We’re still a few months out from the release of the latest iteration of the U.S. News law school rankings, but we know that many are eager to see what the future may hold. For those of you who can’t get enough of the rankings, we’ve got a surprise for you.
Today, we unveil a new rankings prediction, courtesy of noted law school consultant Mike Spivey of the Spivey Consulting Group. With 58% of the data available, Spivey was able to calculate the top-ranked schools for the upcoming U.S. News law school rankings using the magazine’s current methodology.
Before we get to the ranking, Spivey cautions that his predictions may not be completely accurate for a number of reasons:
[O]ur model won’t be entirely precise, especially given that U.S. News can always change metric weights or methodology. For example, there is ample reason to believe U.S. News likes to keep Yale ranked at #1 and very well might make a slight metric or weight change to do so. In fact, we’d predict they will do just that (our model is simply following the current 58% data and not amending it with our instincts). We do project little methodological change this year….
That being said, what could the new edition of U.S. News law school rankings look like at the very top? Here are the top 11 schools — of course there are ties here, would you expect anything less from U.S. News? — based the calculations he’s run:
1. Stanford University
2. Yale University
3. University of Chicago
4. Harvard University
4. University of Pennsylvania (Carey)
4. University of Virginia
7. Duke University
8. Michigan University
8. Columbia University
8. New York University
8. Northwestern University (Pritzker)
No more tie for No. 1?! Stanford overtakes Yale as the best law school in the country?! Yale has been ranked as the top law school in America for more than 30 years. This would be a historic change. U.S. News would never… or would they? And Michigan, Columbia, NYU, Northwestern in a four-way tie! This is just too much.
Will any or all of these things happen? That’s unclear, but given Spivey’s vast experience with the rankings, these could all be serious possibilities. “Our model with the complete data has proven to be incredibly precise,” Spivey said. “Last year, our model predicted 177 schools exactly where they landed, and the remaining were only off by +/-1.”
Stay tuned for Spivey’s predictions for the Top 100, due out in December following the release of the 2024 ABA-required 509 disclosures. The complete U.S. News law school rankings will likely be published sometime this spring. Stay tuned for what could be a major change!
Top 11 U.S News Law Schools Modeled 2025 Rankings [Spivey Consulting]
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 X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.