Note: This story was published Dec. 15 on Law.com. It is reprinted here for those who can't access it behind the paywall. Click here for Princeton Review's "Best Law Schools 2022" rankings.

From 'Best Professors' to 'Best Quality of Life,' These Law Schools Were Ranked High by Students

The Princeton Review released its Best Law Schools for 2022 on Tuesday, which isn’t a straight ranking of the “best” law schools but instead includes the top 10 schools in each of 14 categories.

“We don’t believe that any one law school is the best overall,” The Princeton Review states on its website.

“The categories cover topics that we think prospective applicants might want to know or would ask during a campus visit, including academics, career prospects and campus diversity,” according to the publication.

Eleven of the 14 lists incorporate or are based entirely on data collected collected through a student survey. Three lists—”Toughest to Get Into,” “Best for Federal Clerkships” and “Best for State and Local Clerkships”—are based entirely on institutional data.

Thus, a majority of the data for the rankings is based on student opinions, David Soto, senior director of content development at The Princeton Review, told Law.com on Tuesday.

“It’s a pretty unique measure,” he said, adding, “We don’t expect a student to choose a school on a single ranking.

Soto said using this methodology broadens the perspective and gives students more information to work with.

“Every school we chose for our list of Best Law Schools for 2022 offers outstanding academics. We report law school ranking lists in several categories—in lieu of a mega-list, solely based on academics—for one reason: to help applicants identify the law school best for them,” Rob Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review, said in a prepared statement. “Our 14 ranking list categories report schools we have found to be exceptional for distinctions beyond academics—from characteristics of their campus culture to their career placement records—all of which law school applicants have told us matter to them.”

For the 2022 ranking lists, The Princeton Review surveyed 15,000 students and administrators from the 2020–2021, 2019–2020 and 2018–2019 academic years.

Soto said schools are given the survey every three years to prevent “survey fatigue,” so the 168 schools that were surveyed are divided roughly into thirds.

“We aim to get a minimum of 10% of all students currently enrolled” to be able to include that school in the results, Soto said.

The Princeton Review conducts the survey online using its online survey tool by promoting students’ participation in the student surveys in various ways over the course of a school year.

“We also work with administrators at the schools request[ing] that they send an e-mail encouraging their law students to participate in our survey. The e-mail includes a link to the online student survey,” according to The Princeton Review.

The survey is divided into four sections: “About Yourself,” “Academics,” “Career Expectations” and “School Atmosphere.” The survey is primarily a grid-based, multiple-choice questionnaire.

Soto said the Best Law Schools ranking lists started as a print publication in 2003. Many of the categories had already been being used since 1992 when The Princeton Review started ranking undergraduate schools.

This year, T14 schools took the top three slots in the “Best Professors” category and the top four slots in the “Best for Federal Clerkships” and “Best Classroom Experience” categories.

Unsurprisingly, the entire “Toughest to Get Into” and “Best Career Prospects” categories comprised T14 schools.

But several non-T14 schools made multiple showings in various categories.

University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law ranked first in “Most Chosen by Older Students,” second in “Greatest Resources for Minority Students,” third in “Most Diverse Faculty” and ninth in “Greatest Resources for Women.”

Vanderbilt Law School ranked second for “Best Quality of Life,” fifth for both “Best Classroom Experience” and “Best for Federal Clerkships” and sixth for “Best Professors.”

The University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law ranked second in “Most Diverse Faculty” and third in “Most Chosen by Older Students.”

The University of Miami School of Law ranked sixth in “Most Diverse Faculty” and seventh for “Greatest Resources for Minority Students.”

University of New Mexico School of Law ranked second in “Most Chosen by Older Students” and sixth in ”Greatest Resources for Minority Students.”

St. Thomas University College of Law in Florida ranked sixth in “Best for State and Local Clerkships” and seventh in “Greatest Resources for Women.”

Samford University Cumberland School of Law in Alabama ranked fourth in “Best Quality of Life” and 10th in “Greatest Resources for Women.”

Notre Dame Law School ranked sixth in “Best Classroom Experience” and seventh in “Best Professors.”

Boston College Law School ranked ninth in both “Best Professors” and “Best Quality of Life.”

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law ranked sixth in “Most Chosen by Older Students” and seventh in “Best for State and Local Clerkships.”

University of California, Irvine School of Law ranked eighth in “Best Professors” and ninth in “Most Diverse Faculty.” (It also ranked eighth in “Most Liberal Students.”)

Below is a full listing of the rankings, with The Princeton Review’s explanation of each of the 14 categories.

Best Classroom Experience:

Based on student answers to survey questions concerning their professors’ teaching abilities and overall accessibility outside of the classroom, the balance of theory and practical skills in the curricula and the range of courses available, the level of tolerance for differing opinions in class discussion and their assessments of research resources available.

1. University of Virginia School of Law
2. Stanford Law School
3. Duke University School of Law
4. University of Chicago Law School
5. Vanderbilt Law School
6. Notre Dame Law School
7. Georgetown University Law Center
8. Northwestern University School of Law
9. University of Georgia School of Law
10. Boston University School of Law

Best Professors:

Based on student answers to survey questions concerning how good their professors are as teachers and how accessible they are outside the classroom.

1. University of Virginia School of Law
2. University of Chicago Law School
3. Duke University School of Law
4. Washington and Lee University School of Law
5. Stanford Law School
6. Vanderbilt Law School
7. Notre Dame Law School
8. University of California, Irvine School of Law
9. Boston College Law School
10. Florida State University College of Law

Greatest Resources for Minority Students:

Based on school reported data and student surveys. School data: the percent of the student body that is from an underrepresented minority group. Student answers to a survey question on whether all students receive equal treatment by fellow students and the faculty, regardless of ethnicity.

