Law students and faculty are unpleasantly surprised to see how the UW School of
Law compares to other universities in the U.S. News & World Report ranking
of the top graduate schools. The 2004 edition of America’s Best Graduate
Schools, which hits newsstands today, ranks the school significantly lower than
in previous years.
After being ranked the 26th-best program in the nation just one year ago, the
law school slipped to 45th in this year’s rankings.
However, administrative officials have begun to investigate whether a
computational error resulted in the school’s lower-than-expected standing.
“There has most likely been a miscalculation either on our part or the part of
U.S. News, but I suspect it was on our part,” said W.H. Knight Jr., dean of
the law school.
Law-school administrators noticed the potential error after receiving an advance
report of the rankings Wednesday. The current edition of U.S. News reports 75
percent of UW graduates in 2001 found employers within nine months following
graduation, but in past years, the school’s reported nine-month job placement
rate consistently exceeded the 94th percentile.
Last year’s nine-month job-placement rate reached as high as 98 percent,
according to Knight. With such a dramatic drop in these statistics, law-school
administrators believe they have found the source of the error.
If a miscalculation did cause an inaccurate ranking, the law school will take
every action necessary to inform the community and potential employers of the
error, Knight said.
“The rankings could affect our ability to attract national employers, but it
shouldn’t affect our ability to place [students] in top-notch jobs,” said
law-student Devin Theriott-Orr, president of the Student Bar Association (SBA).
Theriott-Orr noted the U.S. News college ranking is being evaluated by employers
in an already stumbling economy, where the need for legal professionals is down.
“We’ll have to work extra hard to convince our employers that [the law
school] is the same school as it was yesterday,” said Theriott-Orr. “It is a
tough job market to have this happen.”
Students’ initial reaction to the ranking has been outrage and anger, Theriott-Orr
said. Amid sharp tuition increases and a $1 million budget cut for the law
school, the report is another upset.
Tuition rates have nearly doubled for in-state students in the past three years,
and current expenses are equivalent to those of other public schools ranked in
the top 25.
“Students feel they may be getting less bang for their buck,” Theriott-Orr
said.
U.S. News’ college report offers a comprehensive listing of information on
universities across the nation, and many students will use it as an important
resource for selecting the right institution. Faculty and students fear the law
school’s diminished rank will have a definite impact on the strength of
applications received by prospective students.
“The quality of our education has not declined but the perception of it
has,” said Marnie Bergman, SBA secretary and third-year law student. “It’s
a simple reality that a school ranked 45th will have a weaker applicant pool
than a school ranked in the top 25.”
But as the law school plans to move into a new, state-of-the-art, $76 million
facility next fall, faculty and students remain confident the potentially
incorrect report will not result in any long-term consequences.
“The law school is an extraordinary school,” said Knight. “The faculty is
superb, the student body is strong and our new centers are flourishing. We will
continue that excellence.”
Theriott-Orr said the error can be sorted out by the end of this week. If a
correction is necessary, postings will be made on the law school’s Web site,
people will be notified and a correction will be put in place on U.S. News’
Web site.
“These rankings do not signal doomsday,” said Theriott-Orr. “We are still
a top-25 institution, regardless of what U.S. News says.”
