Top 2008 Law School Rankings

Pulled from U.S. News and World Report, the Gourman Report, and Educational Quality Rankings

 

Parents typically believe that law school is a ticket to security—good money, prestige, and all that. The only trouble is, that\'s not always true. Government attorneys with experience only earn from $34,000 to $55,000 with a senior-level range of $43,000 to $80,000. On the other hand, some law firm partners and those in private practice earn between $100,000 and $400,000 or more annually. So, if you are interested in attending law school, the table below lists the top law schools in the United States. If a school you are interested in didn\'t make the list this year that is alright. You can still get an excellent education at another school. However, for the most part, the schools in this list produce the highest number of legal graduates that pass the bar exam and become lawyers. In fact, the top ten schools have the greatest chance of producing some of the top Federal judges in the future.

A* indicates that this school is tied with another law school for that position.

2008 USN
Rank
(March 29, 2008)
Law School Gourman
Report
Educational
Quality
Rankings
2006 GPA
25th-75th
Percentile
2006 LSAT
25th-75th
Percentile
Student/
Faculty
Ratio
1 Yale U (CT)  3 1 3.77-3.97 170-177 7.4
2* Harvard U (MA)  1 2* 3.75-3.95 170-175 10.3
2* Stanford U (CA)  6 4 3.74-3.95 167-172 8.3
4 Columbia U (NY)  7 5 3.56-3.81 169-174 9.5
5 New York U   11 6 3.54-3.86 169-173 10.4
6 UC Berkeley (Boalt)  5 7 3.64-3.90 163-170 12.3
7* U Chicago   4 2* 3.49-3.76 169-173 10.3
7* U Pennsylvania   9 11 3.52-3.86 166-171 12.1
9* Northwestern U (IL)  14 14* 3.40-3.80 166-172 10.4
9* U Michigan-Ann Arbor   2 8 3.49-3.79 167-170 12.7
9* U Virginia   16 10 3.51-3.87 167-171 13.3
12 Cornell U (NY)  10 14* 3.54-3.78 166-168 11.2
12* Duke U (NC)  8 17 3.61-3.82 167-170 13.9
14 Georgetown U (DC) 17 12 3.44-3.82 167-171 13.2
15 Vanderbilt U (TN) 15 18 3.54-3.83 164-168 12.9
16* UCLA  13 14* 3.54-3.85 163-169 12.9
16* U Texas-Austin 12 10* 3.38-3.80 163-168 14.2
18 U Southern California 27 12 3.46-3.72 165-167 12.7
19 Washington U (MO)   29* 3.30-3.70 163-167 11.6
20 George Washington U 32 22* 3.40-3.86 163-168 14.9
21 Boston U   19* 3.51-3.81 164-166 12.3
22* Emory U (GA)   29* 3.28-3.62 162-166 10.8
22* U Minnesota-Twin Cities 19 21 3.28-3.78 163-167 12.1
22* U Notre Dame (IN) 18 46* 3.40-3.76 164-167 14.7
25 Washington & Lee U   32* 3.25-3.81 161-167 10.6
26 Boston College   32* 3.44-3.78 162-165 12.6
27* Fordham U (NY)   26* 3.41-3.74 163-167 14.6
27* U Illinois (UIUC)   22* 3.18-3.80 160-167 12.4
27* U Iowa   19* 3.41-3.86 159-163 13.0
30* William and Mary (VA)   37* 3.44-3.82 159-166 14.8
30* U Washington     3.47-3.82 159-165 10.2
32* Ohio State U 8 32* 3.34-3.81 158-164 12.6
32* U Alabama     3.31-3.84 160-165 9.8
32* U Colorado-Boulder   40* 3.33-3.83 160-165 12.2
32* U Georgia   31 3.42-3.86 159-165 14.8
36* Indiana U-Bloomington   40* 3.03-3.67 158-165 11.4
36* U Wisconsin-Madison   22* 3.32-3.74 157-163 13.4
38* George Mason U (VA)   26* 3.11-3.86 159-166 16.7
38* U Arizona (Rogers)   40* 3.23-3.73 157-164 11.7
