Best Law Schools
Ranked in 2017 | Best Law Schools Rankings Methodology
A career in law starts with finding the school that fits you best. With the U.S. News rankings of the top law schools, narrow your search by location, tuition, school size and test scores.
| Rank | School name | Tuition and fees | Enrollment (full-time) |
LSAT scores (25th-75th percentile)
|
Acceptance rate
|
Employed 10 months after graduation2
|
Assessment score by lawyers/judges (out of 5)
|
Bar passage rate (first-time test takers)
|
GPA (25th-75th percentile)
|
Employed at graduation2
|
Peer assessment score (out of 5)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#1
Overall Score: Overall Score: 100 out of 100.
|
Yale University
New Haven, CT |
$59,865 per year (full-time) | 632 | ||||||||
|
#2
Overall Score: Overall Score: 98 out of 100.
|
Stanford University
Stanford, CA |
$58,236 per year (full-time) | 579 | ||||||||
|
#3
Overall Score: Overall Score: 96 out of 100.
|
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA |
$60,638 per year (full-time) | 1,771 | ||||||||
|
#4
Overall Score: Overall Score: 94 out of 100.
|
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL |
$59,541 per year (full-time) | 603 | ||||||||
|
#5
Overall Score: Overall Score: 93 out of 100.
|
Columbia University
New York, NY |
$65,260 per year (full-time) | 1,234 | ||||||||
|
#6
Overall Score: Overall Score: 90 out of 100.
|
New York University
New York, NY |
$61,622 per year (full-time) | 1,369 | ||||||||
|
#7
Overall Score: Overall Score: 88 out of 100.
|
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
$60,988 per year (full-time) | 749 | ||||||||
|
#8Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 85 out of 100.
|
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI |
$55,012 per year (in-state, full-time); $58,012 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 929 | ||||||||
|
#8Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 85 out of 100.
|
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA |
$56,300 per year (in-state, full-time); $59,300 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 893 | ||||||||
|
#10Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 84 out of 100.
|
Duke University
Durham, NC |
$59,912 per year (full-time) | 676 | ||||||||
|
#10Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 84 out of 100.
|
Northwestern University (Pritzker)
Chicago, IL |
$59,850 per year (full-time) | 661 | ||||||||
|
#12
Overall Score: Overall Score: 82 out of 100.
|
University of California—Berkeley
Berkeley, CA |
$48,703 per year (in-state, full-time); $52,654 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 925 | ||||||||
|
#13
Overall Score: Overall Score: 81 out of 100.
|
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY |
$61,485 per year (full-time) | 605 | ||||||||
|
#14
Overall Score: Overall Score: 75 out of 100.
|
University of Texas—Austin
Austin, TX |
$33,995 per year (in-state, full-time); $50,480 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 898 | ||||||||
|
#15Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 74 out of 100.
|
Georgetown University
Washington, DC |
$57,576 per year (full-time) | 1,721 | ||||||||
|
#15Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 74 out of 100.
|
University of California—Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA |
$45,338 per year (in-state, full-time); $51,832 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 979 | ||||||||
|
#17
Overall Score: Overall Score: 73 out of 100.
|
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN |
$53,150 per year (full-time) | 572 | ||||||||
|
#18
Overall Score: Overall Score: 72 out of 100.
|
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO |
$53,506 per year (full-time) | 701 | ||||||||
|
#19
Overall Score: Overall Score: 70 out of 100.
|
University of Southern California (Gould)
Los Angeles, CA |
$60,339 per year (full-time) | 649 | ||||||||
|
#20Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 67 out of 100.
|
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA |
$24,930 per year (in-state, full-time); $43,214 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 420 | ||||||||
|
#20Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 67 out of 100.
|
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN |
$54,297 per year (full-time) | 599 | ||||||||
|
#22
Overall Score: Overall Score: 66 out of 100.
|
Emory University
Atlanta, GA |
$53,350 per year (full-time) | 872 | ||||||||
|
#23Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 65 out of 100.
|
Boston University
Boston, MA |
$51,210 per year (full-time) | 710 | ||||||||
|
#23Tie
Overall Score: Overall Score: 65 out of 100.
|
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN |
$43,244 per year (in-state, full-time); $51,590 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 555 | ||||||||
|
#25
Overall Score: Overall Score: 64 out of 100.
|
Arizona State University (O'Connor)
Phoenix, AZ |
$27,226 per year (in-state, full-time); $43,896 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 718 | ||||||||
U.S. News Law School Compass
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