The LEAKED 2020 U.S. News Law School Rankings Are Here

Now we’ll discuss the bottom third of the ranked schools before examining the schools whose ranks weren’t published (or weren’t supposed to be; you’ll see what we mean).

In this segment of the rankings, among two ties, two, three-way ties, three four-way ties, two five-way ties, one six-way tie, and one seven-way tie, we see the biggest double-digit gains by far, as well as the most tremendous losses. We imagine that the annual running of the deans will begin shortly after the official U.S. News rankings are published. Deans of a few of the schools listed below may soon be vying for their jobs.

104. Santa Clara University (+9)
104. Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern) (-9)
104. SUNY Buffalo Law School (+2)
104. Stetson University (-6)
108. Howard University (+20)
108. Indiana University–Indianapolis (McKinney) (+10)
108. CUNY (+17)
108. University of Mississippi (-7)
108. University of Missouri–Kansas City (+11)
108. The Catholic University of America (+2)
108. University of Louisville (Brandeis) (+5)
115. University of Montana (+4)
115. Albany Law School (-9)
117. Gonzaga University (-4)
117. Creighton University (+8)
117. New York Law School (-7)
117. Texas Tech University (-4)
117. University of St. Thomas (-4)
122. Seattle University (+6)
122. Drake University (+11)
122. Pace University (+3)
122. Duquesne University (-3)
126. University of Maine (-20)
126. University of Baltimore (-7)
126. University of Idaho (-7)
126. Quinnipiac University (+7)
126. University of Toledo (+11)
126. Cleveland State University (Cleveland-Marshall) (-13)
132. DePaul University (-4)
132. University of Wyoming (+1)
132. Chapman University (Fowler) (+7)
132. Washburn University (-13)
136. Vermont Law School (-3)
136. Ohio Northern University (Pettit) (RNP last year)
138. Loyola University New Orleans (RNP last year)
138. Mercer University (George) (-10)
138. University of Memphis (Humphreys) (-1)
138. University of South Dakota (-10)
138. Belmont University (+1)
143. University of Arkansas–Little Rock (Bowen) (-2)
143. Suffolk University (+1)
143. University of Akron (+1)

Congratulations to Howard (+20) and CUNY (+17) on their huge gains in this year’s edition of the U.S. News law school rankings. Moving on to things that aren’t so nice, remember last year when Maine shot up 33 places, making history with one of the largest rankings gains ever? Talk about a course correction. This year, the school slumped in the rankings, drooping down 20 spots for this year’s biggest rankings tumble. What the hell happened?! Also on the shit list in this portion of the rankings are Cleveland State (-13), Washburn (-13), Mercer (-10), and South Dakota (-10; be careful, you’re almost into RNP territory). These deans have some ‘splainin’ to do.

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 typically spares them from being numerically designated as some of the worst in the country — or at least that was what was supposed to happen. This time around, Mike Spivey was able to get his hands on the actual numerical rankings for these schools. Yikes! This just stings.

Without further ado, here are this year’s would-be RNP law schools:

146. University of San Francisco
146. University of the Pacific (McGeorge)
146. The John Marshall Law School
149. Samford University (Cumberland)
149. Campbell University
149. Regent University
152. Willamette University (Collins)
152. Southwestern Law School
152. Liberty University
155. University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth
157. University of Dayton
158. St. Mary’s University
159. University of North Dakota
159. Northern Illinois University
159. South Texas College of Law
159. Oklahoma City University
164. Capital University
165. Roger Williams University
165. California Western School of Law
168. Nova Southeastern University (Broad)
168. Southern Illinois University–Carbondale
168. Northern Kentucky University (Chase)
168. Touro College (Fuchsberg)
168. University of Detroit Mercy
173. New England Law Boston
174. Elon University
174. Texas Southern University (Marshall)
174. Western New England University
177. Faulkner University (Jones)
178. Golden Gate University
178. Mississippi College
178. North Carolina Central University
178. University of the District of Columbia (Clarke)
182. Florida A&M University
183. Charleston School of Law
184. Barry University
185. Florida Coastal School of Law
186. Ave Maria School of Law
186. Western State College of Law at Argosy University
188. Appalachian School of Law
189. Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School
190. Southern University Law Center
190. University of La Verne
192. St. Thomas University

And let’s not forget about the unranked schools. These are schools that no longer exist (perhaps due to a merger), had ABA accreditation revoked, were placed on probation, are closing/closed, or may have had data reporting issues such that U.S. News was unable to rank them. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Arizona Summit Law School
Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School
Charlotte School of Law
Hamline University
Inter-American University
Pennsylvania State University (Dickinson) pre-2017
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey–Camden
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey–Newark
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
University of Puerto Rico
Valparaiso University
Whittier College
Widener University
William Mitchell College of Law

Here’s an additional note from Spivey on certain schools that aren’t listed at all:

There are several schools that should be on the regular USNWR list but appear not to be included, either on the regular list or the unranked list. These schools are Penn State University Park, Penn State Dickinson, Rutgers, Widener, Delaware, and Mitchell Hamline. These schools will likely have rankings published in US News, but we do not have knowledge of what those rankings will be at this time.

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 66.2 percent for the class of 2017, a percentage upon which the 2020 U.S. News rankings are partially based.

Once again, it’s time to ask a very relevant question: How are prospective law students supposed to differentiate between law schools when there are so many ties present within the rankings? In the 2020 rankings, there are 20 ties in the Top 100 alone. This is not only unhelpful, but it actually does a disservice for pre-law students.

Should you really be considering attending any of these law schools? The jury is still out. Because of all of the ties in this year’s rankings, there’s no real way to see concrete differences between them aside from their numerical rank without digging deeper through outside sources, so it makes it that much harder for prospective law school applicants who may be relying on U.S. News to help them in their decision-making.

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 12 when the official 2020 U.S. News law school rankings are published to see if we can confirm all of our leaked data.

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.