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Law School Rankings 2026 — US News & Above the Law Historical Data
This page tracks every ABA-accredited law school's US News and Above the Law ranking going back to 2014, so you can see not just where schools stand today but how they got there. Use the table to scan current ranks and recent movement, or explore the chart below it to compare full trend lines side by side.
A few story lines worth watching in the latest rankings: UVA jumped to #4 in US News, cracking what many considered a stable top tier. Harvard slid to #6 — its lowest position in the dataset. And Duke leapfrogged several peers to land at #6 alongside Harvard, continuing a steady climb from the low teens a decade ago. Meanwhile, schools like Cornell and Georgetown have been on diverging paths that only become visible when you zoom out.
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The T14 and other achronyms
You’ve probably heard the terms ‘T14’ and ‘HYS.’ What do they mean?
HYS refers to Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, traditionally considered the best law schools in the country, even if they don’t always top the rankings.
The T14 refers to the top 14 law schools according to U.S. News & World Report. The group is fairly stable:
- Yale Law School
- Stanford Law School
- Harvard Law School
- University of Chicago Law School
- Columbia Law School
- University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
- New York University School of Law
- Duke Law School
- University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
- University of Virginia School of Law
- University of Michigan Law School
- Northwestern Law School
- Cornell Law School
- Georgetown Law
In recent years, the University of California, Los Angeles has also broken into the top 14.
About these rankings
US News & World Report
US News has published law school rankings annually since 1990. Their methodology weighs a combination of peer assessment scores, lawyer and judge assessments, placement outcomes, bar passage rates, and incoming student credentials (LSAT/GPA medians). The methodology has changed over time — most notably in 2023, when several T14 schools temporarily boycotted the rankings — which means year-over-year shifts sometimes reflect formula changes rather than real movement at a school. Our historical chart lets you see these disruptions in context.
Above the Law
Above the Law takes a purely outcomes-based approach, ranking schools by what happens after graduation: employment scores, quality of jobs obtained, and federal clerkship placement. Schools that place well into BigLaw and clerkships tend to rank higher here than in US News, while schools that score well on peer reputation but have weaker placement outcomes tend to rank lower. Comparing a school's US News rank to its Above the Law rank can tell you a lot about whether its prestige matches its outcomes.
Why historical rankings matter
A single year's ranking is a snapshot. A decade of rankings is a signal. Schools on a sustained upward trajectory — like Duke's climb from the low teens into the T6 — may indicate improving faculty, investment, or employment outcomes that haven't yet been fully priced in by applicants. Schools trending downward may be worth a harder look. Either way, the trend line gives you context that no single ranking can.