In a significant shift from traditional law school rankings, Professor Brian Frye of Kentucky Law has introduced a novel ranking methodology based on mentions in the New York Times. This comes in response to growing disinterest among prospective law students towards the U.S. News & World Report rankings, commonly regarded as the gold standard in legal education prestige. The newly proposed ranking system provides a fresh perspective by quantifying the frequency each law school is mentioned in the New York Times over a 12-month period.
Frye’s methodology involves searching the New York Times archives for the official names of 196 law schools listed in the U.S. News 2024 rankings. The law school with the highest number of mentions takes the top spot, while schools with no mentions are ranked at the bottom.
The results of this unconventional approach show notable disparities compared to traditional rankings. For example, Cornell, typically a top law school, was placed at No. 15 with 8 mentions. Meanwhile, some schools did not perform as well in this new system. Northwestern, which holds strong positions in the U.S. News rankings, failed to register any mentions within the selected period, leading it to be ranked as low as #103 along with several other previously well-regarded institutions such as USC and Texas A&M.
Here are the top 14 schools according to the New York Times mentions:
- Harvard Law School: 122 mentions
- Yale Law School: 96 mentions
- Stanford Law School: 77 mentions
- Columbia Law School: 50 mentions
- New York Law School: 29 mentions
- University of Michigan Law School: 22 mentions
- Cardozo School of Law: 15 mentions
- Brooklyn Law School: 13 mentions
- University of Minnesota Law School: 12 mentions
- South Texas College of Law Houston: 11 mentions
- University of Chicago Law School: 10 mentions
- UCLA School of Law: 10 mentions
- Georgetown University Law Center: 10 mentions
- NYU School of Law: 9 mentions
This new approach offers a unique angle in evaluating law schools, placing emphasis on their visibility and engagement in public discourse as represented by the New York Times. As traditional rankings continue to face scrutiny, alternative metrics like Frye’s may see increased relevance and adoption.
For more detailed information about the new ranking methodology and complete list, see the full article on the Social Science Research Network.