Update:
- Preview Of The 2025-26 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Overall Ranking
- Preview Of The 2025-26 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Resources
- Preview Of The 2025-26 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Student Outcomes
Following up on my previous posts:
The current 2024-25 methodology is:
Bar passage rate for first-time test-takers (18%): For the third consecutive year, U.S. News used its treatment of bar passage rates to incorporate all graduates who took the bar for the first time, and not just those from the state with most test-takers. This de-emphasized the impact of geography on law schools’ relative performance.
As was done with the 10 months after graduation indicator, this bar passage indicator was newly calculated as a two-year, nonweighted average pertaining to the 2021 and 2022 graduating classes.
Specifically, the bar passage rate indicator scored schools on their average 2021 and 2022 first-time test-takers’ weighted bar passage rates among all jurisdictions, or states, then added or subtracted the average percentage point difference between those rates and the weighted state average among ABA accredited schools’ first-time test-takers in the corresponding jurisdictions in 2021 and 2022. This meant schools that performed best on this ranking factor graduated students whose bar passage rates were both higher than most schools overall and higher compared with what was typical among graduates who took the bar in corresponding jurisdictions.
For example, if a fictional law school in upstate New York graduated 100 students who first took the bar exam – and 79 took the New York exam, 18 the Massachusetts exam and three the Vermont exam – the school’s weighted average rate would use pass rate results that were weighted 79% for New York, 18% for Massachusetts and 3% for Vermont. This computation would then be compared with an index of these jurisdictions’ average pass rates – also weighted 79-18-3. (For privacy, school profiles on usnews.com only display bar passage data for jurisdictions with at least 10 test-takers.) Both weighted averages included any graduates who passed the bar with diploma privilege. Diploma privilege is a method for J.D. graduates to be admitted to a state bar and allowed to practice law in that state without taking that state’s actual bar examination. Diploma privilege is generally based on attending and graduating from a law school in that state with the diploma privilege.
Below is a ranking of the unweighted average first-time bar passage for calendar years 2022 and 2023. For comparison, the average unweighted first-time bar passage for the calendar years 2021 and 2022 (and the ranking of that average) are included alongside.
| Rank | School | 2025-2026 First-Time Bar Passage | 2024-2025 First-Time Bar Passage |
| 1 | Harvard | 115.22% | 117.49% (1) |
| 2 | Michigan | 115.15% | 114.10% (3) |
