Stanford Overtakes Yale to Claim Top Spot in Latest US Law School Rankings

Yale Law School has slipped to No. 2 in the latest rankings by US News & World Report, marking the first time in 36 years that the elite institution has not held the top position.

Stanford Law School now occupies the No. 1 spot outright after sharing it with Yale since 2023. The latest edition of the closely watched rankings was released on Tuesday. Stanford did not respond to a request for comment.

Yale is now tied at No. 2 with University of Chicago Law School, which climbed from No. 3. A Yale spokesperson said the school remains “focused on providing a rigorous and excellent legal education and increasing access and opportunity to law school and the profession”.

A slight drop in employment outcomes appears to have contributed to Yale’s fall. This year, 94.9 per cent of its graduates secured long-term, full-time roles requiring bar admission or where a law degree is an advantage within 10 months of graduation, down from 95.5 per cent in 2025. Bar pass rates and median LSAT scores were largely unchanged.

The rankings aim to assess the overall quality of all 198 law schools accredited by the American Bar Association, making them a key benchmark for students and employers.

Yale’s decline and Stanford’s rise were among several notable changes within the so-called ‘T-14’ — the group of schools that traditionally occupy the top 14 places and send a higher proportion of graduates into federal clerkships and high-paying associate roles at leading law firms.

University of California, Berkeley School of Law dropped out of the T-14, falling to No. 16 after previously always ranking within the top tier. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said the shift reflected changes in the U.S. News formula rather than any meaningful change in the school itself.

Another long-standing T-14 member, Georgetown University Law Center, also fell out, landing at No. 18 after ranking 14th last year.

Among the biggest gainers, Cornell Law School rose five places to No. 13 after dropping out of the T-14 last year, while Vanderbilt University Law School climbed two spots to No. 12.

The rankings have grown more volatile since U.S. News revised its methodology four years ago following a boycott by several elite institutions, including Yale and Berkeley, which argued that earlier criteria undermined diversity and affordability.

The publication now places greater emphasis on data submitted annually to the American Bar Association. As a result, even small changes in bar pass and employment rates can lead to significant shifts in rankings, particularly among top schools with otherwise similar outcomes.

Further down the list, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School moved up one place to tie with University of Virginia School of Law at No. 4. Harvard Law School remained at No. 6, while Duke Law School slipped one place to No. 7.

New York University School of Law, Columbia Law School and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law each moved up one place in this year’s rankings.