Following up on last week's posts:
- Preview Of The 2026-27 U.S. News Law School Rankings: First-Time Bar Passage
- Preview Of The 2026-27 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Ultimate Bar Passage
- Preview Of The 2026-27 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Employment
In this post, I project next year's 2026-27 U.S. News law school rankings using the current 2025-26 methodology. This projection uses ABA data for student outcomes, which account for 58% of the rankings (First-Time Bar Passage (18%), Ultimate Bar Passage (7%), and Employment (33%)) and uses data from the current 2025-26 U.S. News Rankings for all other categories: Admissions (10%): Median LSAT (5%), Median UGPA (4%), Acceptance Rate (1%); Resources (7%): Student-Faculty Ratio (5%), Student-Librarian Ratio (2%); and Quality Assessment (25%): dean|faculty (12.5%), lawyer|judge (12.5%). Readers should take these rankings with a grain of salt, as data will change in the other 42% of the rankings, U.S. News may tinker with the methodology, and I may have made errors in these projections.
| School | Projected 2026-2027 Rank | Current 2025-2026 Rank | Difference |
| Chicago | 1 | 3 | +2 |
| Stanford | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Virginia | 3 | 4 | +1 |
| Duke | 4 | 6 | +2 |
| Penn | 4 | 5 | +1 |
| Yale | 4 | 1 | -3 |
| Harvard | 7 | 6 | -1 |
| Michigan | 7 | 8 | +1 |
| NYU | 7 | 8 | +1 |
| Columbia | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Northwestern | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Cornell | 12 | 18 | +6 |
| Texas | 12 | 14 | +2 |
| UC-Berkeley | 12 | 13 | +1 |
| UCLA | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| Vanderbilt | 12 | 14 | +2 |
| Washington Univ. | 17 | 14 | -3 |
| Georgetown | 18 | 14 | -4 |
| North Carolina | 19 | 18 | -1 |
| Notre Dame | 19 | 20 | +1 |
| Minnesota | 21 | 20 | -1 |
| Texas A&M | 21 | 22 | +1 |
| Boston College | 23 | 25 | +2 |
| Boston Univ. | 23 | 22 | -1 |
| George Washington | 23 | 31 | +8 |
| Georgia | 26 | 22 | -4 |
| Wake Forest | 26 | 26 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 26 | 28 | +2 |
| USC | 29 | 26 | -3 |
| Florida | 30 | 38 | +8 |
| Alabama | 31 | 31 | 0 |
| BYU | 31 | 28 | -3 |
| Emory | 31 | 38 | +7 |
| Florida State | 31 | 38 | +7 |
| UC-Irvine | 31 | 38 | +7 |
| Washington & Lee | 31 | 36 | +5 |
| Baylor | 37 | 43 | +6 |
| Fordham | 37 | 38 | +1 |
| George Mason | 37 | 31 | -6 |
| Iowa | 37 | 36 | -1 |
| Ohio State | 37 | 28 | -9 |
| SMU | 42 | 43 | +1 |
| William & Mary | 42 | 31 | -11 |
| Arizona State | 44 | 45 | +1 |
| Utah | 44 | 31 | -13 |
| Pepperdine | 46 | 55 | +9 |
| Villanova | 46 | 48 | +2 |
| Illinois | 48 | 48 | 0 |
| Indiana (Maurer) | 48 | 46 | -2 |
| Kansas | 48 | 50 | +2 |
| Temple | 48 | 50 | +2 |
| Univ. of Washington | 48 | 50 | +2 |
| School | Projected 2026-2027 Rank | Current 2025-2026 Rank | Difference |
| UC-Davis | 53 | 50 | -3 |
| Colorado | 54 | 46 | -8 |
| San Diego | 55 | 57 | +2 |
| Houston | 56 | 63 | +7 |
| Tennessee | 56 | 55 | -1 |
| Connecticut | 58 | 50 | -8 |
| Marquette | 58 | 59 | +1 |
| Missouri-Columbia | 58 | 57 | -1 |
| Oklahoma | 58 | 59 | +1 |
| Cardozo | 62 | 63 | +1 |
| Penn State | 62 | 59 | -3 |
| South Carolina | 62 | 63 | +1 |
| University of Arizona | 62 | 59 | -3 |
| Wayne State | 62 | 71 | +9 |
| Georgia State | 67 | 79 | +12 |
| Kentucky | 67 | 68 | +1 |
| Loyola-L.A. | 67 | 71 | +4 |
| Nebraska | 67 | 71 | +4 |
| Northeastern | 67 | 68 | +1 |
| Pittsburgh | 67 | 79 | +12 |
| Richmond | 67 | 71 | +4 |
| St. John's | 67 | 63 | -4 |
| Catholic | 75 | 71 | -4 |
| Florida Int'l | 75 | 84 | +9 |
| Maryland | 75 | 63 | -12 |
| Miami | 75 | 92 | +17 |
| Tulane | 75 | 71 | -4 |
| Drexel | 80 | 79 | -1 |
| Louisiana State | 80 | 84 | +4 |
| Loyola-Chicago | 80 | 79 | -1 |
| Cincinnati | 83 | 71 | -12 |
| SUNY-Buffalo | 83 | 94 | +11 |
| Texas Tech | 83 | 88 | +5 |
| Belmont | 86 | 84 | -2 |
| Duquesne | 86 | 92 | +6 |
| Montana | 86 | 99 | +13 |
| Oregon | 86 | 94 | +8 |
| Seton Hall | 86 | 71 | -15 |
| St. Louis | 86 | 94 | +8 |
| UC Law-SF | 86 | 88 | +2 |
| Drake | 93 | 84 | -9 |
| UNLV | 93 | 79 | -14 |
