The Princeton Review recently released its annual law school ranking, covering the best 168 law schools in the country (but disregarding the fact that there are ~200 law schools with varying degrees of accreditation by the ABA). Our condolences to the ~30 law schools that were unable to make the cut for the Princeton Review’s 2025 edition of the rankings — it must sting knowing that your institution is part of the small sliver of law schools that aren’t among the “best.”
We’ve focused on one of the 14 rankings categories that we thought people would be the most interested in: The law schools where graduates have the best career prospects. It wasn’t long ago that the Princeton Review’s loose definition of “career prospects” meant an entire class of law graduates could be putting the “bar” in “barista,” but thankfully the methodology was changed, and these career rankings mean something now.
Princeton Review’s “Best Career Prospects” results are now based on highly relevant data reported by law school administrators, including median starting salaries, the percentage of students employed in jobs requiring bar passage (and not employed by the school), and the percentage of students who were able to pass the bar exam on their first try. The Princeton Review also relies on responses from student surveys.
Here are the top 10 law schools on the Princeton Review’s “Best Career Prospects” list for 2025. Things changed quite a bit for T14 schools this year:
1. Duke Law (ranked #4 last year)
2. Columbia Law (unranked last year)
3. Michigan Law (ranked #3 last year)
4. Chicago Law (unranked last year)
5. UVA Law (ranked #2 last year)
6. Penn Law (unranked last year)
7. Northwestern Law (ranked #5 last year)
8. Harvard Law (ranked #7 last year)
9. NYU Law (ranked #1 last year)
10. UC Berkeley Law (ranked #9 last year)
What happened to once again create such shuffling in the rankings? For the answer, let’s return to Princeton Review’s methodology. Each law school was given a “career rating,” which on top of all of the statistical data reported by law school administrators, includes the following information:
This rating measures the confidence students have in their school’s ability to lead them to fruitful employment opportunities, as well as the school’s own record of having done so. This rating takes into account both student survey responses and school-reported statistical data. We ask students about how much the law program encourages practical experience; the opportunities for externships, internships, and clerkships; and how prepared to practice law they expect to feel after graduating.
Princeton Review relies heavily on students’ feedback over actual data — but this time, it looks like things turned out a little more accurately than they usually do. In the past, people who felt like they’d get great jobs seemed to be more important than the people who were actually able to get great jobs. This is why many schools that are incredibly successful when it comes to graduates getting jobs were left off the list last year — schools like Columbia, Chicago, and Penn, for example. This year, things are looking a more in line with reality, aside from the order in which these schools are ranked. (Click here to see which law schools were the best for getting Biglaw jobs.)
Did your law school make the cut? If it did, do you think it was ranked fairly? If it didn’t make the list for best career prospects, do you agree with that assessment? Please email us or text us (646-820-8477) with your thoughts.
Best Law Schools 2025 [Princeton Review]
Best Career Prospects 2025 [Princeton Review]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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