Best Law Schools

Ranked in 2016 | Best Law Schools Rankings Methodology

A career in law starts with finding the school that fits you best. With the U.S. News rankings of the top law schools, narrow your search by location, tuition, school size and test scores.

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Rank School name Tuition and fees Enrollment (full-time) LSAT scores (25th-75th percentile) Acceptance rate Employed 10 months after graduation2 Assessment score by lawyers/judges (out of 5) Bar passage rate (first-time test takers) GPA (25th-75th percentile) Employed at graduation2 Peer assessment score (out of 5)
#1
Overall Score: Overall Score: 100 out of 100.
Yale University 

New Haven, CT

$58,050 per year (full-time) 614
#2Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 97 out of 100.
Harvard University 

Cambridge, MA

$58,242 per year (full-time) 1,767
#2Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 97 out of 100.
Stanford University 

Stanford, CA

$56,274 per year (full-time) 572
#4Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 94 out of 100.
Columbia University 

New York, NY

$62,700 per year (full-time) 1,165
#4Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 94 out of 100.
University of Chicago 

Chicago, IL

$56,916 per year (full-time) 617
#6
Overall Score: Overall Score: 91 out of 100.
New York University 

New York, NY

$59,330 per year (full-time) 1,395
#7
Overall Score: Overall Score: 89 out of 100.
University of Pennsylvania 

Philadelphia, PA

$58,918 per year (full-time) 753
#8Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 86 out of 100.
University of California—​Berkeley 

Berkeley, CA

$48,679 per year (in-state, full-time); $52,630 per year (out-of-state, full-time) 935
#8Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 86 out of 100.
University of Michigan—​Ann Arbor 

Ann Arbor, MI

$53,112 per year (in-state, full-time); $56,112 per year (out-of-state, full-time) 932
#8Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 86 out of 100.
University of Virginia 

Charlottesville, VA

$54,000 per year (in-state, full-time); $57,000 per year (out-of-state, full-time) 934
#11
Overall Score: Overall Score: 84 out of 100.
Duke University 

Durham, NC

$57,717 per year (full-time) 668
#12
Overall Score: Overall Score: 83 out of 100.
Northwestern University (Pritzker) 

Chicago, IL

$58,398 per year (full-time) 658
#13
Overall Score: Overall Score: 82 out of 100.
Cornell University 

Ithaca, NY

$59,900 per year (full-time) 588
#14
Overall Score: Overall Score: 77 out of 100.
Georgetown University 

Washington, DC

$55,255 per year (full-time) 1,725
#15
Overall Score: Overall Score: 76 out of 100.
University of Texas—​Austin 

Austin, TX

$33,162 per year (in-state, full-time); $49,244 per year (out-of-state, full-time) 949
#16
Overall Score: Overall Score: 75 out of 100.
Vanderbilt University 

Nashville, TN

$51,360 per year (full-time) 538
#17
Overall Score: Overall Score: 74 out of 100.
University of California—​Los Angeles 

Los Angeles, CA

$45,284 per year (in-state, full-time); $51,778 per year (out-of-state, full-time) 974
#18
Overall Score: Overall Score: 73 out of 100.
Washington University in St. Louis 

St. Louis, MO

$51,626 per year (full-time) 684
#19
Overall Score: Overall Score: 71 out of 100.
University of Southern California (Gould) 

Los Angeles, CA

$58,022 per year (full-time) 598
#20Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 68 out of 100.
Boston University 

Boston, MA

$49,330 per year (full-time) 672
#20Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 68 out of 100.
University of Iowa 

Iowa City, IA

$24,177 per year (in-state, full-time); $42,021 per year (out-of-state, full-time) 387
#22Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 67 out of 100.
Emory University 

Atlanta, GA

$51,510 per year (full-time) 836
#22Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 67 out of 100.
University of Minnesota 

Minneapolis, MN

$42,231 per year (in-state, full-time); $50,373 per year (out-of-state, full-time) 632
#22Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 67 out of 100.
University of Notre Dame 

Notre Dame, IN

$52,372 per year (full-time) 581
#25Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 64 out of 100.
Arizona State University (O'Connor) 

Tempe, AZ

$27,074 per year (in-state, full-time); $42,794 per year (out-of-state, full-time) 623

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