students’ average indebtedness upon graduation (15 percent), the employment rate (35 percent), students’ cost of living expenses (10 percent), and bar passage rates (15 percent).

Based on those inputs, the list skews heavily towards public schools, with only one private school cracking the Top 25. So without further ado, the National Jurist Best Value Top 25 Law Schools:

1 Georgia State University
2 University of Georgia
3 University of Florida
4 University of Wisconsin
5 University of Nebraska
6 University of South Dakota
7 Univ. Arkansas, Fayetteville
8 University of Alabama
9 University of Kentucky
10 University of Oklahoma
11 Rutgers Law
12 University of Montana
13 University of Arizona
14 Brigham Young University
15 University of Iowa
16 Florida State University
17 Florida International U.
18 University of Cincinnati
19 Ohio State University
20 Arizona State University
21 University of Missouri
22 University of Mississippi
23 Louisiana State University
24 University of New Mexico
25 Texas Tech University

The publication also notes that the two law schools that closed their doors in the last year, Whittier Law School and Charlotte School of Law, were near the very bottom of the list, though neither got the booby prize for last:

This year, when it came to value, Whittier Law School ranked 197th out of 200 law schools, and Charlotte ranked 199th.

Can you guess which school came in dead last?

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Only one law school – Thomas Jefferson School of Law – was ranked lower.

Whomp, whomp.

Congrats to the schools that offer their students the best value.

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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