In the current 2026-27 methodology, employment counts 33% in the overall ranking:
Outcomes 10 months after graduation (weighted 33%): This measures the extent to which graduates obtain the most in-demand jobs – namely those that are long term, full time and requiring (or taking advantage of) bar passage. Graduates with full-time, long-term, school-funded fellowships earned maximum credit if the role required bar passage or a J.D. Maximum credit was also assigned to law school graduates pursuing additional graduate studies.
This indicator was derived from the average of the 2023 and 2024 graduating class outcomes 10 months after graduation. Specifically, U.S. News took a nonweighted average by aggregating the score it previously computed from the 2023 graduating class with the newly calculated 2024 class score, then divided it by two.
For informational purposes, U.S. News published in the rankings section of profiles a 10-months-after-graduation employment percentage outcome that equals the proportion of 2024 graduates in all the job types that U.S. News weighs 100% for the purpose of calculating a weighted average in the 10-month employment ranking indicator. However, the actual value used in the rankings is an index that also awards partial credit for other outcomes values, and is described below. As previously stated, U.S. News used data for two graduating classes only in the ranking calculations.
Jobs receive reduced, partial credit if they were short-term, part time, funded by the law school, or don’t require passing the bar. The exact weight assigned to a job varies based on its specific combination of these factors.
Law schools are required to report these highly differentiated outcome measures each year to the ABA. For a more detailed explanation, see Notes on Employment Rates below.
Below is the projected 2027-28 U.S. News ranking of the 10-month “maximum employment” of the classes of 2024 and 2025. For comparison, the current 2026-27 U.S. News ranking of the 10-month “maximum employment” of the classes of 2023 and 2024 are also included.
| Rank | School | 2027-2028 Employment | 2026-2027 Employment | 2026-2027 Rank |
| 1 | Texas A&M | 100.00% | 100.00% | 1 |
| 2 | Pepperdine | 99.75% | 96.92% | 23 |
| 3 | Geo. Wash. | 99.55% | 98.45% | 9 |
| 4 | SMU | 99.39% | 98.70% | 7 |
| 5 | N. Carolina | 99.25% | 98.73% | 6 |
| 6 | Washington U. | 99.09% | 99.82% | 2 |
| 7 | Wake Forest | 99.04% | 98.79% | 5 |
| 8 | Chicago | 99.03% | 98.56% | 8 |
| 9 | Duke | 98.81% | 98.41% | 10 |
| 10 | Cornell | 98.72% | 97.00% | 20 |
| 11 | Virginia | 98.68% | 98.98% | 3 |
| 12 | NYU | 98.59% | 97.59% | 16 |
| 13 | Penn | 98.58% | 98.98% | 4 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | 98.50% | 98.10% | 11 |
| 15 | Iowa | 98.23% | 97.37% | 18 |
| 16 | San Diego | 97.95% | 95.89% | 33 |
| 17 | Northwestern | 97.94% | 97.99% | 12 |
| 18 | Texas | 97.94% | 96.62% | 29 |
| 19 | Michigan | 97.74% | 97.78% | 13 |
| 20 | Florida | 97.55% | 96.22% | 30 |
| 21 | UC-Berkeley | 97.55% | 96.02% | 31 |
| 22 | Baylor | 97.37% | 97.65% | 14 |
| 23 | Columbia | 97.37% | 96.93% | 22 |
| 24 | UCLA | 97.17% | 97.11% | 19 |
| 25 | G. Mason | 97.11% | 97.38% | 17 |
| 26 | Florida State | 97.03% | 96.84% | 24 |
| 27 | Kentucky | 96.82% | 96.62% | 28 |
| 28 | Illinois | 96.73% | 93.75% | 52 |
| 29 | Wisconsin | 96.71% | 96.70% | 26 |
| 30 | Boston U. | 96.64% | 96.99% | 21 |
| 31 | Stanford | 96.63% | 96.81% | 25 |
| 32 | Wayne State | 96.53% | 95.55% | 35 |
| 33 | Alabama | 96.39% | 94.64% | 43 |
