The University of Michigan law school said it is dropping out of the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of colleges and universities, joining others including Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Stanford and University of California at Berkeley that no longer will participate in the outlet’s rankings process.
“Over time, I increasingly have come to believe that the U.S. News law school rankings no longer serve the public interest,” law school Dean Mark D. West said in a Sunday statement.
Yale, Harvard and UC-Berkeley announced Wednesday they will stop participating in the magazine’s law school rankings, citing growing concerns with the methodology of the rankings. Stanford, Georgetown and Columbia law schools announced Friday they were withdrawing.
“The U.S. News rankings are profoundly flawed — they disincentivize programs that support public interest careers, champion need-based aid and welcome working-class students into the profession,” said Heather Gerkin, dean of Yale Law School, in a statement on Wednesday. “We have reached a point where the rankings process is undermining the core commitments of the legal profession.”
U.S. News evaluated 192 law schools that were fully accredited by the American Bar Association for its 2023 rankings. Yale was named the No. 1 law school. UM was ranked No. 10.
The outlet says it uses “statistical and reputation data” taken from law schools to determine its rankings. Some of the indicators most likely to tip the scales for a school include its “peer assessment score,” which is based on a survey of law school deans and faculty, and its “lawyers and judges assessment score,” which is based on legal professionals’ ratings of schools’ overall quality.
The rankings also factor in schools’ alumni employment rates, bar passage rates, student debt, selectivity and school resources, according to its methodology section.
UM’s West said the outlet’s methodology is “opaque” and based on data that largely is not publicly revealed, which makes it impossible to scrutinize. He said U.S. News neither vets nor authenticates its rankings data and relies heavily on subjective opinion surveys.
“The collected information might be interesting, but it is not based on a rigorous survey instrument, and even if it were, it should not guide decision making for prospective students (or anyone else),” West wrote. “Nonetheless, law schools to a greater or lesser degree sometimes are forced to consider the effect of any changes in their programs on their rank. While Michigan has consistently resisted the pressure to take actions that are contrary to our mission, the demands of the U.S. News algorithm always lurk in the background.”
UM’s new president, Santa Ono, tweeted a link to West’s statement on Sunday night.
Ono announced Thursday his plans to enhance diversity and inclusion at the university during his first address to the university community.
U.S. News Chief Data Strategist Robert Morse said the outlet will continue to rank all fully accredited law schools regardless of whether the schools agree to submit their data.
“We respect each institution’s decision to choose whether or not to submit their data to U.S. News,” Morse wrote in a column Nov. 17, after Yale and Harvard announced they would withdraw from participating in the rankings. “However, U.S. News has a responsibility to prospective students to provide comparative information that allows them to assess these institutions.”
West said UM will continue focusing on providing legal education and supporting “the people-centric factors that rankings struggle to measure.”
He said the law school will not change its admissions or financial aid programs as a result of its decision.
“We remain committed to supporting our students’ career goals—and especially the goals of our students who pursue public interest careers—through investments in post-graduate fellowships and loan-repayment assistance,” West wrote. “We also commit to continue making robust, meaningful information available to help prospective students as they decide whether to attend Michigan Law.”
laguilar@detroitnews.com
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