| 3 | Stanford | 114.70% | 113.70% (5) |
| 4 | Virginia | 113.49% | 111.56% (8) |
| 5 | Yale | 113.38% | 114.37% (2) |
| 6 | Chicago | 113.25% | 114.02% (4) |
| 7 | Vanderbilt | 111.68% | 109.75% (14) |
| 8 | North Carolina | 111.66% | 106.75% (21) |
| 9 | Penn | 110.87% | 110.19% (13) |
| 10 | Duke | 110.57% | 112.66% (6) |
| 11 | NYU | 110.22% | 110.98% (9) |
| 12 | William & Mary | 109.80% | 110.19% (12) |
| 13 | Wisconsin | 109.54% | 104.74% (30) |
| 14 | UCLA | 107.87% | 110.69% (10) |
| 15 | Boston College | 107.76% | 105.36% (26) |
| 16 | Belmont | 107.70% | 103.91% (33) |
| 17 | Columbia | 107.61% | 107.46% (19) |
| 18 | Wake Forest | 107.54% | 107.82% (18) |
| 19 | Notre Dame | 107.18% | 107.22% (20) |
| 20 | UC-Berkeley | 107.12% | 112.03% (7) |
| 21 | Northwestern | 107.12% | 110.35% (11) |
| 22 | Texas | 107.02% | 107.95% (16) |
| 23 | Baylor | 106.42% | 104.19% (32) |
| 24 | Washington Univ. | 105.76% | 105.85% (23) |
| 25 | Texas A&M | 105.18% | 105.84% (24) |
| 26 | BYU | 105.09% | 106.73% (22) |
| 27 | Cornell | 104.12% | 100.77% (38) |
| 28 | Alabama | 103.28% | 100.99% (37) |
| 29 | Georgia | 103.05% | 105.18% (27) |
| 30 | Ohio State | 102.89% | 104.93% (29) |
| 31 | University of Washington | 102.40% | 100.67% (40) |
| 32 | Louisiana State | 102.38% | 91.90% (67) |
| 33 | Georgetown | 102.28% | 105.07% (28) |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 102.05% | 102.96% (35) |
| 35 | Minnesota | 101.40% | 107.94% (17) |
| 36 | Utah | 101.14% | 100.25% (42) |
| 37 | Florida Int’l | 100.70% | 99.90% (45) |
| 38 | Boston Univ. | 100.25% | 105.66% (25) |
| 39 | Regent | 100.23% | 92.17% (65) |
| 40 | Tennessee | 98.85% | 104.43% (31) |
| 41 | UC-Irvine | 98.29% | 98.07% (50) |
| 42 | Kansas | 98.19% | 102.24% (36) |
| 43 | Villanova | 97.98% | 94.94% (57) |
| 44 | Arizona State | 97.86% | 97.25% (51) |
| 45 | USC | 97.81% | 108.51% (15) |
| 46 | Penn State-Univ. Park | 97.39% | 99.30% (48) |
| 47 | Seton Hall | 97.09% | 103.65% (34) |
| 48 | Washington & Lee | 96.99% | 100.16% (43) |
| 49 | Emory | 96.86% | 99.97% (44) |
| 50 | Missouri-Columbia | 96.56% | 93.62% (61) |
| Rank | School | 2025-2026 First-Time Bar Passage | 2024-2025 First-Time Bar Passage |
| 51 | George Mason | 96.40% | 99.84% (46) |
| 52 | Fordham | 96.19% | 100.68% (39) |
| 53 | Northeastern | 95.87% | 97.21% (52) |
| 54 | Drake | 95.61% | 89.78% (75) |
| 55 | Texas Tech | 94.36% | 92.06% (66) |
| 56 | Temple | 94.30% | 90.73% (72) |
| 57 | Connecticut | 94.14% | 88.93% (76) |
| 58 | Florida State | 93.93% | 84.10% (87) |
| 59 | SMU | 93.01% | 95.72% (54) |
| 60 | Houston | 92.48% | 92.95% (63) |
| 61 | Maine | 92.29% | 74.63% (113) |
| 62 | George Washington | 92.22% | 99.78% (47) |
| 63 | Iowa | 92.12% | 90.82% (69) |
| 64 | UC-Davis | 91.82% | 86.81% (80) |
| 65 | Duquesne | 91.68% | 92.63% (64) |
| 66 | Penn State-Dickinson | 91.37% | 95.07% (56) |
