Behold, The FULL 2019 U.S. News Law School Rankings Leak (1-144)

All of that excitement brings us to the realm of the “Rank Not Published” (RNP). Yes, these schools have been ranked, but U.S. News has spared them from being numerically designated as some of the worst in the country. Without further ado, here are this year’s RNP law schools:

Appalachian School of Law
Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School
Ave Maria School of Law
Barry University
California Western School of Law
Campbell University
Capital University
Charleston School of Law
Elon University
Faulkner University (Jones)
Florida A&M University
Florida Coastal School of Law
Golden Gate University
The John Marshall Law School
Liberty University
Loyola University New Orleans
Mississippi College
Mitchell Hamline School of Law
New England Law Boston
North Carolina Central University
Northern Kentucky University (Chase)
Nova Southeastern University (Broad)
Ohio Northern University (Pettit)
Oklahoma City University
Regent University
Roger Williams University
Samford University (Cumberland)
Southern Illinois University—​Carbondale
Southern University Law Center
South Texas College of Law Houston
Southwestern Law School
St. Mary’s University
St. Thomas University
Texas Southern University (Marshall)
Touro College (Fuchsberg)
University of Detroit Mercy
University of La Verne
University of Massachusetts—​Dartmouth
University of North Dakota
University of the Pacific (McGeorge)
University of San Francisco
University of the District of Columbia (Clarke)
Valparaiso University
Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Western New England University
Western State College of Law at Argosy University
Widener University Delaware
Willamette University (Collins)

And let’s not forget about the unranked schools: Concordia University, Inter-American University, Lincoln Memorial University, Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, University of North Texas—​Dallas, University of Puerto Rico, and Whittier College (RIP).

UPDATE (03/19 8:45 p.m.): With the official release of the 2019 U.S. News rankings, we see that three new schools have been added to the ranks of the unranked: Arizona Summit Law School, Pepperdine University (for reasons covered here), and Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Per U.S. News, Arizona Summit and Thomas Jefferson are unranked “because they were on probation status with the ABA as of February 2018.” See our coverage of those probation decisions here and here.

So what can be said about these law schools? Should you bother attending one?

Getting a degree from an RNP law school might not be as prestigious as getting one from a higher-ranked school, but to burst the elitist bubble: not everyone cares about prestige. Some of the people applying to and attending these schools just want to be lawyers, and others just want to stay close to home. Some of these schools do very well in regional job markets, and while Biglaw may not be an option for everyone, the rest are content to join small firms or do public service work. But here’s the rub when it comes to the these RNP law schools… law school hasn’t been a golden ticket for quite some time, especially if you’re a graduate of a lower-ranked school. Law school is a huge economic gamble, and the odds of getting a full-time, long-term job as a lawyer after graduation were 61.8 percent for the class of 2016, a percentage upon which the 2019 U.S. News rankings are partially based.

If you’re not convinced about how frightening that is, check out these debt figures. These five RNP law schools appear in the top 10 on the U.S. News list of average indebtedness of 2016 graduates who incurred law school debt:

• Thomas Jefferson School of Law: $182,411
• Whittier College (RIP): $179,056
• University of San Francisco: $167,671
• Golden Gate University: $161,809
• The John Marshall Law School: $158,888

Now, you’d think that with all of that debt their job prospects would at least be decent, but you’d be wrong — really, really wrong. Here are the employment rates for the Class of 2016 from those schools (FT/LT/bar passage required):

• Thomas Jefferson School of Law: 21.9 percent
• Whittier College (RIP): 29.7 percent
• University of San Francisco: 32.9 percent
• Golden Gate University: 26.8 percent
• The John Marshall Law School: 51.7 percent

Damn.

Being in debt up to your eyeballs is an awful situation; you’ll be digging yourself out from under it for the rest of your life. Going to an RNP law school these days — or really, any law school at all, if we’re being completely honest — is like playing Russian Roulette with your financial future. If you’re willing to bite that bullet, then by all means, please do. But if you have reservations about embarking on a potentially ruinous economic course, then you should reconsider your law school plans. That said, I’m still happy I went law school (an RNP law school, at that), crushing debt and all.

So what do you think of the rankings? Feel free to sound off by email, by text message (646-820-8477), or by tweet (@ATLblog). If you don’t like what you see, you may want to check out the upcoming Above the Law Top 50 Law School Rankings. We care about the most important thing you’ll care about when you graduate — and that’s whether you’ll be able to land a job that pays enough to allow you to service your ever-increasing law school debt. Please stay tuned for their release this spring!

We’ll be right there with you on March 20 when the official 2019 U.S. News law school rankings are published to see if we can confirm all of our leaked data. Please stick around with us for additional color commentary on the latest edition of the rankings when they’re made public. Thanks a lot!

2019 USNWR Rankings (2018 Release) Are Here! [Spivey Consulting]

Earlier: The LEAKED 2019 U.S. News Law School Rankings Are Here
The 2019 U.S. News Law School Rankings Leak: The Top 100

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Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.