UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SCHOOL OF LAW CLIMBS IN U.S. NEWS RANKINGS

Abstract

Thursday, March 29, 2001

WRITER: Kathy R. Pharr, (706) 542-5172, pharr@arches.uga.edu

CONTACT: Dean David Shipley, (706) 542-7140

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SCHOOL OF LAW CLIMBS IN U.S. NEWS RANKINGS

ATHENS, Ga. -- The University of Georgia School of Law ranks as the 27th best law school in the land, up two positions from last year, according to the annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report. The survey places the UGA law school in the top 15 percent of the nation's ABA-accredited law schools, among the top 11 public law schools in the country, and among the top three public law schools in the Southeast.

In the rankings, UGA is tied for 27th place with Emory University, Boston University, University of Notre Dame, and Washington University in St. Louis.

U.S. News bases its law school rankings on four criteria: reputation among lawyers, judges and faculty; student selectivity (median Law School Admission Test score, median undergraduate grade point average and proportion of applicants accepted); employment success and bar passage; and faculty resources (total expenditures per student for instruction, library and supporting student services; student-teacher ratio; financial aid; and law library volume count).

As it has done for many years, the UGA law school earned high marks in the factual categories of student selectivity (median LSAT score of 162 and median GPA of 3.59); placement (97% of graduates in the class of 1999 employed nine months after graduation); and bar passage (91.9% in Georgia). In numerous instances, these scores were better than those of schools which ranked higher in the overall survey.

"Everyone at the University of Georgia School of Law -- faculty, staff and students -- is pleased that we moved up two places in the rankings," said Dean David Shipley. "All of our indicators of quality such as student credentials, placement success and faculty productivity are strong, plus they are improving. Only 13 law schools in the top 25 report a higher GPA ranking for the top quarter of the class. There are many reasons to be optimistic and excited about the future of the law school."

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