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Preview Of The 2025-26 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Overall Ranking

Paul Caron
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Following up on my previous posts: 

In this post, I project the forthcoming 2025-26 U.S. News law school rankings using the 2024-25 rankings methodology and the publicly available ABA data, which accounted for 75% of the 2024-25 rankings:

My projected rankings below assume the same dean|faculty (12.5%) and lawyer|judge (12.5%) reputation scores for the remaining 25% of the 2024-25 rankings. I also include the projected rankings from Derek Muller (Notre Dame) and Mike Spivey (Spivey Consulting). Mike  published his raw scores for each school and listed the projected rankings in 29 different groupings. The table below lists the projected ranks based on the raw scores. Most commentators anticipate that U.S. News will tinker with the methodology in the forthcoming 2025-26 rankings, so take the projections below with a grain of salt.

School Caron Projected Rank Muller Projected Rank Spivey Projected Rank   Admissions Rank Student Outcomes Rank Resources Rank Reputation Rank
Chicago 1 2 3   4 3 16 3
Yale 2 3 2   1 7 3 4
Stanford 3 1 1   7 14 4 1
Virginia 4 4 4   3 1 34 7
Penn 5 4 5   8 2 11 10
Harvard 6 4 6   2 11 78 2
Duke 7 7 7   18 4 22 11
NYU 8 10 10   12 8 37 6
Northwestern 9 7 9   6 10 8 11
Columbia 10 10 11   10 17 51 4
Michigan 11 7 8   20 5 68 7
UCLA 12 12 12   9 16 25 15
UC-Berkeley 13 13 13   23 25 42 9
Vanderbilt 14 14 15   22 15 35 17
Washington Univ. 15 14 14   5 12 19 19
Texas 16 16 17   15 19 54 16
Georgetown 17 16 16   13 28 30 13
Cornell 18 19 18   16 30 26 13
North Carolina 19 16 19   29 9 43 21
Notre Dame 20 20 20   27 23 55 18
Minnesota 21 21 21   28 21 9 23
Boston Univ. 22 22 22   24 24 33 23
Georgia 23 22 23   17 22 40 31
Texas A&M 24 24 24   11 6 21 60
Boston College 25 24 25   34 20 45 27
Wake Forest 26 24 26   37 13 86 37
Wisconsin 27 38 29   42 18 66 34
USC 28 24 27   14 39 60 20
Alabama 29 28 34   26 27 48 41
William & Mary 30 28 32   52 35 50 25
Ohio State 31 28 30   33 37 44 36
George Mason 32 28 31   19 31 6 57
George Washington 33 36 35   31 46 27 25
Washington & Lee 34 28 36   46 33 63 33
UC-Irvine 35 36 41   35 44 31 32
Utah 36 38 33   36 32 18 51
BYU 37 28 28   25 38 13 46
Florida 38 28 38   21 45 92 29
Florida State 39 28 40   30 34 12 50
Emory 40 38 43   44 50 69 22
Fordham 41 42 39   40 41 73 29
Iowa 42 38 37   72 36 89 34
Baylor 43 42 42   55 26 41 62
SMU 44 42 44   38 29 67 63
Arizona State 45 45 45   32 53 56 41
Colorado 46 46 47   49 60 32 44
Indiana (Maurer) 47 46 46   39 66 47 39
U. of Washington 48 54 54   71 58 53 39
Villanova 49 48 49   43 47 72 57
UC-Davis 50 48 51   64 61 146 28