1. Thomas University School of Law
2. University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law
3. University of San Francisco School of Law
4. Southern University Law Center
5. Faulkner University Law School
6. University of New Mexico School of Law
7. University of Miami School of Law
8. University of Southern California Gould School of Law
9. The University of Illinois at Chicago Law School
10. Stanford Law School

Greatest Resources for Women:

Based on school reported data and student surveys. School data: the percent of the student body that are women. Student answers to a survey question on whether all students are afforded equal treatment by students and faculty, regardless of their gender.

1. Vermont Law School
2. University of California Davis School of Law
3. New England Law, Boston
4. University of Toledo College of Law
5. Stanford Law School
6. Lewis & Clark Law School
7. St. Thomas University College of Law
8. Loyola University Chicago School of Law
9. University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law
10. Samford University Cumberland School of Law

Most Diverse Faculty:

Based on school reported data and student surveys. School data: the percent of the law school faculty that is from an underrepresented minority group. Student answers to a survey question on whether the faculty comprises a broadly diverse group of individuals.

1. Southern University Law Center
2. University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law
3. University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law
4. Florida International University College of Law
5. University of California Davis School of Law
6. University of Miami School of Law
7. Western State College of Law
8. Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
9. University of California, Irvine School of Law
10. University of California, Los Angeles School of Law

Toughest to Get Into:

Based on school reported data. Factors include: median LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs of entering 1L students, the percent of applicants accepted and the percent of accepted applicants who enroll.

1. Yale University Law School
2. Harvard University Law School
3. Stanford University School of Law
4. Columbia University Law School
5. University of Virginia School of Law
6. The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
7. Duke University School of Law
8. University of Chicago Law School
9. University of Michigan Law School
10. New York University School of Law

Best Career Prospects:

Based on school reported data and student surveys. School data include: the median starting salaries of graduating students, the percent of students employed in a job that requires bar passage (and not employed by the school) and the percent of these students who pass the bar exam the first time they take it. Student answers to survey questions on: how much the law program encourages practical experience; the opportunities for externships, internships and clerkships and how prepared the students feel they will be to practice the law after graduating.

1. New York University School of Law
2. Stanford University School of Law
3. University of Virginia School of Law
4. Duke University School of Law
5. University of Michigan Law School
6. Harvard Law School
7. Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
8. University of Chicago Law School
9. University of California, Berkeley School of Law
10. Columbia University Law School

Best for Federal Clerkships:

Based on school reported data. Percent of 2020 JD graduates employed in federal judicial clerkships.

1. University of Chicago Law School
2. Yale University Law School
3. Stanford University School of Law
4. University of Virginia School of Law
5. Vanderbilt Law School
6. Harvard Law School
7. Washington University Law School
8. University of Georgia School of Law
9. The School of Law at University of Texas-Austin
10. University of Alabama School of Law

Best for State and Local Clerkships:

Based on school reported data. Percent of 2020 JD graduates employed in state or local judicial clerkships.

1. Seton Hall University School of Law
2. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey School of Law
3. Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
4. Widener University Delaware Law School
5. Alexander Blewett III School of Law at University of Montana
6. University of St. Thomas School of Law
7. University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
8. University of Kentucky College of Law
9. University of Richmond Law School
10. The University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law

Best Quality of Life:

Based on student answers to survey questions on: whether there is a strong sense of community at the school whether differing opinions are tolerated in the classroom, the location of the school, the quality of social life at the school and the school’s research (library, computer and database) resources.

1. University of Virginia School of Law
2. Vanderbilt University Law School
3. Florida State University College of Law
4. Samford University Cumberland School of Law
5. University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law
6. University of Colorado Law School
7. Stanford Law School
8. Duke University School of Law
9. Boston College Law School
10. University of California Davis School of Law

Most Chosen by Older Students:

Based on the average age of entry of law school students and student reports of how many years they spent out of college before enrolling in law school.

1. University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law
2. University of New Mexico School of Law
3. University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law
4. University of Maine School of Law
5. University of California, Hastings College of the Law
6.  University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
7. City University of New York School of Law
8. Oklahoma City University School of Law
9. University of Utah  S.J. Quinney College of Law
10. Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

Most Competitive Students:

Based on student answers to survey questions on: the number of hours they study outside of class each day, the number of hours they think their fellow students study outside of class each day and the degree of competitiveness among students at their school.

1. Baylor University School of Law
2. Syracuse University College of Law
3. Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School
4. Faulkner University Law School
5. Southwestern Law School
6. Campbell University Law School
7. Elon University School of Law
8. Emory University School of Law
9. Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law
10. University of Houston Law Center

Most Conservative Students:

Based on student answers to a survey question concerning the political bent of the student body at large.

1. Ave Maria School of Law
2. Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School
3. Regent University School of Law
4. George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
5. Faulkner University Law School
6. Texas Tech University School of Law
7. University of Alabama School of Law
8. Louisiana State University Law School
9. Mississippi College School of Law
10. University of Idaho College of Law

Most Liberal Students:

Based on student answers to a survey question concerning the political bent of the student body at large.

1. Northeastern University School of Law
2. City University of New York, CUNY School of Law
3. New York University School of Law
4. American University Washington College of Law
5. University of California, Berkeley School of Law
6. University of Colorado Law School
7. University of Oregon School of Law
8. University of California, Irvine School of Law
9. George Washington University Law School
10. Washington University School of Law