Now we’ll discuss two bottom portions of the ranked schools (No. 105 through a tie at 150, and a fairly recently ranked segment, #152-171) before examining the schools whose ranks weren’t published this year.
In this segment of the rankings, among too many ties to even name, we see some very large gains, coupled with one of 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.
| Brooklyn Law School | 105 | +12 |
| Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent) | 105 | +2 |
| University of St. Thomas | 105 | -11 |
| American University (Washington) | 108 | -4 |
| Mercer University (George) | 108 | -1 |
| Michigan State University | 108 | +7 |
| Washburn University | 108 | +13 |
| Chapman University (Fowler) | 112 | -8 |
| Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern) | 112 | -13 |
| New York Law School | 112 | +9 |
| University of Dayton | 112 | -5 |
| University of Wyoming | 112 | +5 |
| Hofstra University (Deane) | 117 | +8 |
| Howard University | 117 | +10 |
| University of New Mexico | 117 | -10 |
| Albany Law School | 120 | -3 |
| University of Tulsa | 120 | +7 |
| Samford University (Cumberland) | 122 | -15 |
| University of South Dakota (Knudson) | 122 | +5 |
| Indiana University Indianapolis (McKinney) | 124 | -17 |
| University of Louisville (Brandeis) | 124 | +22 |
| University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) | 124 | -3 |
| West Virginia University | 124 | -7 |
| Seattle University | 128 | -1 |
| South Texas College of Law Houston | 128 | +10 |
| Suffolk University | 128 | -1 |
| Campbell University (Wiggins) | 131 | +3 |
| DePaul University | 131 | +2 |
| Northern Kentucky University (Chase) | 131 | +3 |
| University of Akron | 131 | -4 |
| Loyola University New Orleans | 135 | -1 |
| Cleveland State University | 136 | -15 |
| Quinnipiac University | 136 | +5 |
| University of Baltimore | 136 | +3 |
| University of New Hampshire (Pierce) | 136 | -11 |
| University of Arkansas-Little Rock (Bowen) | 140 | -1 |
| University of Memphis (Humphreys) | 140 | +6 |
| Pace University (Haub) | 142 | -1 |
| University of Detroit Mercy | 142 | -8 |
| Creighton University | 144 | +4 |
| Elon University | 144 | +14 |
| Gonzaga University | 144 | -3 |
| Liberty University | 144 | -3 |
| University of Idaho | 148 | -7 |
| University of Toledo | 149 | +1 |
| Santa Clara University | 150 | +6 |
| St. Mary’s University | 150 | -2 |
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Congratulations to the schools that made double-digit gains here in this year’s edition of the U.S. News law school rankings (especially Brooklyn, Washburn, Elon, and Louisville and, up 12, 13, 14, and 22 spots, respectively). Moving on to things that aren’t so nice, we’ve got six law schools that sank like stones, with Indiana Indianapolis (McKinney) having the worst rank drop of all in the 2026 rankings, down 17 spots. Yikes….
And here, we have a relatively new portion of the rankings. In previous years, many of these schools were among those whose ranks went unpublished, but now they get to show off their brand new numeric rankings. Joining them are some schools that were previously ranked within the Top 150, but this year seem to have lost their way thanks to the new rankings methodology.
| Mitchell Hamline School of Law | 152 | +2 |
| University of the Pacific (McGeorge) | 152 | +11 |
| Vermont Law School | 154 | +9 |
| Widener University-Delaware | 154 | +15 |
| Oklahoma City University | 156 | +2 |
| University of North Dakota | 156 | +5 |
| University of San Francisco | 156 | +10 |
| University of North Texas-Dallas | 159 | +4 |
| Western New England University | 159 | +7 |
| Mississippi College | 161 | -3 |
| Northern Illinois University | 161 | -11 |
| Southwestern Law School | 161 | -7 |
| Ave Maria School of Law | 164 | -11 |
| Faulkner University (Jones) | 164 | 178-195 |
| Touro University (Fuchsberg) | 164 | +5 |
| University of Illinois Chicago | 167 | +2 |
| New England Law Boston | 168 | -2 |
| St. Thomas University | 168 | 178-195 |
| Willamette University School of Law | 168 | -18 |
| Charleston School of Law | 171 | 178-195 |
| CUNY School of Law | 171 | -15 |
| Roger Williams University | 171 | -2 |
| University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth | 171 | -10 |
Congratulations to the schools that have found their ranks this year. That must be a nice change.
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All of that excitement brings us to the “Rank Not Published” (RNP) realm.
| Appalachian School of Law | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Barry University | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| California Western School of Law | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Capital University | 175-194 | Ranked 174 in 2025 |
| Cooley Law School | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Florida A&M University | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Inter-American University | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Lincoln Memorial University (Duncan) | 175-194 | Ranked 169 in 2025 |
| North Carolina Central University | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Nova Southeastern University (Broad) | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Ohio Northern University (Petit) | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 175-194 | Ranked 175 in 2025 |
| Southern University Law Center | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Texas Southern University (Marshall) | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| University of Puerto Rico | 175-194 | Ranked 175 in 2025 |
| University of the District of Columbia (Clarke) | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Western State College of Law at Westcliff University | 175-194 | 178-195 |
| Widener University-Pennsylvania Commowealth | 175-194 | Ranked 175 in 2025 |
What can be said about these 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 Biglaw may not be an option for everyone with many 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 isn’t always a golden ticket, especially if you’re a graduate of a lower-ranked school. Law school is still a huge economic gamble for these people.
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 2026 rankings, there are nearly 30 ties in the Top 100 alone. This is not only unhelpful, but it actually does a disservice for pre-law students.
So what do you think of the rankings? Feel free to sound off by email, by text message (646-820-8477), by post (@abovethelaw.com), 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!
2026 Best Law Schools [U.S. News]
2026 Best Graduate Schools [U.S. News]
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of 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 Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.