Three schools joined Yale and Harvard’s rebellion against U.S. News. And the bar association will no longer require schools to mandate the LSAT or GRE. But rankings still matter.
For more than 30 years, roughly the same 14 law schools have been the most highly rated by U.S. News, fluctuating only slightly. The list has been so set in amber that people refer to it as the T14. Graduating from schools on this list can make a material difference in careers, from salary to Supreme Court clerkships.
Now there is a growing movement to no longer cooperate with the U.S. News & World Report rankings. At least three more members of the T14 — Georgetown, Columbia and Berkeley — have joined Yale and Harvard’s move this week to withdraw and no longer submit their data for judgment.
Their concerns were about ethics, equity and mission. The rankings, with their focus on test scores, grades and employment, created a perverse incentive to downgrade public service law careers and to award merit aid rather than need-based aid, they said.
Their boycott is part of a broader movement to increase access to law school. On Friday, a panel of the American Bar Association voted to stop requiring accredited law schools to mandate the Law School Admission Test or Graduate Record Examination, making standardized testing optional for students applying in the fall of 2025. Critics say the tests hinder diversity, and the association’s decision comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is reconsidering...
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