| Denver | 95 | 88 | -7 |
| Stetson | 95 | 99 | +4 |
| Brooklyn | 97 | 117 | +20 |
| Case Western | 97 | 107 | +10 |
| Maine | 97 | 88 | -9 |
| American | 100 | 104 | +4 |
| Chicago-Kent | 100 | 107 | +7 |
| Regent | 100 | 94 | -6 |
| Arkansas-Fayetteville | 103 | 115 | +12 |
| Dayton | 103 | 107 | +4 |
| Mercer | 103 | 107 | +4 |
| Missouri-Kansas City | 103 | 99 | -4 |
| New Mexico | 103 | 107 | +4 |
| Rutgers | 103 | 104 | +1 |
| St. Thomas (MN) | 103 | 94 | -9 |
| Chapman | 110 | 104 | -6 |
| Hofstra | 110 | 125 | +15 |
| Howard | 110 | 127 | +17 |
| Lewis & Clark | 110 | 99 | -11 |
| Michigan State | 110 | 115 | +5 |
| Washburn | 110 | 121 | +11 |
| Albany | 116 | 117 | +1 |
| New York Law School | 116 | 121 | +5 |
| Wyoming | 116 | 117 | +1 |
| Hawaii | 119 | 99 | -20 |
| Samford | 119 | 107 | -12 |
| Tulsa | 119 | 127 | +8 |
| Indiana (McKinney) | 122 | 107 | -15 |
| Mississippi | 122 | 121 | -1 |
| South Dakota | 122 | 127 | +5 |
| Syracuse | 122 | 107 | -15 |
| West Virginia | 122 | 117 | -5 |
| South Texas | 127 | 138 | +11 |
| Campbell | 128 | 134 | +6 |
| Cleveland State | 128 | 121 | -7 |
| Louisville | 128 | 146 | +18 |
| DePaul | 131 | 133 | +2 |
| Seattle | 131 | 127 | -4 |
| Suffolk | 131 | 127 | -4 |
| Akron | 134 | 127 | -7 |
| Loyola-New Orleans | 134 | 134 | 0 |
| Northern Kentucky | 134 | 134 | 0 |
| Gonzaga | 137 | 141 | +4 |
| Quinnipiac | 137 | 141 | +4 |
| Detroit Mercy | 139 | 134 | -5 |
| Memphis | 139 | 146 | +7 |
| Arkansas-Little Rock | 141 | 139 | -2 |
| Baltimore | 141 | 139 | -2 |
| Elon | 141 | 158 | +17 |
| New Hampshire | 141 | 125 | -16 |
| Idaho | 145 | 141 | -4 |
| Pace | 145 | 141 | -4 |
| Creighton | 147 | 148 | +1 |
| Santa Clara | 147 | 156 | +9 |
| Liberty | 149 | 141 | -8 |
| Pacific | 149 | 163 | +14 |
| Toledo | 149 | 150 | +1 |
| Vermont | 152 | 163 | +11 |
| St. Mary's | 153 | 148 | -5 |
| North Dakota | 154 | 161 | +7 |
| Northern Illinois | 154 | 150 | -4 |
| San Francisco | 154 | 166 | +12 |
| Ave Maria | 157 | 153 | -4 |
| Oklahoma City | 157 | 158 | +1 |
| Widener (DE) | 157 | 169 | +12 |
| North Texas | 160 | 163 | +3 |
| Southwestern | 160 | 154 | -6 |
| Illinois-Chicago | 162 | 169 | +7 |
| Massachusetts | 162 | 161 | -1 |
| Willamette | 162 | 150 | -12 |
| Capital | 165 | 174 | +9 |
| Faulkner | 165 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Mississippi College | 165 | 158 | -7 |
| Ohio Northern | 165 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| St. Thomas (FL) | 165 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Western New England | 165 | 166 | +1 |
| CUNY | 171 | 156 | -15 |
| Charleston | 172 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Mitchell | Hamline | 173 | 154 | -19 |
| New England | 173 | 166 | -7 |
| Roger Williams | 173 | 169 | -4 |
| Touro | 173 | 169 | -4 |
| Nova | 177 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Appalachian | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Barry | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Cal-Western | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Cooley | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| District of Columbia | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Florida A&M | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Inter-American (PR) | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| John Marshall (GA) | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Lincoln Memorial | Tier 2 | 169 | N/A |
| North Carolina Central | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Pontifical Catholic (PR) | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Puerto Rico | Tier 2 | 175 | N/A |
| Southern | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Southern Illinois | Tier 2 | 175 | N/A |
| Texas Southern | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Western State | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | N/A |
| Widener (PA) | Tier 2 | 175 | N/A |
For another projected ranking, see Derek Muller (Notre Dame), Projecting the 2026-2027 USNWR Law School Rankings (To Be Released Around April 2026.
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