NYU Law pulls out of U.S. News & World Report rankings

New York University is pulling out of the influential U.S. News & World Reports law school ranking, after many other top law schools announced they will not cooperate with the list.

Yale and Harvard law schools withdrew in mid-November, leading to a flurry of prestigious institutions declining to participate. NYU Law was among the final holdouts in the nation’s top 14 law schools, which are largely considered the industry’s top tier.

“Prospective law students need accurate information as they consider which school best fits their goals in pursuing a legal education,” Dean Troy McKenzie wrote in a letter to the NYU Law community. “At one time, U.S. News may have provided information that could not be found elsewhere. That has changed.”

McKenzie, who became dean of the law school this year, said the methodology used by U.S. News may give applicants a “distorted view” of the opportunities available after law school — particularly in lower salaried law careers.

“Of particular concern, the U.S. News methodology — through its debt and employment metrics — penalizes schools that support graduates pursuing public interest careers,” he wrote.

U.S. News has indicated it will continue to rank institutions using publicly available data.

McKenzie pointed to the law school’s loan repayment assistance programs and fellowships for graduates who go into public interest. But the rankings in their current form do not account for that financial support, and categorize fellows as “only marginally employed.”

U.S. News pushed back on that assessment, saying their rankings include debt metrics to support students deciding where to attend law schools.

“Certain schools are able to fund students who opt to pursue public interest and scholarly careers. This is laudable. However, the majority of students are looking for jobs in the open market, and the U.S. News rankings are focused on helping them make a very important career and financial decision,” said a spokesperson for U.S. News.

Before Monday’s announcement, NYU Law — ranked seventh best in the country — was just one of a few schools widely cited as the nation’s top law schools that had yet to pull out from the rankings.

Columbia University, Stanford University, Georgetown University and several other law schools in the country’s “Top 14″ had already declined to participate. Most recently, the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School said Friday it would not submit data to U.S. News.

The University of Chicago and Cornell University have opted to stick with the rankings, the only law schools in that tier to do so. The University of Virginia has yet to weigh in.

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