School Caron Projected Rank Muller Projected Rank Spivey Projected Rank   Admissions Rank Student Outcomes Rank Resources Rank Reputation Rank
Illinois 51 48 48   51 70 77 38
Temple 52 48 53   65 55 23 53
Connecticut 53 48 52   66 62 15 60
Pepperdine 54 53 55   41 64 98 48
Kansas 55 54 50   60 40 162 57
Tennessee 56 54 57   45 65 46 65
Oklahoma 57 58 60   73 42 153 71
Missouri-Columbia 58 58 56   74 51 102 76
Penn State-Dick. 59 60 62   76 49 95 85
Univ. of Arizona 60 60 59   50 97 2 47
San Diego 61 54 58   58 72 110 67
Kentucky 62 62 67   86 52 127 71
Cardozo 63 65 66   48 79 97 67
Loyola-L.A. 64 62 70   61 82 107 53
Penn State-U. Park 65 65 71   107 43 115 96
St. John’s 66 73 63   59 48 177 88
South Carolina 67 65 68   63 76 70 76
Northeastern 68 73 69   57 69 126 76
Houston 69 65 64   62 86 61 70
Cincinnati 70 65 73   75 73 28 101
Nebraska 71 73 76   84 59 112 88
Maryland 72 62 65   56 101 39 51
Wayne State 73 65 75   47 67 88 108
Pittsburgh 74 65 78   106 83 20 76
Catholic 75 73 72   80 75 24 93
Tulane 76 65 77   87 95 114 43
Richmond 77 80 79   54 96 17 81
Drexel 78 73 81   82 80 49 96
UNLV 79 73 84   70 87 52 92
Louisiana State 80 80 83   101 57 155 96
Georgia State 81 84 82   96 92 36 84
Florida Int’l 82 80 85   67 74 93 125
Drake 83 90 87   122 68 62 113
Seton Hall 84 73 74   79 88 145 83
Texas Tech 85 86 90   89 63 117 127
Marquette 86 80 61   91 78 132 93
Miami 87 86 91   53 117 87 48
Maine 88 84 86   108 84 57 116
Denver 89 90 89   90 100 104 74
Loyola-Chicago 90 86 80   88 98 163 63
Oregon 91 94 97   109 104 96 65
St. Louis 92 96 95   113 91 79 101
UC-San Francisco 93 90 93   83 112 118 45
Belmont 94 86 88   69 56 174 156
SUNY-Buffalo 95 96 94   98 102 14 107
Duquesne 96 90 92   120 77 116 121
Lewis & Clark 97 96 100   100 106 65 87
Chapman 98 96 102   68 85 80 157
Montana 99 100 96   125 71 150 134
American 100 100 103   85 120 120 53
Regent 101 100 98   94 54 161 169
Case Western 102 N/A 108   78 130 58 69
Chicago-Kent 103 N/A 106   77 107 139 88
St. Thomas (MN) 104 N/A 99   115 89 71 144
Stetson 105 94 101   99 94 141 109
Dayton 106 N/A 110   104 90 133 141
Missouri-KC 107 N/A 104   136 93 91 130
Brooklyn 108 N/A 117   102 110 152 76
Rutgers 109 100 107   97 129 101 71
Samford 110 N/A 109   119 81 168 145
New Mexico 111 N/A 115   111 116 10 111
Michigan State 112 N/A 116   81 132 138 75
Indiana (McKinney) 113 N/A 113   124 114 106 91
Albany 114 N/A 119   128 103 144 123
Hawaii 115 100 105   92 137 5 103
Washburn 116 N/A 123   152 105 82 136
Arkansas-Fay. 117 N/A 114   103 131 103 99
Mercer 118 N/A 112   112 99 184 136
Howard 119 N/A 128   127 136 135 53
Cleveland State 120 N/A 124   135 122 7 139
Hofstra 121 N/A 125   117 119 136 105
Mississippi 122 N/A 121   105 128 167 93
West Virginia 123 N/A 118   114 123 83 123
Wyoming 124 N/A 120   144 108 99 140
NY Law School 125 N/A 122   116 115 130 121
Tulsa 126 N/A 130   123 109 181 134
Seattle 127 N/A 131   118 135 76 112
New Hampshire 128 N/A 127   145 118 160 127
Syracuse 129 N/A 111   95 143 171 85
Suffolk 130 N/A 126   131 125 188 119
Loyola-NO 131 N/A 139   168 133 142 109
Campbell 132 N/A 135   110 111 165 164
Detroit Mercy 133 N/A 134   130 113 156 159
South Dakota 134 N/A 132   151 124 121 146
DePaul 135 N/A 133   93 148 90 100
