2012 USNWR Law School Rankings Released: Who’s Movin’ Up and Who’s Goin’ Down

Author: Evan Didier

NOTE: An updated version of this article for the new 2012-13 rankings is available here.

The 2012 U.S. News & World Report rankings for law schools have been released.  Full summary and comparison to last year’s rankings follow.

Overall, there weren’t too many surprises in the top 50 schools, although Texas finally managed to break into the top 14 law schools, sharing the #14 ranking with perennial #14 Georgetown.  In other top 14 action, Berkeley fell two spots to #9, and Michigan gained two spots to rise to #7; Virginia improved one spot in the rankings (to #9 and #7 respectively) while Northwestern slipped one spot to #12.

Other major top 50 shifts include UC-Davis jumping five spots to #23, Georgia and Wisconsin both dropping seven spots to #35, and Colorado dropping nine spots to #47.  In addition, Indiana-Bloomington, UWashington, Washington & Lee, and Maryland all posted notable gains.  Cardozo rejoined the top 50 after a one-year hiatus and Florida State broke into the top 50, marking the first time in years (or perhaps ever) that the state of Florida has been home to two top 50 law schools.

In comparison, Tier 2 schools (#51 through #100) witnessed a flurry of action.  Penn State, Illinois Institute of Technology, Seton Hall, Temple, Richmond, Northeastern, Catholic, and DePaul all posted double-digit leaps in rankings.  Balancing out their success, San Diego, Miami, Kansas, New Mexico, Villanova, St John’s (NY), Hawai’i, and Syracuse slumped to double-digit drops in the rankings.

Joining the Tier 2 (or rejoining the Tier 2 after a hiatus, as the case may be) are Buffalo-SUNY (#84), Marquette (#95), Michigan State (#95), and Louisville (#100).  Although four schools joined the Tier 2, three schools also lost their top 100 status: Chapman, Missouri-Columbia, and William Mitchell.

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For those who want to take a look at the exact changes, here’s the new top 100 law schools in the United States.  Bolded schools indicate notable changes in ranking from the previou year.

2012 USNWR Top 100 Law Schools:
Law School (2011 ranking, change in rank)
1. Yale (1, -)
2. Harvard (2, -)
3. Stanford (3, -)
4. Columbia (4, -)
5. Chicago (5, -)
6. NYU (6, -)
7. Michigan (9, +2)
7. Penn (7, -)
9. UC-Berkeley (9, -2)
9. Virginia (10, +1)
11. Duke (11, -)
12. Northwestern (11, -1)
13. Cornell (13, -)
14. Georgetown (14, -)
14. Texas (15, +1)
16. UC-Los Angeles (16, -1)
16. Vanderbilt (17, +1)
18. USC (18, -)
18. Washington University – St. Louis (19, +1)
20. George Washington (20, -)
20. Minnesota (22, +2)
22. Boston University (22, -)
23. Indiana-Bloomington (27, +4)
23. UC-Davis (28, +5)
23. Illinois (21, -2)
23. Notre Dame (22, -1)
27. Boston College (28, +1)
27. William & Mary (28, +1)
27. Iowa (26, -1)
30. Emory (22, -8)
30. Fordham (34, +4)
30. North Carolina (28, -2)
30. Washington (34, +4)
34. Washington & Lee (34, +4)
35. Ohio State (34, -1)
35. Alabama (38, +3)
35. Georgia (28, -7)
35. Wisconsin (28, -7)
39. Wake Forest (38, -1)
40. Arizona State (38, -2)
40. George Mason (42, +2)
42. Brigham Young (42, -)
42. Arizona (42, -)
42. UC-Hastings (42, -)
42. Maryland (48, +6)
42. Utah (42, -)
47. Tulane (48, +1)
47. Colorado (38, -9)
47. Florida (47, -)
50. American (48, -2)
50. Florida State (54, +4, moved up to Tier 1)
50. Southern Methodist (48, -2)
50. Yeshiva – Cardozo (52, +2, returned to Tier 1)
——————–
54. Pepperdine (52, -2)
54. Loyola – Los Angeles/Marymount (56, +2)
56. Baylor (64, +8)
56. Connecticut (54, -2)
56. Houston (60, +4)
56. Tennessee (60, +4)
60. Pennsylvania State (72, +12)
61. Case Western Reserve (56, -5)
61. Georgia State (60, -1)
61. IIT – Chicago-Kent (80, +19)
61. Seton Hall (72, +11)
61. Temple (72, +11)
61. Cincinnati (56, -5)
67. Brooklyn (67, -)
67. Lewis & Clark (64, -3)
67. Richmond (86, +19)
67. San Diego (56, -11)
71. Loyola – Chicago (78, +7)
71. Northeastern (86, +15)
71. Kentucky (64, -7)
71. Nevada-Las Vegas (78, +7)
71. Oklahoma (72, +1)
71. Pittsburgh (67, -4)
77. Denver (80, +3)
77. Miami (60, -17)
79. Catholic (98, +19)
79. Indiana-Indianapolis (86, +7)
79. Kansas (67, -12)
79. New Mexico (67, -12)
79. Oregon (80, +1)
84. DePaul (98, +14)
84. Hofstra (86, +2)
84. Louisiana State (80, -4)
84. Rutgers-Camden (80, -4)
84. Rutgers-Newark (80, -4)
84. Santa Clara (93, +9)
84. Seattle (86, +2)
84. Buffalo, SUNY (NR, moved up from Tier 3… was #85 in 2010 rankings)
84. Arkansas-Fayetteville (86, +2)
84. Nebraska (93, +9)
84. Villanova (67, -17)
95. Marquette (NR, moved up from Tier 3… was #87 in 2010 rankings)
95. Michigan State (NR, moved up from Tier 3)
95. St. John’s (72, -23)
95. Hawai’i (72, -23)
95. West Virginia (93, -2)
100. Syracuse (86, -14)
100. Louisville (NR, moved up from Tier 3, was #98 in 2010 rankings)
100. San Francisco (98, -2)
100. Pacific (98, -2)

Dropped out of the Top 100
- Chapman (93)
- Missouri-Columbia (93)
- William Mitchell (98)