| 34 | Kansas | 96.32% | 94.42% | 45 |
| 35 | BC | 95.98% | 96.65% | 27 |
| 36 | Georgetown | 95.87% | 95.24% | 39 |
| 37 | Wash & Lee | 95.85% | 97.65% | 15 |
| 38 | Missouri-Col. | 95.71% | 95.28% | 38 |
| 39 | SUNY-Buffalo | 95.62% | 94.31% | 47 |
| 40 | Harvard | 95.60% | 95.50% | 37 |
| 41 | Georgia | 95.59% | 94.75% | 41 |
| 42 | Minnesota | 95.59% | 95.71% | 34 |
| 43 | Yale | 95.55% | 95.21% | 40 |
| 44 | USC | 95.52% | 93.51% | 53 |
| 45 | Utah | 95.25% | 92.26% | 66 |
| 46 | Notre Dame | 95.04% | 95.97% | 32 |
| 47 | Regent | 94.49% | 91.59% | 75 |
| 48 | Arizona State | 94.32% | 92.60% | 62 |
| 49 | Florida Int’l | 94.25% | 90.55% | 85 |
| 50 | Wm. & Mary | 94.25% | 92.16% | 70 |
| Rank | School | 2027-2028 Employment | 2026-2027 Employment | 2026-2027 Employment Rank |
| 51 | Colorado | 94.24% | 91.15% | 78 |
| 52 | Catholic | 94.22% | 92.76% | 59 |
| 53 | S. Carolina | 94.17% | 93.50% | 54 |
| 54 | Oklahoma | 94.16% | 92.21% | 67 |
| 55 | UC-Davis | 94.13% | 92.16% | 69 |
| 56 | Villanova | 94.01% | 93.18% | 55 |
| 57 | Marquette | 93.96% | 93.04% | 58 |
| 58 | Temple | 93.81% | 93.79% | 51 |
| 59 | Richmond | 93.70% | 89.36% | 98 |
| 60 | Ind. Maurer | 93.56% | 91.19% | 77 |
| 61 | Ohio State | 93.50% | 92.52% | 63 |
| 62 | UC-Irvine | 93.42% | 94.72% | 42 |
| 63 | BYU | 93.37% | 94.32% | 46 |
| 64 | Loyola-Chic. | 93.22% | 92.49% | 64 |
| 65 | Nebraska | 93.21% | 93.15% | 57 |
| 66 | Fordham | 93.21% | 93.85% | 49 |
| 67 | Mercer | 93.11% | 91.72% | 73 |
| 68 | St. Louis | 92.72% | 90.38% | 89 |
| 69 | Emory | 92.68% | 94.56% | 44 |
| 70 | St. John’s | 92.61% | 93.82% | 50 |
| 71 | Cardozo | 92.50% | 90.96% | 79 |
| 72 | Miami | 92.49% | 89.21% | 100 |
| 73 | Stetson | 92.31% | 92.64% | 61 |
| 74 | Washburn | 92.30% | 91.95% | 72 |
| 75 | Houston | 92.28% | 92.74% | 60 |
| 76 | Texas Tech | 92.21% | 90.91% | 81 |
| 77 | Montana | 92.19% | 95.51% | 36 |
| 78 | Georgia State | 92.16% | 90.26% | 90 |
| 79 | Loyola-L.A. | 91.89% | 90.40% | 88 |
| 80 | Hofstra | 91.85% | 90.62% | 84 |
| 81 | Drexel | 91.81% | 92.38% | 65 |
| 82 | Albany | 91.67% | 91.61% | 74 |
| 83 | Elon | 91.57% | 87.26% | 116 |
| 84 | Tulsa | 91.50% | 92.13% | 71 |
| 85 | Duquesne | 90.92% | 92.16% | 68 |
| 86 | Detroit Mercy | 90.76% | 88.06% | 109 |
| 87 | St Thom MN | 90.61% | 91.20% | 76 |
| 88 | Brooklyn | 90.52% | 88.24% | 106 |
| 89 | South Texas | 90.49% | 88.21% | 107 |
| 90 | Tennessee | 90.45% | 89.97% | 93 |
| 91 | LSU | 90.40% | 90.96% | 80 |
| 92 | Penn State | 90.23% | 93.17% | 56 |
| 93 | Belmont | 90.17% | 89.35% | 99 |
| 94 | Seton Hall | 90.16% | 88.11% | 108 |
| 95 | U. Arizona | 89.90% | 90.24% | 91 |
| 96 | Drake | 89.80% | 89.73% | 94 |
| 97 | Tulane | 89.59% | 90.02% | 92 |
| 98 | Rutgers | 89.57% | 88.36% | 104 |
| 99 | UNLV | 89.45% | 88.30% | 105 |
| 100 | U. Washington | 89.38% | 88.63% | 102 |
| 101 | Creighton | 89.37% | 82.32% | 143 |
| 102 | South Dakota | 89.35% | 94.08% | 48 |
| 103 | Memphis | 89.06% | 81.85% | 145 |
| 104 | Connecticut | 89.05% | 90.83% | 82 |
| 105 | Northeastern | 88.99% | 89.54% | 97 |
| 106 | UC Law SF | 88.94% | 85.70% | 126 |
| 107 | Pittsburgh | 88.68% | 90.66% | 83 |
| 108 | Missouri-KC | 88.64% | 90.46% | 87 |
| 109 | NYLS | 88.36% | 90.54% | 86 |
| 110 | Cincinnati | 88.35% | 87.96% | 111 |
| 111 | Maryland | 88.32% | 87.73% | 114 |
| 112 | Quinnipiac | 88.32% | 83.45% | 135 |
| 113 | Mississippi | 88.31% | 86.35% | 121 |
| 114 | Akron | 88.25% | 88.01% | 110 |
| 115 | Samford | 88.15% | 88.44% | 103 |
| 116 | Pace | 88.15% | 87.78% | 113 |
