Best Law Schools
Ranked in 2015 | 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.
| Rank | School name | Tuition and fees | Enrollment (full-time) |
LSAT scores (25th-75th percentile)
|
Acceptance rate
|
Employed 9 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 |
$56,200 per year (full-time) | 607 | ||||||||
|
#2Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 96 out of 100.
|
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA |
$55,842 per year (full-time) | 1,752 | ||||||||
|
#2Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 96 out of 100.
|
Stanford University
Stanford, CA |
$54,366 per year (full-time) | 577 | ||||||||
|
#4Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 93 out of 100.
|
Columbia University
New York, NY |
$60,274 per year (full-time) | 1,170 | ||||||||
|
#4Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 93 out of 100.
|
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL |
$55,503 per year (full-time) | 604 | ||||||||
|
#6
Overall Score: Overall Score: 89 out of 100.
|
New York University
New York, NY |
$56,838 per year (full-time) | 1,423 | ||||||||
|
#7
Overall Score: Overall Score: 88 out of 100.
|
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
$56,916 per year (full-time) | 756 | ||||||||
|
#8Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 84 out of 100.
|
Duke University
Durham, NC |
$55,588 per year (full-time) | 643 | ||||||||
|
#8Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 84 out of 100.
|
University of California—Berkeley
Berkeley, CA |
$48,166 per year (in-state, full-time); $52,117 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 890 | ||||||||
|
#8Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 84 out of 100.
|
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA |
$51,800 per year (in-state, full-time); $54,800 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,005 | ||||||||
|
#11
Overall Score: Overall Score: 83 out of 100.
|
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI |
$51,398 per year (in-state, full-time); $54,398 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,000 | ||||||||
|
#12
Overall Score: Overall Score: 81 out of 100.
|
Northwestern University
Chicago, IL |
$56,434 per year (full-time) | 737 | ||||||||
|
#13
Overall Score: Overall Score: 79 out of 100.
|
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY |
$59,360 per year (full-time) | 595 | ||||||||
|
#14
Overall Score: Overall Score: 78 out of 100.
|
Georgetown University
Washington, DC |
$53,130 per year (full-time) | 1,719 | ||||||||
|
#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) | 1,025 | ||||||||
|
#16
Overall Score: Overall Score: 75 out of 100.
|
University of California—Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA |
$45,226 per year (in-state, full-time); $51,720 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 992 | ||||||||
|
#17
Overall Score: Overall Score: 74 out of 100.
|
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN |
$49,722 per year (full-time) | 525 | ||||||||
|
#18
Overall Score: Overall Score: 69 out of 100.
|
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO |
$50,152 per year (full-time) | 749 | ||||||||
|
#19
Overall Score: Overall Score: 68 out of 100.
|
Emory University
Atlanta, GA |
$49,734 per year (full-time) | 819 | ||||||||
|
#20Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 67 out of 100.
|
University of Minnesota—Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN |
$41,222 per year (in-state, full-time); $48,710 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 681 | ||||||||
|
#20Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 67 out of 100.
|
University of Southern California (Gould)
Los Angeles, CA |
$57,507 per year (full-time) | 604 | ||||||||
|
#22Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 66 out of 100.
|
George Washington University
Washington, DC |
$52,033 per year (full-time) | 1,376 | ||||||||
|
#22Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 66 out of 100.
|
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL |
$21,624 per year (in-state, full-time); $36,304 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 420 | ||||||||
|
#22Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 66 out of 100.
|
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA |
$23,760 per year (in-state, full-time); $41,296 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 388 | ||||||||
|
#22Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 66 out of 100.
|
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN |
$50,520 per year (full-time) | 549 | ||||||||
U.S. News Law School Compass
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