The LEAKED 2020 U.S. News Law School Rankings Are Here
A change in the T14 and some of the largest rankings tumbles and gains.
With that out of the way, let’s take a sneak peek at the law schools outside of the Top 50, i.e., the law schools that make up the rest of the Top 100, starting with Nos. 51 through 71. This section of the rankings was especially erratic, with two ties, one three-way tie, one four-way tie, one five-way tie, and one six-way tie. Here we saw several schools rise like phoenixes with double-digit gains.
51. Pepperdine University (“unranked” last year; +21 from 2018 rankings)
52. Tulane University (+2)
52. University of Maryland (Carey) (-3)
52. University of Connecticut (-2)
52. Yeshiva University (Cardozo) (+4)
52. Southern Methodist University (Dedman) (-2)
52. University of Richmond (-2)
58. University of Nevada–Las Vegas (+1)
59. University of Houston (-3)
59. University of Tennessee–Knoxville (+6)
59. Seton Hall University
62. University of California (Hastings) (-1)
62. Loyola Marymount University (+3)
64. University of Missouri (+1)
64. Northeastern University (+10)
67. University of Denver (Sturm) (-4)
67. University of Miami (-2)
67. Georgia State University (-2)
67. University of Kansas (+7)
71. Brooklyn Law School (+12)
71. Case Western Reserve University (-6)
71. University of Kentucky (-6)
71. University of Oklahoma (-8)
71. Villanova University (-6)
Way to go, Pepperdine! After a rankings hiccup last year that landed the school among the unranked thanks to some misreporting, the school has soared. Congratulations also go out to both Northeastern (+10) and Brooklyn (+12). Well done! Now, you may be wondering where Rutgers and the Penn State schools are. They should probably fall within this band of the rankings or the next, but they’re nowhere to be found at all. According to Mike Spivey, “They appeared to be listed at unranked and we are trying to get clarification.” We’ll come back to this as soon as we get more information.
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Moving right along, let’s check out the schools that make up the bottom of the Top 100. If you thought a 12-place tumble in the rankings was bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet. This segment of the rankings is the most volatile yet, with two three-way ties, one four-way tie, one five-way tie, and one nine-way tie (seriously?). While half of the schools here dropped in rank (some precipitously), others shined like stars.
77. American University (Washington) (+3)
77. University of Pittsburgh (-3)
77. Loyola University Chicago (-3)
77. University of Nebraska–Lincoln (+3)
77. St. John’s University (+6)
83. University of Oregon (+2)
83. Texas A&M University (-3)
83. University of Cincinnati (-18)
86. University of San Diego (+9)
87. Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent) (-2)
87. University of New Hampshire School of Law (-2)
87. University of Tulsa (+14)
90. St. Louis University (-2)
91. University of Hawaii–Manoa (Richardson) (+10)
91. University of South Carolina (-3)
91. Michigan State University (-3)
91. University of New Mexico (-3)
91. Marquette University (+4)
91. Syracuse University (-3)
91. University of Arkansas–Fayetteville (-3)
91. Florida International University (+10)
91. Wayne State University (+7)
100. Drexel University (Kline) (+1)
100. Hofstra University (Deane) (+10)
100. Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge (Hebert) (-12)
100. West Virginia University (+6)
Oof, Cincinnati posted an 18-spot rankings drop, the most offensive drop in rank thus far in the 2020 edition the rankings. Following close behind was LSU, with a 12-spot drop. Let’s not focus on these rankings train wrecks when there’s so much to celebrate here. Tulsa (+14), Florida International (+10), and Hofstra (+10) all deserve some recognition for entering the Top 100 this year. Nice work!
The final portion of the leaked rankings are available on the next page.
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2020 USNWR Rankings (2019 Release) [Spivey Consulting]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked 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.
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