| 67 | St. John’s | 90.35% | 93.93% (60) |
| 68 | Florida | 90.34% | 90.50% (73) |
| 69 | Pepperdine | 89.82% | 91.50% (68) |
| 70 | Cincinnati | 89.74% | 85.62% (83) |
| 71 | Colorado | 89.66% | 94.28% (58) |
| 72 | Montana | 89.36% | 90.47% (74) |
| 73 | Indiana (Maurer) | 88.14% | 95.43% (55) |
| 74 | Arkansas-Fayetteville | 87.99% | 86.10% (82) |
| 75 | Pittsburgh | 86.74% | 79.08% (98) |
| 76 | Illinois | 86.66% | 98.67% (49) |
| 77 | Nebraska | 86.45% | 88.59% (77) |
| 78 | Loyola-Chicago | 86.39% | 85.26% (84) |
| 79 | Loyola-L.A. | 86.35% | 93.24% (62) |
| 80 | New Hampshire | 86.14% | 100.37% (41) |
| 81 | Dayton | 85.69% | 68.76% (135) |
| 82 | Chicago-Kent | 85.48% | 76.66% (107) |
| 83 | Cardozo | 85.29% | 81.49% (94) |
| 84 | Catholic | 84.39% | 73.81% (116) |
| 85 | Liberty | 84.30% | 79.54% (97) |
| 86 | Campbell | 84.18% | 81.55% (93) |
| 87 | Denver | 83.90% | 82.53% (92) |
| 88 | Kentucky | 83.59% | 90.75% (71) |
| 89 | New Mexico | 83.27% | 84.22% (86) |
| 90 | Washburn | 83.22% | 70.64% (130) |
| 91 | San Diego | 82.59% | 83.38% (91) |
| 92 | Case Western | 82.43% | 87.49% (78) |
| 93 | St. Thomas (MN) | 82.35% | 84.85% (85) |
| 94 | Oregon | 82.18% | 90.75% (70) |
| 95 | Chapman | 82.14% | 78.12% (101) |
| 96 | South Carolina | 82.07% | 83.53% (89) |
| 97 | UNLV | 81.98% | 80.57% (95) |
| 98 | Samford | 81.96% | 75.00% (111) |
| 99 | Wayne State | 81.63% | 94.05% (59) |
| 100 | Georgia State | 81.51% | 86.50% (81) |
| 101 | Maryland | 81.12% | 86.93% (79) |
| 102 | South Texas | 80.95% | 72.95% (120) |
| 103 | Lewis & Clark | 80.53% | 80.11% (96) |
| 104 | Michigan State | 79.90% | 76.31% (108) |
| 105 | Richmond | 79.61% | 84.06% (88) |
| 106 | St. Louis | 78.77% | 78.36% (100) |
| 107 | Tulane | 78.39% | 77.07% (105) |
| 108 | Miami | 77.30% | 83.38% (90) |
| 109 | University of Arizona | 76.46% | 75.93% (110) |
| 110 | Northern Kentucky | 76.36% | 70.75% (129) |
| 111 | Mercer | 76.28% | 77.82% (103) |
| 112 | Drexel | 75.43% | 76.69% (106) |
| 113 | Stetson | 75.12% | 73.57% (118) |
| 114 | Indiana (McKinney) | 75.09% | 76.00% (109) |
| 115 | Missouri-Kansas City | 74.70% | 73.15% (119) |
| 116 | SUNY-Buffalo | 73.98% | 64.07% (141) |
| 117 | Brooklyn | 73.02% | 71.69% (124) |
| 118 | Capital | 72.81% | 71.87% (122) |
| 119 | Marquette | 72.44% | 96.56% (53) |
| 120 | Tulsa | 71.78% | 71.18% (127) |
| 121 | Suffolk | 70.74% | 68.60% (136) |
| 122 | Albany | 70.58% | 71.53% (125) |
| 123 | Wyoming | 70.53% | 61.82% (146) |
| 124 | Puerto Rico | 70.51% | 71.11% (128) |
| 125 | UC-San Francisco | 70.47% | 77.86% (102) |
| 126 | Arkansas-Little Rock | 70.21% | 69.55% (132) |
| 127 | Seattle | 70.00% | 71.20% (126) |
| 128 | American | 68.89% | 75% (114) |
| 129 | Hawaii | 68.69% | 68.89% (134) |
| 130 | Detroit Mercy | 68.66% | 74.86% (112) |
| 131 | Akron | 68.51% | 63.06% (144) |
| 132 | Memphis | 68.22% | 69.88% (131) |
| 133 | St. Mary’s | 67.85% | 66.39% (138) |
