U.S. News law school rankings, every list since 2010

Every U.S. News list since 2010, through the 2026-27 list released in spring 2026. Tap any school to see what's behind the number: the LSAT it takes, what it charges, how many students pay full price, and where its grads get hired. Those numbers come straight from each school's ABA filings.

Updated October 2, 2026. Ranks from U.S. News & World Report. School numbers from each school's ABA 509 filings.

Along the bottom: the year each list came out. Tap a line or a row to see the numbers behind that school's rank.

Every school, every year, through the 2026-27 list

School	LSAT	Big Law	Since 2010-11	2026-27	2025-26	2024-25	2023-24	2022-23	2021-22	2020-21	2019-20	2018-19	2017-18	2016-17	2015-16	2014-15	2013-14	2012-13	2011-12	2010-11
Stanford	173	40%	+2	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	3
Yale	174	31%	-1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Chicago	174	56%	+3	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5
Penn	173	64%	+3	4	5	4	4	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Virginia	173	60%	+6	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	7	7	9	10
Harvard	174	51%	-4	6	6	4	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	3	2	2
NYU	172	54%	-1	7	8	9	5	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Duke	171	68%	+4	7	6	4	5	11	10	12	10	11	10	11	8	10	11	11	11	11
Columbia	173	65%	-5	9	10	8	8	4	4	4	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Michigan	171	50%	0	9	8	9	10	10	10	9	9	8	8	8	11	10	9	10	7	9
Northwestern	173	64%	+2	9	10	9	10	13	12	9	10	11	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	11
Vanderbilt	170	48%	+5	12	14	19	16	17	16	18	18	17	17	16	17	16	15	16	16	17
Cornell	173	72%	0	13	18	14	13	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	13	13
UCLA	171	50%	+2	13	12	13	14	15	14	15	15	16	15	17	16	16	17	15	16	15
WashU	175	39%	+6	13	14	16	20	16	16	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	23	18	19
UC Berkeley	170	52%	-9	16	13	12	10	9	9	9	10	9	12	8	8	9	9	7	9	7
Texas	172	42%	-1	16	14	16	16	17	16	16	16	15	14	15	15	15	15	16	14	15
Georgetown	171	55%	-4	18	14	14	15	14	15	14	14	14	15	14	14	13	14	13	14	14
North Carolina	168	25%	+10	18	18	20	22	23	24	27	34	45	39	38	34	31	31	38	30	28
Notre Dame	170	40%	+2	20	20	20	27	25	22	22	21	24	20	22	22	26	23	22	23	22
Boston College	168	44%	+8	20	25	28	29	37	29	31	27	27	26	30	34	36	31	29	27	28
Minnesota	171	16%	0	22	20	16	16	21	22	21	20	20	23	22	20	20	19	19	20	22
Texas A&M	169	19%	·	22	22	26	29	46	53	60	83	80	92	111	149	·	·	·	·	·
Boston	170	36%	-2	24	22	24	27	17	20	20	23	22	23	20	26	27	29	26	22	22
BYU	170	23%	+18	24	28	28	22	23	29	37	39	41	46	38	34	36	44	39	42	42
USC	169	55%	-8	26	26	20	16	20	19	18	17	19	19	19	20	20	18	18	18	18
George Washington	168	30%	-6	26	31	41	35	25	27	23	22	24	30	25	22	20	21	20	20	20
Georgia	169	18%	+2	26	22	20	20	29	27	31	27	32	30	33	31	29	33	34	35	28
Wisconsin	167	12%	+2	26	28	36	40	43	29	38	34	27	30	33	31	31	33	35	35	28
Ohio State	168	13%	+4	30	28	26	22	30	40	38	34	32	30	30	34	31	36	39	35	34
Wake Forest	166	24%	+8	30	26	25	22	37	41	42	31	32	36	40	47	31	36	44	39	38
Iowa	164	16%	-6	32	36	36	35	28	29	27	27	27	20	20	22	27	26	29	27	26
George Mason	169	11%	+10	32	31	28	32	30	41	42	45	41	41	45	42	46	41	39	40	42
William & Mary	166	18%	-6	34	31	36	45	30	35	31	39	37	41	33	29	24	33	35	27	28
Washington and Lee	167	21%	0	34	36	33	40	35	35	31	34	26	28	40	42	43	26	24	30	34
Florida	169	25%	+13	34	38	28	22	21	21	24	31	41	41	48	47	49	46	48	47	47
Florida State	166	16%	+20	34	38	48	56	47	48	50	48	47	48	50	50	45	48	51	50	54
Baylor	164	7%	+30	34	43	46	49	58	58	50	48	50	51	55	56	51	54	51	56	64
UC Irvine	169	29%	·	34	38	42	35	37	35	27	23	21	28	28	30	·	·	·	·	·
Emory	166	33%	-18	40	38	42	35	30	29	24	26	22	22	22	19	19	23	24	30	22
Alabama	167	20%	-2	40	31	33	35	25	25	31	25	27	26	28	22	23	21	29	35	38
Fordham	168	42%	-8	42	38	33	29	37	35	27	39	37	36	37	34	36	38	29	30	34
Southern Methodist	167	28%	+6	42	43	42	45	58	52	56	52	50	46	45	46	42	48	51	50	48
Arizona State	165	11%	-6	44	45	36	32	30	25	24	27	27	25	25	26	31	29	26	40	38
Utah	166	8%	-2	44	31	28	32	37	43	45	47	54	44	45	42	49	41	47	42	42
Illinois	166	6%	-25	46	48	36	43	35	29	31	39	37	44	40	41	40	47	35	23	21
Pepperdine	164	12%	+6	46	55	52	45	52	46	47	51	·	72	65	52	54	61	49	54	52
Kansas	162	10%	+21	46	50	46	40	67	70	70	67	74	65	65	67	68	86	89	79	67
Indiana Maurer	164	17%	-22	49	46	42	45	43	43	38	34	32	30	25	34	29	25	26	23	27
Villanova	164	20%	+18	49	48	48	43	56	53	62	71	65	77	74	87	93	98	101	84	67
Temple	165	18%	+23	49	50	54	54	63	53	56	48	47	53	50	52	61	56	58	61	72