Akron 136 N/A 129   146 127 128 151
Louisville 137 N/A 144   121 145 124 105
Gonzaga 138 N/A 143   132 140 189 104
South Texas 139 N/A 137   153 121 192 146
Arkansas-LR 140 N/A 138   156 138 137 138
Idaho 141 N/A 142   163 144 94 127
Northern Kentucky 142 N/A 136   159 126 172 165
Pace 143 N/A 140   147 141 175 132
Quinnipiac 144 N/A 147   139 152 29 141
Memphis 145 N/A 146   140 150 74 141
Baltimore 146 N/A 141   154 154 75 132
Creighton 147 N/A 149   167 151 154 113
Northern Illinois 148 N/A 150   184 142 111 161
Liberty 149 N/A 145   142 134 178 184
Toledo 150 N/A 151   138 147 185 151
Willamette 151 N/A 153   169 153 166 116
Ave Maria 152 N/A 154   158 139 119 188
Santa Clara 153 N/A 156   134 167 109 82
St. Mary’s 154 N/A 148   150 146 191 149
Southwestern 155 N/A 155   129 156 122 151
CUNY 156 N/A 158   143 173 84 119
Elon 157 N/A 159   155 159 108 158
Massachusetts 158 N/A 163   171 158 113 150
Vermont 159 N/A 166   189 172 38 113
Pacific 160 N/A 165   133 169 143 130
Mississippi College 161 N/A 160   181 149 180 170
North Dakota 162 N/A 162   166 162 149 151
Oklahoma City 163 N/A 161   164 157 140 177
San Francisco 164 N/A 171   157 180 85 126
Illinois-Chicago 165 N/A 172   170 179 158 116
West. New England 166 N/A 170   183 161 59 187
North Texas 167 N/A 164   137 166 148 171
Charleston 168 N/A 152   141 170 N/A 180
Capital 169 N/A 175   174 160 164 181
Ohio Northern 170 N/A 176   177 171 N/A 171
New England 171 N/A 167   173 155 194 175
Roger Williams 172 N/A 173   176 175 123 161
Mitchell | Hamline 173 N/A 157   172 168 190 151
Widener (DE) 174 N/A 174   186 174 187 146
St. Thomas (FL) 175 N/A 177   175 164 186 183
Lincoln Memorial 176 N/A 168   160 165 179 185
Touro 177 N/A 169   180 176 125 171
Faulkner 178 N/A 182   179 163 183 188
Southern Illinois 179 N/A 178   185 177 173 166
Nova 180 N/A 181   149 182 157 166
Widener (PA) 181 N/A 179   188 181 176 160
Appalachian 182 N/A 186   196 178 100 188
Cal-Western 183 N/A 187   162 184 170 174
Western State 184 N/A 183   178 183 134 195
Florida A&M 185 N/A 185   161 189 105 161
NC Central 186 N/A 184   165 186 131 166
John Marshall (GA) 187 N/A 188   191 185 169 185
Texas Southern 188 N/A 190   182 187 147 177
Puerto Rico 189 N/A 180   148 190 81 182
D.C. 190 N/A 189   187 191 129 179
Barry 191 N/A 191   190 188 193 196
Southern 192 N/A 192   195 192 182 175
Cooley 193 N/A 193   193 193 64 192
Inter-American (PR) 194 N/A 194   192 194 159 193
Pontif. Catholic (PR) 195 N/A 195   194 195 151 193

Note: my rankings are not re-scaled on a 100-point scale; instead, I take the weighted z-scores and rank them in descending order.

About the Author

Paul Caron Avatar
Paul Caron
Paul Caron was named Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean of Pepperdine University School of Law on June 1, 2017. Dean Caron joined the Pepperdine faculty in 2013 after serving as the Dorothy and Leonard Straus Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law in the spring semesters of 2010 through 2013. He served as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Pepperdine in 2015-2017. Before coming to Pepperdine, he was Associate Dean of Faculty and Charles Hartsock Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
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