Law schools are less reputable than they were 25 years ago, according to data collected from U.S. News & World Report during that time span. Well, at least law professors are grading them as such.
Robert Jones, associate professor of law, Northern Illinois University College of Law, published a report on law schools’ academic reputation scores from 1998 to 2022.
It found that 29 of the law schools (15.1% of the aggregate) reported increases of 0.3% or more, while nearly half recorded decreases.
“Why have only 15% of these law schools’ academic reputation scores upturned by 0.3% or more during the last 25 years?” Jones asked. “I think the principal answer is that legal education is a competitive marketplace, as law schools compete for professors, students and resources, while also competing in terms of outputs, such as bar passage and employment rates.”
Not to mention, Jones believes the rankings themselves “are a zero sum game.” After all, a law school’s rankings can’t move up, for instance, by five places, unless four other law schools’ rankings decline.
“As a result, law schools can’t afford to be excessively lenient or generous while assessing their peers,” Jones said. “It is in a law school’s own interest to use exacting and demanding standards as they assess their peer schools.”
Jones uncovered a discernible correlation between the academic reputation scores’ trendline and the number of applicants to a law school. For example, if applications decline, scores tend to diminish as well. On the other hand, if applications increase, scores will likely rise.
“It’s not a perfect correlation, to be sure, but it is discernable,” he said. “So there is no way to predict what will happen to the scores without knowing what’s on the horizon for legal education more generally.”
In 2013, Jones analyzed academic reputation scores for the first time. Back then, he compared the scores, which were determined by academics, with the scores that judges and practitioners agreed upon. There was a considerable difference, as the scores formulated by judges and practitioners were much higher than the scores by academics.
“In contrast to the low number of law schools that managed to raise their scores by 0.3% or more, 83 law schools were able to improve their judge/attorney scores by 0.3% or more between 1998 and 2013 — 48% of the data set,” he said. “And only 13 law schools noticed declines in their judge/attorney scores during that same timeframe.”
Jones said that if small law schools are seeking to increase their academic reputation scores, they could consider merging or affiliating with larger universities that have more name recognition.
“At the same time, law schools’ leaders should think about talking to leaders at institutions that have successfully raised their scores over the last 25 years,” Jones stated. “They may have a variety of recommendations, which other law schools can implement on a short- and long-term basis.”
