Yale loses No. 1 spot in US law school rankings after 36 years
Yale Law School has lost its long-held position as the top law school in the United States, marking the first time in 36 years it has not ranked No. 1.
According to the latest rankings released by U.S. News & World Report, Stanford Law School has claimed the top spot outright after previously sharing it with Yale since 2023, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Yale is now tied for second place with the University of Chicago Law School, which moved up from No. 3 in the previous rankings.
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A slight decline in employment outcomes appears to have contributed to Yale’s fall. Data shows that 94.9% of its graduates secured long-term, full-time jobs within 10 months of graduation—down from 95.5% the year before.
Other key indicators, including bar passage rates and median LSAT scores, remained largely unchanged.
A spokesperson for Yale said the school remains focused on delivering a high-quality legal education while expanding access to the profession.
This year’s rankings also saw notable changes among the elite “T-14” law schools—traditionally the top 14 institutions in the country.
The University of California, Berkeley School of Law dropped out of the T-14, falling to No. 16, while Georgetown University Law Center slipped to No. 18.
Meanwhile, Cornell Law School re-entered the top tier at No. 13, and Vanderbilt University Law School climbed to No. 12.
Other top institutions, including Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, and New York University School of Law, saw smaller movements within the rankings.
The rankings have grown more unpredictable in recent years following methodology changes introduced by U.S. News. Several elite schools, including Yale and Berkeley, had previously boycotted the rankings, arguing that earlier criteria negatively impacted diversity and affordability.
The updated system places greater emphasis on data reported to the American Bar Association, meaning even small shifts in employment or bar passage rates can significantly impact rankings.
Despite the change at the top, the latest results reinforce the intense competition among elite law schools, where even marginal differences can reshape the hierarchy.
By Aysel Mammadzada
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