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34 J. Legal Prof. 197 (2009-2010)
The Methodology & Manipulation of the U.S. News Law School Rankings

handle is hein.journals/jlegpro34 and id is 199 raw text is: THE METHODOLOGY & MANIPULATION OF THE U. S. NEWS LAW SCHOOL RANKINGS Pop quiz: What do the water bills at Stanford have in common with library expenditures at the University of Illinois? Answer: Everything, if you are a law school looking to increase your U.S. News & World Report ranking. - Alex Wellen' I. INTRODUCTION In 1987, U.S. News & World Report (U.S. News) unleashed their rankings system upon American universities, and the world of higher edu- cation has never been the same.2 Whether right or wrong, graduate and undergraduate institutions alike have bought into the rankings system and have adjusted the way they administer education as a result.3 Prospective students are perhaps the main contributor to the rankings' legitimacy, as shown by the rise and fall of applications in tandem with a school's rank for that year.4 Law schools have been some of the most vocal critics of the rankings system.' In 1997, 150 law school deans expressed their frustration in the form of a joint letter of disapproval of the U.S. News rankings.' One year later, the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) issued a special report on the validity of the rankings system, and reached the same con- clusion as the law school deans: using the same yardstick to compare all schools is misleading, and the factors that the rankings emphasize are not I. Alex Wellen, The $8.78 Million Maneuver, N.Y. TIMES, July 31, 2005, at A4 (emphasis added). 2. About U.S. News & World Report, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/usinfo/history.htm (last visited Oct. 20, 2009). 3. William D. Henderson & Andrew P. Morriss, Student Quality as Measured by LSAT Scores: Migration Patterns in the U.S. News Rankings Era, 81 IND. L.J. 163, 164 (2006). 4. Andrew P. Morriss & William D. Henderson, Measuring Outcomes: Post-Graduation Meas- ures of Success in the U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings, 83 IND. L.J. 791, 802 (2008). 5. Theodore P. Seto, Understanding the U.S. News Law School Rankings, 60 SMU L. REV. 493, 493-494 (2007). 6. Id. 197

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