BYU Law soared up to No. 29 in the 2022 edition of the U.S.News Best Law School Rankings. BYU Law’s ranking is its highest in more than two decades and represents an eight-spot jump from last year.
The rankings are based on a variety of metrics, including placement of graduates, faculty resources, academic credentials of entering students, and surveys of law professors, lawyers, and judges on overall program quality. The rankings include the 193 law schools that are fully accredited by the American Bar Association.
“The Law School has made incredible strides in our performance over the past few years, and we are pleased to see that progress reflected to some extent in the rankings,” said Law School Dean Gordon Smith. “Our faculty is dedicated to teaching and mentoring the students and to the advancement of innovative ideas, publishing at an unprecedented level. Meanwhile, our students rank among the top 20 in the country in quality measures, and we anticipate our incoming class will be the best-credentialed and most diverse in school history.”
Under Dean Smith’s leadership, BYU Law has rocketed from #46 to #29 in just four years. Among new criteria added to the 2021 rankings was a measurement of law students’ debt upon graduation where BYU placed best in the nation with average debt of $51,048 (among graduates who had debt—nearly one-third of the BYU law graduates included in the survey completed law school debt-free). Our high placement among law schools in this measure is the result of extraordinary support from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the generosity of many donors. Many of our students are working through law school with families, and we are determined to bless their lives with generous scholarships that enable them to maintain low debt loads.
BYU Law headed a group of five BYU graduate programs to reach commendable heights. The Marriott School of Business’ full-time MBA program ranked No. 31 and the MPA program ranked No. 48. Additionally, the McKay School of Education jumped 11 spots, up to No. 73 among Best Graduate Education Schools and the Nursing School came in at No. 81 for Best Nursing Master’s program—a 14-spot jump from last year.
For more information about school rankings visit the U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings.