Georgetown Law Center
PART-TIME AND SPECIALTY RANKINGS
Along with full-time law schools, U.S. News also ranks part-time programs. Far more subjective in scope, the ranking devotes 70% of its weight to a quality assessment survey doled out by deans and faculty members. Another 30% was earmarked to selectivity, which covers LSAT scores (20%) and undergraduate GPAs (10%). This year, U.S. News removed Part-Time Focus, which had accounted for a 22.5% weight. It was a series of nine measures that had included “the size of first-year sections for part-time students; the size of first-year small sections for part-time students; the number of positions filled by part-time students in law clinics, seminars, simulation courses and field placements; and the number of students involved in law journals and interschool skills competitions and enrolled in independent study.”
This year, the Part-Time MBA Ranking remained a DC affair. The Georgetown Law Center again ranked #1. It was trailed by two local competitors: George Washington University (#2) and George Mason University (#4). Two New York institutions – Fordham University and Yeshiva University, placed 3rd and 5th respectively in the part-time ranking.
U.S. News also produces an annual “Specialty Rankings,” which assesses schools’ excellence in areas ranging from Clinical Training to Trial Advocacy. These peer assessments were supplied by law school faculty who teach in their particular disciplines. Using U.S. News’ five-point scale, survey respondents ranked their top five programs, with programs ranked based on their average score per specialty (with 10 scores being the minimum for inclusion).
Here are this year’s top performers:
Business / Corporate Law: Columbia Harvard, University of Chicago (Tie)
Clinical Training: American University, Georgetown (Tie)
Constitutional Law: Harvard
Contracts and Commercial Law: University of Chicago
Criminal Law: New York University
Dispute Resolution: Harvard
Environmental Law: Pace University
Healthcare Law: Saint Louis University, Boston University, Georgia State (Tie)
Intellectual Property: UC-Berkeley, Stanford (Tie)
International Law: New York University
Legal Writing: University of Oregon
Tax Law: New York University
Trial Advocacy: Stetson University
University of Chicago Law School
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