| 117 | Mich. State | 88.03% | 84.33% | 133 |
| 118 | Suffolk | 87.78% | 85.42% | 127 |
| 119 | Wyoming | 87.55% | 88.68% | 101 |
| 120 | Loyola-NO | 87.07% | 86.80% | 118 |
| 121 | Oregon | 86.56% | 85.86% | 123 |
| 122 | Ark.-Fayett. | 86.44% | 84.69% | 131 |
| 123 | Louisville | 86.25% | 83.28% | 136 |
| 124 | Dayton | 86.21% | 89.64% | 95 |
| 125 | Campbell | 86.10% | 82.35% | 140 |
| 126 | Chapman | 85.84% | 89.61% | 96 |
| 127 | Widener (DE) | 85.83% | 81.64% | 146 |
| 128 | North Dakota | 85.54% | 81.33% | 149 |
| 129 | DePaul | 85.49% | 80.51% | 155 |
| 130 | Ohio Northern | 85.22% | 74.58% | 175 |
| 131 | Case Western | 85.04% | 86.57% | 120 |
| 132 | St Thom FL | 84.75% | 79.07% | 161 |
| 133 | Ind. McKinney | 84.65% | 85.81% | 124 |
| 134 | Liberty | 84.45% | 78.06% | 164 |
| 135 | St. Mary’s | 84.25% | 81.26% | 150 |
| 136 | N. Kentucky | 84.17% | 87.47% | 115 |
| 137 | West Virginia | 84.12% | 87.15% | 117 |
| 138 | Chicago-Kent | 84.11% | 85.73% | 125 |
| 139 | Lewis & Clark | 84.07% | 81.52% | 148 |
| 140 | Hawaii | 84.01% | 83.51% | 134 |
| 141 | Ave Maria | 83.74% | 81.05% | 152 |
| 142 | OKC | 83.73% | 80.84% | 153 |
| 143 | Baltimore | 83.69% | 82.32% | 142 |
| 144 | Seattle | 83.65% | 80.73% | 154 |
| 145 | Idaho | 83.59% | 82.35% | 141 |
| 146 | Miss. College | 83.53% | 78.61% | 163 |
| 147 | Cleveland St. | 83.47% | 84.87% | 130 |
| 148 | Ark.-LR | 83.28% | 82.92% | 139 |
| 149 | Western State | 83.02% | 80.21% | 156 |
| 150 | Denver | 82.96% | 85.06% | 128 |
| 151 | Gonzaga | 82.69% | 82.24% | 144 |
| 152 | American | 82.45% | 84.90% | 129 |
| 153 | Maine | 82.41% | 86.78% | 119 |
| 154 | New Mexico | 81.91% | 83.23% | 137 |
| 155 | Pacific | 81.64% | 79.12% | 159 |
| 156 | Charleston | 81.51% | 78.65% | 162 |
| 157 | Syracuse | 81.02% | 84.43% | 132 |
| 158 | San Francisco | 80.83% | 74.17% | 177 |
| 159 | Touro | 80.47% | 81.08% | 151 |
| 160 | N. Illinois | 80.40% | 85.89% | 122 |
| 161 | Vermont | 79.90% | 81.62% | 147 |
| 162 | S. Illinois | 79.67% | 75.09% | 172 |
| 163 | Howard | 79.33% | 87.89% | 112 |
| 164 | Southwestern | 79.14% | 74.60% | 174 |
| 165 | Widener (PA) | 79.02% | 75.35% | 171 |
| 166 | Santa Clara | 79.00% | 75.64% | 169 |
| 167 | Illinois-Chic. | 78.71% | 77.25% | 166 |
| 168 | UMass | 77.90% | 79.11% | 160 |
| 169 | Willamette | 77.41% | 75.82% | 167 |
| 170 | UNH | 77.40% | 79.94% | 158 |
| 171 | Toledo | 77.24% | 83.10% | 138 |
| 172 | Roger Wms. | 76.83% | 77.72% | 165 |
| 173 | North Texas | 76.14% | 75.39% | 170 |
| 174 | Cal-Western | 76.02% | 74.95% | 173 |
| 175 | Faulkner | 75.66% | 80.14% | 157 |
| 176 | Lincoln Mem. | 75.64% | 70.34% | 186 |
| 177 | Florida A&M | 75.19% | 70.69% | 184 |
| 178 | Capital | 74.95% | 73.71% | 179 |
| 179 | CUNY | 74.72% | 70.38% | 185 |
| 180 | Barry | 73.24% | 70.99% | 183 |
| 181 | Nova | 71.30% | 71.01% | 182 |
| 182 | D.C. | 71.22% | 72.47% | 180 |
| 183 | J. Marshall GA | 71.10% | 59.75% | 190 |
| 184 | Mitch. | Ham. | 70.93% | 72.21% | 181 |
| 185 | New England | 70.31% | 74.04% | 178 |
| 186 | NC Central | 69.77% | 68.09% | 187 |
| 187 | Appalachian | 69.74% | 74.22% | 176 |
| 188 | W. New Eng. | 68.99% | 75.78% | 168 |
| 189 | Cooley | 67.44% | 64.89% | 188 |
| 190 | Puerto Rico | 56.30% | 54.89% | 191 |
| 191 | Texas South. | 54.07% | 61.90% | 189 |
| 192 | Inter-Amer. | 51.70% | 50.22% | 193 |
| 193 | Southern | 51.18% | 54.21% | 192 |
| 194 | Pont. Catholic | 33.86% | 33.20% | 194 |
Notes on Employment Rates