| 134 | Louisville | 67.05% | 73.78% (117) |
| 135 | DePaul | 66.89% | 60.64% (150) |
| 136 | New England | 66.64% | 71.69% (123) |
| 137 | Cleveland State | 66.52% | 78.61% (99) |
| 138 | Mississippi College | 66.51% | 60.23% (152) |
| 139 | Ave Maria | 66.27% | 60.41% (151) |
| 140 | Idaho | 65.08% | 57.83% (158) |
| 141 | Syracuse | 64.89% | 72.20% (121) |
| 142 | Loyola-New Orleans | 64.58% | 77.21% (104) |
| 143 | Mitchell | Hamline | 64.39% | 51.94% (167) |
| 144 | Rutgers | 64.38% | 63.97% (142) |
| 145 | Mississippi | 63.89% | 59.84% (153) |
| 146 | Hofstra | 63.59% | 58.74% (156) |
| 147 | Western New England | 61.73% | 46.33% (173) |
| 148 | New York Law School | 61.65% | 63.79% (143) |
| 149 | Gonzaga | 61.57% | 73.90% (115) |
| 150 | Toledo | 61.06% | 65.83% (139) |
| 151 | Howard | 60.60% | 49.21% (170) |
| 152 | South Dakota | 60.41% | 69.07% (133) |
| 153 | Quinnipiac | 59.55% | 61.35% (149) |
| 154 | Creighton | 58.01% | 57.74% (159) |
| 155 | West Virginia | 57.89% | 57.26% (160) |
| 156 | Nova | 53.91% | 50.86% (168) |
| 157 | Faulkner | 53.87% | 59.11% (154) |
| 158 | Santa Clara | 53.38% | 58.71% (157) |
| 159 | San Francisco | 53.05% | 49.23% (169) |
| 160 | Charleston | 52.76% | 47.56% (171) |
| 161 | St. Thomas (FL) | 52.66% | 42.94% (177) |
| 162 | John Marshall (GA) | 52.62% | 54.01% (161) |
| 163 | Baltimore | 52.36% | 53.22% (164) |
| 164 | Pacific | 52.31% | 61.74% (147) |
| 165 | North Texas | 52.20% | 52.64% (166) |
| 166 | Southwestern | 51.84% | 61.64% (148) |
| 167 | North Dakota | 51.82% | 59.03% (155) |
| 168 | Pontifical Catholic (PR) | 50.49% | 24.93% (191) |
| 169 | Lincoln Memorial | 49.86% | 40.71% (181) |
| 170 | Willamette | 49.63% | 62.31% (145) |
| 171 | Ohio Northern | 49.07% | 67.51% (137) |
| 172 | CUNY | 48.57% | 64.62% (140) |
| 173 | Pace | 47.28% | 53.85% (162) |
| 174 | Inter-American (PR) | 46.68% | 42.77% (178) |
| 175 | Oklahoma City | 46.51% | 53.25% (163) |
| 176 | Vermont | 45.95% | 42.09% (179) |
| 177 | Widener (DE) | 44.80% | 35.40% (186) |
| 178 | Southern Illinois | 42.24% | 36.01% (185) |
| 179 | Northern Illinois | 41.94% | 46.32% (174) |
| 180 | Southern | 37.81% | 46.35% (172) |
| 181 | Appalachian | 37.68% | 10.78% (193) |
| 182 | Massachusetts | 36.53% | 40.59% (183) |
| 183 | Elon | 36.44% | 53.04% (165) |
| 184 | Barry | 35.05% | 43.70% (175) |
| 185 | Illinois-Chicago | 34.89% | 40.67% (182) |
| 186 | Texas Southern | 33.29% | 24.05% (192) |
| 187 | Western State | 32.99% | 26.67% (190) |
| 188 | Touro | 32.92% | 38.67% (184) |
| 189 | Roger Williams | 31.22% | 33.94% (188) |
| 190 | Cal-Western | 29.59% | 43.22% (176) |
| 191 | Widener (PA) | 27.67% | 29.32% (189) |
| 192 | Florida A&M | 25.47% | 40.87% (180) |
| 193 | North Carolina Central | 25.44% | 34.26% (187) |
| 194 | Cooley | 3.87% | 0.64% (194) |
| 195 | District of Columbia | 2.94% | -12.07% (195) |
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