The University of Tennessee College of Law’s strengths as a top public law school, a national leader in legal clinical training and growing force in business and corporate law are reflected in newly released rankings of best law schools.
The U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 edition of Best Graduate Schools released this week ranks the College of Law 60th overall among American Bar Association-approved law schools in the U.S.
“These rankings are important to the law community of alumni, students and prospective students, but they are an imperfect attempt to quantify the quality of law schools,” College of Law Interim Dean Doug Blaze said.
“Our improvement in the rankings is an indication that we have been more successful in helping our students pass the bar exam and secure career positions after graduation, and we are certainly pleased with that success,” Blaze said. “It benefits all of us.”
The school has continually scored high among the top public law schools in the country over the past decade, placing 31st this year. Legal clinical training is ranked 19th overall and business/corporate law at UT is ranked 25th.
The U.S. News & World Report rankings for law schools are based on a weighted average of 21 measures of quality, with peer assessment and placement success receiving the most weight. Other areas of analysis include median Law School Admission Test scores and incoming undergraduate cumulative grade point average, acceptance rates, library resources, faculty to student ratios and reputational assessments by practicing lawyers and judges.
Specialty rankings are determined based on peer assessments by law school faculty who teach in each area.
The rankings also list the average indebtedness of 2020 J.D. graduates who incurred law school debt. Within the top 60 law schools, Tennessee is the ninth most affordable. Of the ranked schools throughout the nation, Tennessee is the 20th most affordable for students.
Learn more by visiting law.utk.edu.