USNWR’s 33% Rankings Shift Lifts Full Weight for School-Funded Law Jobs
Updated
Updated · derektmuller.substack.com · May 29
USNWR’s 33% Rankings Shift Lifts Full Weight for School-Funded Law Jobs
1 articles · Updated · derektmuller.substack.com · May 29
Summary
Three years after USNWR changed its formula, some law schools have posted sharp increases in school-funded jobs and graduates entering further study—two categories now counted at full value.
USNWR made employment outcomes 33% of total rankings and stopped discounting full-time, long-term JD-required or JD-advantage jobs funded by law schools, while also fully weighting graduate school enrollment.
The changes matter because not all outcomes carry the same career value: the strongest result remains a full-time, long-term job requiring bar admission.
Those category shifts now offer a window into whether schools adjusted employment patterns to improve rankings, or whether the rise reflects correlation rather than strategy.