Due to enhanced ABA reporting rules, law schools must provide more information about the many types of employment that law graduates gain. Schools are required to report to the ABA each year how many of their most recent graduates had various types of jobs lined up after graduation.
As in previous years, the ABA mandated that schools report law school and university positions separately from all other nonuniversity-funded positions to make the difference between the two types of jobs very clear. U.S. News continued to use this standard for data collection for the classes of 2023 and 2024 for 10 months after graduation, which is the ABA-required time frame. The ABA chose that 10-month period to provide enough time for J.D. graduates to take the bar exam in the state of their choosing, get results and look for a job.
These ABA standards require law schools to go into great detail by reporting 45 different job types, broken down by employment status and duration. That includes, for example, whether each graduate’s employment was long term – defined as lasting at least a year – or short term, whether it was full or part time, and whether it required passage of a bar exam.
U.S. News collected these same statistics when schools were surveyed for the annual rankings and gathered the same data on members of the class who were employed 10 months after graduation. U.S. News also collected data on students’ jobs when the law school was unable to determine length of employment or full- or part-time status, as well as when employment status was unknown.
U.S. News incorporated this rich 10-months-after-graduation data into its computation of the employment measure for the classes of 2023 and 2024 at 10 months after graduation. Placement success was calculated by assigning various weights to the number of graduates employed in 45 of these different types of post-J.D. jobs, employment statuses and durations.
The 100% weighted jobs were full-time jobs that lasted at least a year and for which bar passage was required, or a full-time job that lasted at least a year where a J.D. degree was an advantage.
Plus, U.S. News gives full weight to school-funded full-time, long-term fellowships where bar passage is required or where the J.D. degree is an advantage. U.S. News also gives full weight to those enrolled in graduate studies in the ABA employment outcomes grid.
Less weight went to full-time, long-term jobs that were professional or nonprofessional and did not require bar passage, and to positions where start dates were deferred. U.S. News assigned the lowest weight to part-time, short-term jobs and those with unknown status or duration.
In terms of all law school and university positions, U.S. News continues to apply a discount for some law school-funded jobs which aren’t fully weighted in our rankings calculations.
These weighted employment figures were divided by the number of graduates, then used to produce a weighted employment value for the 2023 and 2024 graduating J.D. classes, and then averaged. They were used in the ranking formula only and are not published.
To reduce the year-to-year volatility in this indicator given the small sizes of some graduating J.D. classes, this 10-months-after-graduation indicator was based on the average of the 2023 and 2024 graduating classes’ outcomes 10 months after graduation.
Actual rates for the other types of positions of each school’s latest graduating class of 2024 appear in the profiles.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to receive a daily email with links to legal education posts on TaxProf Blog, email me here.
