Harvard’s Nosedive and Cornell’s Exile Rock Legal Academia
Updated October 2025
The so-called T14 law school ranking situation is a club that’s historically featured names like Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, and the University of Chicago Law School have always been the industry’s golden tickets.
But with shifting U.S. News law school rankings, prospective law students are watching the old order shake like a bad moot court performance.
- The T14 law schools in 2025 include:
- Yale Law School
- Harvard Law School
- Stanford Law School
- University of Chicago Law School
…
The Top 14 Law Schools
The rankings for the T14 law schools (which you can see a breakdown about the top schools is reported here), but here are the top schools in the latest rankings –
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
New York University School of Law
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law
University of California, Berkeley
The #1 Schools
Stanford and Yale remain smugly perched at #1, sharing champagne while Harvard slipped to a humiliating #6 tie with Duke.
That’s right – Harvard, the school that practically invented legal prestige, now finds itself trailing Virginia and Penn in a rankings plot twist more shocking than finding out your moot court partner hasn’t read the case.
Cornell, meanwhile, has been unceremoniously booted from the T14 law school club. The Ithaca institution now languishes at #18, sharing its misery with UNC-Chapel Hill.
The most entertaining development?
The “Top 14” now includes 17 schools thanks to a four-way logjam at #14. Georgetown barely clings to T14 status while sharing its spot with Texas-Austin, Vanderbilt, and Washington University in St. Louis – a rankings participation trophy that would make any kindergarten teacher proud.
Methodology Madness Fuels Rankings Chaos
This year’s methodology weighs employment at a hefty 33 percent, first-time bar passage at 18 percent, and peer assessment at 12.5 percent.
LSAT scores matter at just 5 percent.
The biggest winners beyond the T14? Wisconsin rocketed up 8 spots, while George Washington, Florida State, and Florida all surged 10 places – apparently having discovered the rankings equivalent of performance-enhancing drugs.
Not everyone’s celebrating. Illinois plummeted 12 spots, a free-fall steeper than a 3L’s motivation after securing a job offer.
With more ties than a judicial clothing store, including five in the 16-28 range alone, these US News Law School rankings might have replaced statistical analysis with a dartboard and a blindfold.
For schools teetering on the edge of ranking oblivion, the message is clear: shape up or be shipped out to the dreaded “unranked” wasteland where no respectable law graduate dares admit they studied.
FAQ
What does T14 mean in law schools?
T14 refers to the “Top 14” law schools that have dominated U.S. News rankings for decades. It’s basically the legal world’s version of an exclusive country club, except instead of golf handicaps, members are judged by LSAT medians and Big Law placement rates.
The term stuck because these 14 schools have shown remarkable staying power at the top, making “T14” shorthand for elite legal education.
Which schools are in the T14 in 2025?
The usual suspects remain: Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, University of Chicago, NYU, Penn, UVA, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, Berkeley, Georgetown, and Cornell. Despite annual ranking shuffles that send admissions consultants into overdrive, this club has proven more exclusive than a Supreme Court appointment, the membership hasn’t changed in decades.
We’ve broken down the T14 law school ranking details on our T14 Guide here.
Is UT Austin joining the T14?
Not quite, though UT Austin continues to knock on the door like an ambitious associate angling for partnership. While the school has consistently performed well and even cracked the top 15, displacing one of the entrenched T14 members requires more than just strong numbers—it requires sustained excellence that breaks decades of precedent.
Why are U.S. News rankings changing?
Rankings methodology evolves faster than legal billing practices, with U.S. News regularly tweaking factors like employment outcomes, bar passage rates, and diversity metrics.
Add in the growing number of schools boycotting the rankings entirely, and you’ve got a landscape more volatile than crypto prices. The changes reflect both genuine attempts to improve accuracy and responses to criticism about the rankings’ influence on legal education. We’ve reported on that here.
Interesting to see how the rankings are shaking things up! I graduated last year, and it’s wild to think how these changes might’ve influenced my choice of law school. Props to the schools that are adapting and climbing. Always felt our focus should be more on employment outcomes anyway.
These rankings are all just a game anyway. Every year it’s some new criteria setting the stage. Real world law practice cares more about how you perform than where your diploma’s from. Though, gotta admit, that first-time bar passage weight is intriguing.
Do you think these rankings actually affect hiring decisions in firms, or is it more about the individual’s skills and networking?
Networking and skill always trump school prestige in the long run. But yes, rankings might open the first doors a bit easier.
It’s fascinating to observe the dynamics of law school rankings. Considering the significant weight placed on employment and bar passage rates, it’s clear the future lawyers need to align their education with practical outcomes. Thanks for the insights, LawFuel Editors.
Oh, look, the annual rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic. Wonder how much these rankings really matter when you’re buried in debt and job hunting. At least they make for good headlines, right?