KU Law ranked No. 40 overall by U.S. News & World Report and No. 18 for public law schools

“The biggest winner here was Kansas, which moved up 27 places in the 2024 law school rankings, propelling the school into the Top 50.” – Above the Law

LAWRENCE - Recently released U.S. News & World Report rankings put KU Law among the Top 40 law schools in the nation and the Top 20 among public law schools—the highest ever ranking for the law school in both categories. Compared to last year, KU Law rose 27 spots in the overall rankings and 14 spots among public law schools.

U.S. News & World Report annually ranks law schools on a variety of factors including employment outcomes, entering student metrics and survey results from judges, attorneys and law school faculty. KU Law’s rise in rankings coincides with two changes made by U.S. News & World Report to its methodology this year. First, the methodology significantly increased the weight given to employment outcomes. KU Law’s Class of 2021 had outstanding employment outcomes with 94.9% of the class finding full-time, long-term bar pass required or JD advantage positions, the 8th highest rate nationwide. Second, U.S. News & World Report no longer includes expenditure per student metrics, a category that historically undermined affordable law schools like KU Law.

“For the last decade, KU Law has focused its attention on outcomes that are important to students – employment opportunities and bar passage rates. At the same time, KU Law has maintained a faculty of outstanding teachers and nationally recognized scholars,” noted KU Law Dean Stephen Mazza. “Student outcomes are more important to us than the overall rankings. Having said that, this year’s rise is a testament to the work of KU Law’s students, staff and faculty. Our Career Services Office is unparalleled in helping our students prepare for their careers. And while alumni giving is not factored directly into the rankings, the generosity of our alumni base has allowed KU Law to provide an extraordinary level of support for students compared to most other schools.”   

Last fall, KU Law was ranked the #13 Best Value law school in the United States. This ranking, published by National Jurist magazine, includes four categories of statistics: employment outcomes, bar passage rates, tuition and average student debt load. Schools with low tuition and student debt loads are rewarded in the Best Value rankings.

See related story in the Lawrence Journal-World.