USD Law Jumps in 2010 US News Rankings

After some painful years living in the doldrums of the US News rankings, the University of San Diego School of Law has made the largest one-year jump in its history of being ranked.  USD rose from #82 to #61 on the newest list, which has just been leaked online.  This jump is also the largest of any school in the Top 100, and brings the School of Law back to within striking distance of the Top 50.  US News will post the official rankings on their website later this week. 

Also, for the first time, US News has separately ranked the 87 accredited law schools with part-time JD programs, and it’s more good news for USD.  The School of Law now officially has the 7th best part-time program in the country, and the best anywhere west of the Eastern Seaboard!  Finally, USD sneaks into the top 50 for school diversity, thanks in large part to all of my brilliant Asian classmates. 

So, all-in-all, great news (for a change!) when it comes to rankings.  I don’t know what the big jump can be attributed to, but I’m sure we’ll hear more about it in the week to come.  Since Dean Cole took the brunt of the criticism for the huge drop a couple of years ago, I think it’s only fair to thank him for getting our school back to a higher position than before that drop even happened.  So, from the Bright Coast, thanks, Dean Cole!  With any luck, we could be well into the 50’s a year from now.

Here are pics of the 2010 rankings, thanks to top-law-schools.com.  Our San Diego counterparts are both in Tier 4.  Other big gains are Indiana-Bloomington (23rd from 36th), UNC (30th from 38th), Davis (35th from 44th), Lewis & Clark (61st from 73rd), Georgia State (65th from 77th), Penn State (65th from 77th), Louisiana State (75th from 88th), Denver (77th from 88th), and SUNY-Buff (85th from 100).  Significant drops are George Washington (28th from 20th), Boulder (45th from 32nd), Baylor (65th from 55th), Chicago-Kent (77th from 66th), Seton Hall (77th from 66th), and Indiana-Indy (87th from 68th).  Other CA schools are as follows: Stanford (3rd), Berkeley (6th), UCLA (15th), USC (18th), Davis (35th), Hastings (39th), Pepperdine (55th), Loyola (71st), Santa Clara (85th), and USF (98th – congrats on being back in the Top 100!). 

Specialty rankings and tiers 3 and 4 are here and here.  Looks like the three schools ranked 100 are also listed in Tier 3.  Huh??

Thanks to The Faculty Lounge for linking to us!

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