In this post, I project next year’s 2027-28 U.S. News law school rankings using the current 2026-27 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 2026-27 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 2027-2028 Rank | Current 2026-2027 Rank | Difference |
| Chicago | 1 | 2 | +1 |
| Stanford | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Yale | 3 | 2 | -1 |
| Duke | 4 | 7 | +3 |
| Harvard | 4 | 6 | +2 |
| NYU | 4 | 7 | +3 |
| Penn | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Virginia | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Columbia | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Cornell | 9 | 13 | +4 |
| Michigan | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| UC-Berkeley | 9 | 16 | +7 |
| Northwestern | 13 | 9 | -4 |
| Texas | 13 | 16 | +3 |
| Vanderbilt | 13 | 12 | -1 |
| UCLA | 16 | 13 | -3 |
| Georgetown | 17 | 18 | +1 |
| Washington Univ. | 17 | 13 | -4 |
| North Carolina | 19 | 18 | -1 |
| Texas A&M | 20 | 22 | +2 |
| USC | 20 | 26 | +6 |
| Minnesota | 22 | 22 | 0 |
| Notre Dame | 22 | 20 | -2 |
| Boston College | 24 | 20 | -4 |
| Boston University | 24 | 24 | 0 |
| BYU | 26 | 24 | -2 |
| Florida | 26 | 34 | +8 |
| George Wash. | 26 | 26 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 26 | 26 | 0 |
| Alabama | 30 | 40 | +10 |
| Georgia | 30 | 26 | -4 |
| Illinois | 30 | 46 | +16 |
| Iowa | 30 | 32 | +2 |
| Ohio State | 34 | 30 | -4 |
| SMU | 34 | 42 | +8 |
| Wake Forest | 34 | 30 | -4 |
| Baylor | 37 | 34 | -3 |
| Florida State | 37 | 34 | -3 |
| Washington & Lee | 37 | 34 | -3 |
| William & Mary | 37 | 34 | -3 |
| George Mason | 41 | 32 | -9 |
| Pepperdine | 41 | 46 | +5 |
| Utah | 41 | 44 | +3 |
| Arizona State | 44 | 44 | 0 |
| Colorado | 45 | 54 | +9 |
| Emory | 45 | 40 | -5 |
| Fordham | 45 | 42 | -3 |
| Kansas | 45 | 46 | +1 |
| UC-Davis | 45 | 52 | +7 |
| UC-Irvine | 45 | 34 | -11 |
| School | Projected 2027-2028 Rank | Current 2026-2027 Rank | Difference |
| Indiana-Maurer | 51 | 49 | -2 |
| San Diego | 51 | 54 | +3 |
| Temple | 51 | 49 | -2 |
| U. Washington | 54 | 52 | -2 |
| Villanova | 54 | 49 | -5 |
| Richmond | 56 | 62 | +6 |
| Tennessee | 57 | 57 | 0 |
| Cardozo | 58 | 59 | +1 |
| Miami | 58 | 70 | +12 |
| Oklahoma | 58 | 62 | +4 |
| Wayne State | 58 | 62 | +4 |
| Houston | 62 | 54 | -8 |
| Marquette | 62 | 59 | -3 |
| Connecticut | 64 | 58 | -6 |
| Florida Int’l | 64 | 77 | +13 |
| Georgia State | 64 | 77 | +13 |
| Maryland | 64 | 62 | -2 |
| Missouri-Colum. | 64 | 59 | -5 |
| Seton Hall | 64 | 70 | +6 |
| South Carolina | 64 | 62 | -2 |
| UC Law SF | 64 | 85 | +21 |
| U. Arizona | 64 | 70 | +6 |
| Catholic | 73 | 70 | -3 |
| Loyola-Chicago | 73 | 70 | -3 |
| Nebraska | 73 | 62 | -11 |
| Kentucky | 76 | 70 | -6 |
| Loyola-L.A. | 76 | 70 | -6 |
| Belmont | 78 | 85 | +7 |
| Drexel | 78 | 82 | +4 |
| Northeastern | 78 | 77 | -1 |
| St. John’s | 78 | 62 | -16 |
| SUNY-Buffalo | 78 | 82 | +4 |
| Texas Tech | 78 | 85 | +7 |
| Tulane | 78 | 70 | -8 |
| UNLV | 78 | 91 | +13 |
| Cincinnati | 86 | 82 | -4 |
| Penn State | 86 | 62 | -24 |
| Pittsburgh | 86 | 77 | -9 |
| Duquesne | 89 | 85 | -4 |
| St. Louis | 89 | 91 | +2 |
| Regent | 91 | 91 | 0 |
| Rutgers | 91 | 100 | +9 |
| Brooklyn | 93 | 105 | +12 |
| Case Western | 93 | 100 | +7 |
| Louisiana State | 93 | 85 | -8 |
| Oregon | 93 | 91 | -2 |
| Mercer | 97 | 108 | +11 |
| Michigan State | 97 | 108 | +11 |
| Stetson | 97 | 91 | -6 |
| Ark.ansas-Fayett. | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| Drake | 100 | 91 | -9 |
| Lewis & Clark | 100 | 112 | +12 |
| Dayton | 103 | 112 | +9 |
| Denver | 103 | 91 | -12 |
| Hawaii | 103 | 91 | -12 |
| Louisville | 103 | 124 | +21 |
| Missouri-KC | 103 | 100 | -3 |
| Montana | 103 | 90 | -13 |
| St. Thomas (MN) | 103 | 105 | +2 |
| Syracuse | 103 | 100 | -3 |
| Hofstra | 111 | 117 | +6 |
| Maine | 111 | 91 | -20 |
| NYLS | 111 | 112 | +1 |
| Samford | 111 | 122 | +11 |
| Wyoming | 111 | 112 | +1 |
| American | 116 | 108 | -8 |
