2026–2027 US News Law School Rankings Are Out

Yale loses its 38-year grip on #1. Georgetown falls out of the T14. And 92% of a law school’s rank is influenced by two numbers: LSAT and GPA.

The T14 Is Now the T15

Yale drops to #2 for the first time since 1987. Georgetown and UC Berkeley fall out of the T14 for the first time in rankings history. Texas, which joined the T14 last year, exits just as quickly. Cornell returns to #13, a position it had held continuously from 1990 until last year. 

The T14 now has 15 schools, down from 17 last year:

School	2025	2026	Delta
Stanford	1	1	-
Chicago	3	2	+1
Yale	1	2	-1
Virginia	4	4	-
Penn	5	4	+1
Harvard	6	6	-
Duke	6	7	-1
NYU	8	7	+1
Columbia	10	9	+1
Northwestern	10	9	+1
Michigan	8	9	-1
Vanderbilt	14	12	+2
Cornell	18	13	+5
UCLA	12	13	-1
WashU	14	13	+1
______________________________________________
UC Berkeley	13	16	-3
Texas	14	16	-2
Georgetown	14	18	-4

Biggest Movers: Volatility Is the Point

Three years ago, Louisville dropped 37 spots. Last year, 10 more. This year, they gained 22. They aren’t alone.

School	2025	2026	Delta
Miami	92	70	+22
Louisville	146	124	+22
IU McKinney	107	124	-17
Willamette	150	168	-18

Three Schools, One Number

Nebraska, Wayne State, and Richmond each climbed 9 spots this cycle, all landing at #62. Three schools. Three different states. Three completely different student bodies, faculties, and employment outcomes. One identical rank change. If you needed a single data point to explain why treating these numbers as meaningful is a mistake, this is it. To understand why, it helps to know what U.S. News is actually measuring.

U.S. News Ranking Methodology

Here’s how they determined the 2026–2027 law school rankings:

Employment & Bar Passage (58% total)

• Employment: 33%

• First-Time Bar Passage: 18%

• Ultimate Bar Passage: 7%

Reputation Scores (25% total)

• Peer Assessment: 12.5%

• Lawyer/Judge Assessment: 12.5%

Selectivity (10% total)

• LSAT/GRE: 5%

• UGPA: 4%

• Acceptance Rate: 1%

Faculty & Library Resources (7% total)

• Student-Faculty Ratio: 5%

• Library Resources: 2%

Higher GPAs and LSAT scores mean higher bar passage rates, better employment outcomes, and stronger reputational scores. In total, 92% of a school’s ranking is driven by these two factors, directly or indirectly. Focus on raising both and watch your scholarship dollars increase. 

Bottom Line

Ignore the rankings. Focus on your LSAT. It's the single most important variable in the law school admissions process. Get started for free, and we’ll show you how to crush it!

For more: U.S. News Rankings