These are my law school tier rankings, organized by employment outcomes. Schools within each group are listed alphabetically; their position in the list carries no ranking.
The full tier-by-tier analysis explains the methodology, tradeoffs, and school-specific exceptions.
Jump to a group: Tier 1 · Tier 2 · Tier 3 · Tier 4 · Tier 5 · Tier 6A · Tier 6B · Tier 7A · Tier 7B · Tier 8A · Tier 8B · Tier 8C · Provisional
Tier 1: Elite-default
13 schools
- Berkeley
- Chicago
- Columbia
- Cornell
- Duke
- Harvard
- Michigan
- Northwestern
- NYU
- Penn
- Stanford
- Virginia
- Yale
Tier 2: Elite-strong
7 schools
- Georgetown
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- UCLA
- USC
- Vanderbilt
- WashU
Tier 3: Market-anchored strong
3 schools
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Fordham
Tier 4: Elite-viable upper
8 schools
- Emory
- Florida
- Illinois
- North Carolina
- SMU
- UC Irvine
- Wake Forest
- Washington & Lee
Tier 5: Elite-viable lower
6 schools
- Alabama
- BYU
- George Washington
- Georgia
- Houston
- William & Mary
Tier 6A: Selective upper
7 schools
- Howard
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- Texas A&M
- Tulane
- UC Davis
- UC Law SF
Tier 6B: Selective lower
14 schools
- Baylor
- Brooklyn
- Cardozo
- George Mason
- Indiana (Maurer)
- Loyola Chicago
- Loyola LA
- Miami
- Northeastern
- Ohio State
- Pittsburgh
- St. John’s
- Temple
- Villanova
Tier 7A: Regional upper
17 schools
- Arizona
- Arizona State
- Case Western
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- FIU
- Florida State
- Georgia State
- Hofstra
- Kansas
- Pepperdine
- Saint Louis
- San Diego
- Seton Hall
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Tier 7B: Regional lower
26 schools
- American
- Catholic
- Chapman
- Chicago-Kent
- Cincinnati
- Drexel
- Duquesne
- Kentucky
- Louisville
- LSU
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York Law School
- Penn State (Dickinson)
- Richmond
- Rutgers
- San Francisco
- Santa Clara
- South Carolina
- Stetson
- Suffolk
- UMKC
- UNLV
- West Virginia
Tier 8A: Local upper
30 schools
- Albany
- Arkansas
- Belmont
- Buffalo
- Campbell
- Cleveland State
- Creighton
- Dayton
- Denver
- DePaul
- Detroit Mercy
- Indiana (McKinney)
- Marquette
- Memphis
- Mercer
- Michigan State
- Mississippi College
- Montana
- North Dakota
- Northern Kentucky
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pace
- Regent
- Samford
- South Texas
- Syracuse
- Texas Tech
- Utah
- Wayne State
Tier 8B: Local lower
32 schools
- Akron
- Arkansas Little Rock
- Baltimore
- Barry
- California Western
- Drake
- Elon
- FAMU
- Gonzaga
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois Chicago
- Lewis & Clark
- Loyola New Orleans
- Maine
- McGeorge
- New Hampshire
- North Texas (Dallas)
- Nova Southeastern
- Oklahoma City
- Seattle
- South Dakota
- Southwestern
- St. Mary’s
- St. Thomas (FL)
- St. Thomas (MN)
- Touro
- Tulsa
- Vermont
- Washburn
- Widener (DE)
- Wyoming
Tier 8C: Minimal access
31 schools
- Appalachian
- Atlanta John Marshall
- Ave Maria
- Capital
- Charleston
- Cooley
- CUNY
- Faulkner
- Inter American (PR)
- Liberty
- Lincoln Memorial
- Mitchell Hamline
- NCCU
- New England Law | Boston
- New Mexico
- Northern Illinois
- Ohio Northern
- Pontifical Catholic (PR)
- Puerto Rico
- Quinnipiac
- Roger Williams
- Southern Illinois
- Southern University
- Texas Southern
- Toledo
- UDC
- UMass Dartmouth
- Western New England
- Western State
- Widener Commonwealth
- Willamette
Provisional: Jacksonville
Jacksonville is not assigned to a tier in this version. The source analysis holds it out because its Class of 2025 had only 13 graduates; another graduating cohort is needed before assigning a rung.
How to read the rankings
A tier describes a school’s observed outcomes, not the result any individual student is guaranteed to get. Geography, scholarships, total cost, and your career goals still matter. Use the groups to compare schools with similar outcomes, then examine the schools and offers themselves.
For the full methodology, employment measures, cost analysis, charts, and model assumptions, read How Much Is Law School Worth: A Tier-by-Tier Analysis.