| Seattle | 116 | 128 | +12 |
| Campbell | 118 | 131 | +13 |
| Chicago-Kent | 118 | 105 | -13 |
| DePaul | 118 | 131 | +13 |
| Washburn | 118 | 108 | -10 |
| Albany | 122 | 120 | -2 |
| Mississippi | 122 | 124 | +2 |
| Quinnipiac | 122 | 136 | +14 |
| South Texas | 122 | 128 | +6 |
| Suffolk | 122 | 128 | +6 |
| Tulsa | 122 | 120 | -2 |
| Chapman | 128 | 112 | -16 |
| Indiana-McKinney | 128 | 124 | -4 |
| New Mexico | 130 | 117 | -13 |
| Creighton | 131 | 144 | +13 |
| Elon | 131 | 144 | +13 |
| Gonzaga | 131 | 144 | +13 |
| Howard | 131 | 117 | -14 |
| Memphis | 131 | 140 | +9 |
| Liberty | 136 | 144 | +8 |
| Akron | 137 | 131 | -6 |
| Baltimore | 137 | 136 | -1 |
| Cleveland State | 137 | 136 | -1 |
| Loyola-NO | 137 | 135 | -2 |
| South Dakota | 137 | 122 | -15 |
| West Virginia | 137 | 124 | -13 |
| Detroit Mercy | 143 | 142 | -1 |
| San Francisco | 143 | 156 | +13 |
| Santa Clara | 143 | 150 | +7 |
| Arkansas-LR | 146 | 140 | -6 |
| New Hampshire | 146 | 136 | -10 |
| N. Kentucky | 146 | 131 | -15 |
| St. Mary’s | 149 | 150 | +1 |
| St. Thomas (FL) | 149 | 168 | +19 |
| Widener (DE) | 149 | 154 | +5 |
| Pace | 152 | 142 | -10 |
| Pacific | 152 | 152 | 0 |
| Idaho | 154 | 148 | -6 |
| North Dakota | 155 | 156 | +1 |
| Oklahoma City | 155 | 156 | +1 |
| Vermont | 155 | 154 | -1 |
| Miss. College | 158 | 161 | +3 |
| North Texas | 159 | 159 | 0 |
| Toledo | 159 | 149 | -10 |
| Mitchell | Hamline | 161 | 152 | -9 |
| Southwestern | 161 | 161 | 0 |
| Western State | 161 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Ave Maria | 164 | 164 | 0 |
| Charleston | 165 | 171 | +6 |
| Illinois-Chicago | 165 | 167 | +2 |
| Willamette | 165 | 168 | +3 |
| CUNY | 168 | 171 | +3 |
| Touro | 168 | 164 | -4 |
| Capital | 170 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Roger Williams | 170 | 171 | +1 |
| Southern Illinois | 170 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Faulkner | 173 | 164 | -9 |
| Florida A&M | 173 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Ohio Northern | 173 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Appalachian | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Barry | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Cal-Western | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Cooley | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| D.C. | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Inter-American | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| J. Marshall GA | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Lincoln Memorial | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Massachusetts | #176-194 | 171 | N/A |
| New England | #176-194 | 168 | N/A |
| NC Central | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Northern Illinois | #176-194 | 161 | N/A |
| Nova | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Pont. Catholic | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Puerto Rico | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Southern | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| Texas Southern | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
| W. New England | #176-194 | 159 | N/A |
| Widener (PA) | #176-194 | #175-#194 | N/A |
For another projected ranking, see Derek Muller (Notre Dame), Projecting the 2027 USNWR Law School Rankings (To Be Released Around April 2027).
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Projected 2027-28 U.S. News Law School Rankings: First-Time Bar Passage
- Projected 2027-28 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Ultimate Bar Passage
- Projected 2027-28 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Employment
- 2026-27 U.S. News Law School Peer Reputation Rankings (And Overall Rankings)
- 2026-27 U.S. News Omnibus Specialty Rankings
- 2026-27 U.S. News Specialty Rankings:
- 2026-27 U.S. News Omnibus Specialty Rankings v. Overall Rankings
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