I previously blogged (here, here, here, and here) the announcement (here and here) by Robert Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News & World Report, that the magazine is "seriously studying" two changes to its law school rankings methodology that would affect 24.5% of the overall ranking:

• Counting both full-time and part-time entering student admission data for the median LSAT score (12.5% of ranking) and median undergraduate GPA (10%) ranking categories.
• Compute the bar passage rate (2%) (school’s bar pass rate/jurisdiction’s bar passage rate) using only the data of first-time takers who are graduates of ABA-accredited schools.

In this week’s National Law Journal:  Deans Dislike Ranking Proposals; Use of Part-Time Students’ Scores of Deep Concern, by Peter Page:

The proposal is strongly opposed by deans at schools with part-time programs designed for students who are years past college graduation and often well into careers outside the law. They warn that a school’s place on the U.S. News list is so important that some schools would drop the part-time programs rather than slip lower in the national rankings.