U.S. News Law School Rankings 2025–2026: Methodology, Full List & Takeaways

The new U.S. News 2025–2026 law school rankings are out. As always, some schools rose, others fell, and plenty stayed exactly where they were. 

Every year, students obsess over the rankings—some even let them dictate their law school decisions. But rankings are just one factor to consider when choosing where to attend.

Ranking Methodology

It's useful to know what U.S. News is actually measuring. Here's how they determined the 2025–2026 law school rankings:

Employment & Bar Passage (58% total)

• Employment: 33% 

• First-Time Bar Passage: 18% 

• Ultimate Bar Passage: 7%

Reputation Scores (25% total)

• Peer Assessment: 12.5%

• Lawyer/Judge Assessment: 12.5%

Selectivity (10% total)

• LSAT/GRE: 5%

• UGPA: 4%

• Acceptance Rate: 1%

Faculty & Library Resources (7% total)

• Student-Faculty Ratio: 5%

• Library Resources: 2%

You can see the full methodology here.

Who moved the most in this year's laws school rankings?

T14

This year’s T14 looks a little different. Vanderbilt entered the top 14 for the first time, moving from 20 to 14. Two other newcomers—UT Austin and WashU—also joined the party, jumping from 16 to 14. Duke and Harvard both slipped from a four-way tie at 4 to a tie at 6. 

T15–T50

There was movement from multiple schools within the T50. Surprisingly, the only school to drop out of the T14 was Cornell, which fell from 14 to 18. George Washington and Florida State made double-digit increases—each moving up 10 spots. On the flip-side, double-digit decreases affected two other schools—Florida and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The latter dropped 12 spots, from 36 to 48. It wasn’t all bad news, though—UC Davis, Connecticut, and Temple all entered the T50.

T51–T100

The biggest moves occurred within the T100. There were three major shifts upward and two downward. The Catholic University of America jumped up to 71st spot—a 23 spot increase. But if you think that’s impressive, check out the University of Maine. They moved up from 120 to 88—a remarkable 32-spot leap! Five other schools joined the T100: Regent University, the University at Buffalo, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the University of Missouri–Kansas City, and the University of Montana.  

T101 and beyond

Several schools fell out of the T100, including American University, Indiana University–McKinney, the University of New Mexico, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of New Hampshire. New Hampshire took the biggest hit. They dropped from 98 all the way to 125—a 27-spot fall.

T100 List

School	2024	2025	Delta
Stanford University	1	1	0
Yale University	1	1	0
University of Chicago	3	3	0
University of Virginia	4	4	0
University of Pennsylvania (Carey)	4	5	-1
Duke University	4	6	-2
Harvard University	4	6	-2
New York University	9	8	1
University of Michigan--Ann Arbor	9	8	1
Northwestern University (Pritzker)	9	10	-1
Columbia University	8	10	-2
University of California--Los Angeles	13	12	1
University of California, Berkeley	12	13	-1
Vanderbilt University	19	14	5
University of Texas--Austin	16	14	2
Washington University in St. Louis	16	14	2
Georgetown University	14	14	0
University of North Carolina	20	18	2
Cornell University	14	18	-4
University of Notre Dame	20	20	0
University of Minnesota	16	20	-4
Texas A&M University	26	22	4
Boston University	24	22	2
University of Georgia	20	22	-2
Boston College	28	25	3
Wake Forest University	25	26	-1
University of Southern California	20	26	-6
University of Wisconsin--Madison	36	28	8
Brigham Young University (Clark)	28	28	0
Ohio State University (Moritz)	26	28	-2
George Washington University	41	31	10
William & Mary Law School	36	31	5
University of Alabama	33	31	2
George Mason University (Scalia)	28	31	-3
University of Utah (Quinney)	28	31	-3
University of Iowa	36	36	0
Washington and Lee University	33	36	-3
Florida State University	48	38	10
Emory University	42	38	4
University of California--Irvine	42	38	4
Fordham University	33	38	-5
University of Florida (Levin)	28	38	-10
Baylor University	46	43	3
SMU (Dedman)	42	43	-1
Arizona State University (O'Connor)	36	45	-9
University of Colorado--Boulder	48	46	2
IU--Bloomington (Maurer)	42	46	-4
Villanova University (Widger)	48	48	0
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	36	48	-12
University of California--Davis	55	50	5
University of Connecticut	55	50	5
Temple University (Beasley)	54	50	4
University of Washington	48	50	-2
University of Kansas	46	50	-4
Pepperdine University (Caruso)	52	55	-3
University of Tennessee	52	55	-3
University of San Diego	68	57	11
University of Missouri	61	57	4
Penn State--Dickinson	75	59	16
Marquette University	68	59	9
University of Arizona (Rogers)	55	59	-4
University of Oklahoma	55	59	-4
St. John's University	68	63	5
University of Houston Law Center	68	63	5
University of South Carolina	66	63	3
Yeshiva University (Cardozo)	61	63	-2
University of Maryland (Carey)	55	63	-8
Northeastern University	68	68	0
Penn State University--UP	68	68	0
University of Kentucky (Rosenberg)	61	68	-7
The Catholic University of America	94	71	23
University of Nebraska--Lincoln	82	71	11
Tulane University	78	71	7
University of Cincinnati	78	71	7
University of Richmond	66	71	-5
Loyola Marymount University	61	71	-10
Seton Hall University	61	71	-10
Wayne State University	55	71	-16
University of Pittsburgh	91	79	12
Loyola University Chicago	78	79	-1
University of Nevada--Las Vegas	78	79	-1
Drexel University (Kline)	75	79	-4
Georgia State University	75	79	-4
Belmont University	91	84	7
Louisiana State University	91	84	7
Drake University	82	84	-2
Florida International University	68	84	-16
University of Maine School of Law	120	88	32
University of Denver (Sturm)	89	88	1
Texas Tech University	82	88	-6
UC--San Francisco	82	88	-6
Duquesne University (Kline)	94	92	2
University of Miami	82	92	-10
Regent University	108	94	14
University at Buffalo--SUNY	108	94	14
University of St. Thomas	98	94	4
Saint Louis University	94	94	0
University of Oregon	82	94	-12
University of Hawaii--Manoa	127	99	28
University of Missouri--Kansas City	117	99	18
University of Montana (Blewett)	103	99	4
Stetson University	98	99	-1
Lewis & Clark College	82	99	-17

How Should Law School Rankings Affect Your Decision? 

If you're comparing schools, use the 2x rule: a school’s ranking should only be considered if one school is ranked at least twice as high (or low) as another. 

At the end of the day, getting your best LSAT score is what matters most. A higher score means more offers, more scholarships, and more freedom to ignore rankings entirely. 

You can start studying with a free LSAT Demon account today. If you have questions, email us at help@lsatdemon.com.

For more: U.S. News Rankings