Who climbed and who slid

Only 12 schools were top 14 on both the 2010-11 and 2026-27 lists. Only 21 held a top 25 spot at both ends. Further down, schools swing 30 spots in a few years, and the lists below show who.

Biggest climbs, 2010-11 to 2026-27

+34Missouri #93 to #59
+31Nebraska #93 to #62
+30Baylor #64 to #34
+28Catholic #98 to #70
+24Richmond #86 to #62
+23Temple #72 to #49
+21Kansas #67 to #46
+20Florida State #54 to #34
+18BYU #42 to #24
+18Villanova #67 to #49

Biggest drops, 2010-11 to 2026-27

−44Case Western #56 to #100
−43UC Law SF #42 to #85
−28Arizona #42 to #70
−26Cincinnati #56 to #82
−25Illinois #21 to #46
−24UC Davis #28 to #52
−22Indiana Maurer #27 to #49
−22Tulane #48 to #70
−19Hawaii #72 to #91
−18Emory #22 to #40

What the rank leaves out

U.S. News boils each school down to one number. It mixes jobs, bar passage, reputation surveys, and admissions stats, and it has changed that mix more than once, so a school can drop 10 spots while nothing changes for its students.

The rank also says nothing about your price. Two students can sit in the same class at the same school, one paying full sticker and the other paying close to nothing. Honestly, the gap between them is usually their LSAT score.

So every school on this page opens up to its ABA numbers. Check the share of students paying full price and the Big Law hiring rate next to the rank before you decide anything.

How to actually use this

Rank matters most at the very top. The top 14 or so place grads into big firms and federal clerkships all over the country. Below that, most schools hire close to home, so pick a school in the city where you want to practice.

Look at 15 years of a school's rank, and give a single year less weight. A school that's held the same range since 2010 is a safer bet than one that jumped 20 spots last spring.

Then find the median LSAT for each school you like. If you're above it, you're the student they pay to get. If you're below it, you're the student who pays.

Quick answers

What is the #1 law school in the 2026-27 U.S. News rankings?

Stanford. It is ranked #1 on the 2026-27 list, released in spring 2026.

Which law schools are in the top 14 for 2026-27?

In rank order: Stanford (1); Yale (2); Chicago (2); Penn (4); Virginia (4); Harvard (6); NYU (7); Duke (7); Columbia (9); Michigan (9); Northwestern (9); Vanderbilt (12); Cornell (13); UCLA (13); WashU (13). Ties share a number, so the list can run past 14 schools.

How much have law school rankings changed since 2010?

Only 12 schools held a top 14 spot on both the 2010-11 and 2026-27 lists, and only 21 stayed top 25 at both ends. The biggest climb among schools ranked both years was Missouri, from #93 to #59. The biggest drop was Case Western, from #56 to #100.

Has Yale always been the #1 law school?

Almost. Yale was #1 on 16 of the 17 lists from 2010-11 to 2026-27, sharing the spot with Stanford on 3 of them. The 2026-27 list is the first since at least 2010 without Yale at #1: Stanford holds it alone.

What are the top 25 law schools for 2026-27?

In rank order: Stanford (1); Yale (2); Chicago (2); Penn (4); Virginia (4); Harvard (6); NYU (7); Duke (7); Columbia (9); Michigan (9); Northwestern (9); Vanderbilt (12); Cornell (13); UCLA (13); WashU (13); UC Berkeley (16); Texas (16); Georgetown (18); North Carolina (18); Notre Dame (20); Boston College (20); Minnesota (22); Texas A&M (22); Boston (24); BYU (24).

What LSAT score do you need for a top 14 law school?

Look at the median, the score in the middle of the class. On the 2026-27 top 14, medians in each school's 2025 ABA filing run from 170 at Vanderbilt to 175 at WashU. Scoring above a school's median is what puts you in line for its biggest scholarships.

Why does each list have two years?

U.S. News names each list for the admissions cycle it serves. The list released in spring 2026 is the 2026-27 list, the one to use if you apply this fall. Before 2023 U.S. News printed only the second year, so its 2023 list is the 2022-23 list here. One name per list, all 17 of them.

The rank is fixed. Your LSAT score isn't.

A few more points can move you from full price to a big scholarship. Our coaches all scored 170+, and you can start with a free LSAT tutoring lesson.

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Ranks: U.S. News & World Report, Best Law Schools, the 2010-11 through 2026-27 lists. Each list is named for the admissions cycle it serves, so the list released in spring 2026 is 2026-27. Before 2023 U.S. News printed only the second year. Schools U.S. News didn't rank with a number show a dot. School numbers: each school's ABA Standard 509 Required Disclosures, 2011 to 2025 filings. Tuition is full-time, nonresident, per year. "Pay full price" is the share of students with no scholarship. "Big Law" is the share of grads in full-time, long-term jobs at firms of 501+ lawyers. A dot means the school didn't report it that year. Bar passage wasn't reported in this data for 2012 to 2017.