38* UC (Hastings)   11 29* 3.36-3.74 160-165 16.2
38* U North Carolina   32* 3.45-3.80 157-164 15.7
42* U Maryland     3.47-3.84 160-166 11.4
42* Wake Forest U (NC)     3.17-3.68 159-166 10.3
44* Tulane U (LA)   40* 3.37-3.75 158-163 15.4
44* UC Davis     32* 3.38-3.75 159-165 12.4
46* American U (DC)   46* 3.14-3.59 161-163 13.8
46* Brigham Young U (UT)     3.51-3.85 162-167 18.9
46* Southern Methodist U     3.28-3.84 157-165 14.7
46* U Connecticut     3.24-3.64 160-164 11.0
46* U Florida   46* 3.44-3.83 156-162 15.7
51 U Utah     3.31-3.77 156-162 9.9
52* Arizona State U   40* 3.30-3.81 156-162 9.4
52* U Cincinnati     3.39-3.87 157-162 9.6
52* U Tennessee-Knoxville     3.35-3.82 157-162 13.1
55* Baylor U (TX)     3.38-3.78 157-162 16.6
55* Florida State U     3.30-3.77 158-162 13.7
55* U Houston     3.30-3.79 158-163 13.9
55* Yeshiva U (Cardozo)   28 3.30-3.70 162-166 16.2
59* Pepperdine U (CA)     3.42-3.73 158-162 16.9
59* Temple U (PA)      3.27-3.65 160-164 12.8
59* U Kentucky     3.36-3.79 156-162 15.0
59* U Missouri-Columbia     3.26-3.80 156-161 17.2
63* Brooklyn Law School   46* 3.17-3.63 162-165 19.9
63* Case Western Reserve     3.17-3.60 156-160 13.7
63* Loyola (Los Angeles)      3.22-3.65 159-163 15.8
66* IIT (Chicago-Kent)   37* 3.20-3.77 157-164 11.5
66* Seton Hall U (NJ)     3.22-3.65 157-162 15.4
68* Indiana U-Indianapolis     3.36-3.78 151-158 17.0
68* U New Mexico     3.09-3.72 152-159 10.0
68* U Oklahoma     3.35-3.78 154-160 11.9
68* U Richmond (VA)     3.23-3.66 158-162 15.6
68* Villanova U (PA)      3.14-3.63 160-163 16.0
73* Lewis and Clark (OR)     3.15-3.73 157-163 10.6
73* U Kansas     3.09-3.77 155-160 12.1
73* U Nebraska-Lincoln     3.50-3.82 153-159 12.5
73* U Pittsburgh     3.11-3.65 158-161 14.1
77* Georgia State U     3.11-3.62 158-162 12.8
77* Pennsylvania State U     3.02-3.69 156-159 11.5
77* Rutgers-Camden (NJ)     3.09-3.65 160-162 14.1
77* Rutgers-Newark (NJ)     3.08-3.55 155-161 14.8
77* Santa Clara U (CA)      3.16-3.59 156-161 15.9
82* Loyola U Chicago     3.35-3.75 159-163 14.5
82* Seattle U     3.17-3.62 155-161 14.4
82* U Hawaii     3.09-3.62 155-160 8.5
82* U Miami (FL)     3.21-3.63 155-160 19.1
82* U Oregon     3.27-3.68 156-160 17.6
82* U San Diego   22* 3.10-3.53 160-164 14.0
88* Catholic U (DC)     3.08-3.57 156-160 13.6
88* DePaul U (IL)     3.10-3.66 159-162 13.6
88* Louisiana State U     3.16-3.70 155-159 16.2
88* Northeastern U (MA)     3.14-3.61 156-162 16.9
88* St. John\'s U (NY)     3.19-3.74 157-162 16.4
88* U Denver (Sturm)     3.15-3.66 155-160 18.7
88* U Nevada-Las Vegas     3.20-3.66 156-161 14.0
95* Marquette U (WI)     3.20-3.65 155-159 17.5
95* St. Louis U     3.24-3.74 154-159 17.6
95* U South Carolina     3.04-3.69 156-161 14.3
95* University of the Pacific     3.13-3.60 155-159 13.5
99 Hofstra     3.11-3.69 154-159 15.5
100* Mercer U (GA)     3.20-3.69 155-158 13.3
100* Stetson U (FL)     3.48-3.71 153-157 17.9
100* Syracuse University     3.09-3.59 152-156 12.7
100* U at Buffalo-SUNY     3.19-3.65 154-159 15.6
100* U Louisville (KY)     3.17-3.73 155-159 14.4


 

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