May 20, 2008, revised May 28, 2008
This is based on initial data collected by Daniel Solove (George Washington) (and reported here and here) reflecting the number of graduates of each school who submitted resumes to the Association of American Law Schools for two hiring seasons (2006-07, and 2007-08) and the number of those graduates who, accordingly to Larry Solum’s data, secured jobs.
Schools are ranked based on success rate (the third column). The fourth column gives the raw numbers, since some of the samples are extremely small. The fifth column is a crude estimate of the percentage of graduates of the school seeking law teaching positions; it was calculated based on the total number seeking jobs 2006-08 divided by the approximate class size (rounded to the nearest 25) for the last two years. This gives a very rough idea of how many students at a ranked school are trying to get teaching jobs.
Because the sample size is quite small for some schools, the first chart lists the top schools that had at least 15 students seeking law teaching jobs; the second chart lists all the schools in the Solove study.
Bear in mind that not all graduates, even from schools with high success rates, are equally credible candidates for the teaching market. For example, of the 29 Texas JDs who were on the teaching market 2006-08, only about one-third were candidates we knew about and whom Texas was assisting on the job market. I assume the numbers are similar for other schools. Also bear in mind that this chart does not indicate how many of these graduates also earned other law degrees (LLM, SJD) or other advanced degrees (e.g., PhD) prior to getting a teaching position.
I. Ranking of Schools with at Least 15 Job Seekers Based on Success Rate 2006-08
| Rank |
JD School |
% Hired |
Number Hired/
Number in AALS Pool |
% Seeking Teaching Jobs |
| 1 |
Yale University |
45% |
44/97 |
24% |
| 2 |
University of Chicago |
43% |
12/28 |
7% |
| 3 |
Stanford University |
41% |
15/37 |
11% |
| 4 |
Harvard University |
37% |
46/126 |
12% |
| 5 |
University of Virginia |
35% |
14/40 |
5% |
| 6 |
Northwestern University |
33% |
6/18 |
4% |
| 7 |
Columbia University |
28% |
19/68 |
9% |
| |
New York University |
28% |
16/58 |
6% |
| 9 |
University of Michigan |
26% |
13/50 |
7% |
| 10 |
University of Texas, Austin |
21% |
6/29 |
3% |
| 11 |
Tulane University |
20% |
5/25 |
5% |
| 12 |
University of California, Berkeley |
19% |
9/47 |
9% |
| 13 |
Case Western Reserve University |
13% |
2/15 |
3% |
| 14 |
Boston University |
11% |
2/19 |
4% |
| |
Duke University |
11% |
2/19 |
5% |
| |
University of Florida |
11% |
2/18 |
2% |
| |
University of Pennsylvania |
11% |
4/37 |
7% |
| 18 |
Georgetown University |
10% |
8/80 |
7% |
| 19 |
University of Notre Dame |
8% |
2/24 |
6% |
| 20 |
Fordham University |
6% |
1/16 |
2% |
| |
Rutgers University |
6% |
1/15 |
2% |
| |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
6% |
1/16 |
3% |
| 23 |
University of Iowa |
5% |
1/18 |
5% |
| Other Schools with At Least 15 Graduates Seeking Teaching Jobs |
| |
American University |
0% |
0/27 |
|
| |
Cornell University |
0% |
0/22 |
|
| |
George Washington University |
0% |
0/18 |
|
| |
Indiana University |
0% |
0/22 |
|
| |
Suffolk University |
0% |
0/17 |
|
| |
Temple University |
0% |
0/15 |
|
| |
University of California, Hastings |
0% |
0/19 |
|
II. Ranking of All Schools Based on Success Rate 2008-10 (regardless of number of graduates seeking)
| Rank |
JD School |
% Hired |
Number Hired/
Number in AALS Pool |
% Seeking Teaching Jobs |
| 1 |
Yale University |
45% |
44/97 |
24% |
| 2 |
University of Chicago |
43% |
12/28 |
7% |
| 3 |
Stanford University |
41% |
15/37 |
11% |
| 4 |
University of Illinois |
38% |
3/8 |
2% |
| 5 |
Harvard University |
37% |
46/126 |
12% |
| 6 |
University of Minnesota |
36% |
4/11 |
2% |
| 7 |
University of Virginia |
35% |
14/40 |
5% |
| 8 |
Northwestern University |
33% |
6/18 |
4% |
| |
University of Southern California |
33% |
2/6 |
1% |
| 10 |
Columbia University |
28% |
19/68 |
9% |
| |
New York University |
28% |
16/58 |
6% |
| 12 |
Emory University |
27% |
3/11 |
3% |
| 13 |
University of Michigan |
26% |
13/50 |
7% |
| 14 |
University of Texas, Austin |
21% |
6/29 |
3% |
| 15 |
Tulane University |
20% |
5/25 |
5% |
| 16 |
University of California, Berkeley |
19% |
9/47 |
9% |
| 17 |
Vanderbilt University |
18% |
2/11 |
3% |
| 18 |
University of California, Los Angeles |
17% |
2/12 |
2% |
| 19 |
Washington & Lee University |
14% |
2/14 |
5% |
| 20 |
Case Western Reserve University |
13% |
2/15 |
3% |
| 21 |
Boston University |
11% |
2/19 |
4% |
| |
Duke University |
11% |
2/19 |
5% |
| |
University of Florida |
11% |
2/18 |
2% |
| |
University of Pennsylvania |
11% |
4/37 |
7% |
| 25 |
Georgetown University |
10% |
8/80 |
7% |
| |
Texas Southern University |
10% |
1/10 |
2% |
| |
University of Cincinnati |
10% |
1/10 |
4% |
| 28 |
Howard University |
9% |
1/9 |
4% |
| 29 |
University of Notre Dame |
8% |
2/24 |
6% |
| 30 |
Fordham University |
6% |
1/16 |
2% |
| |
Rutgers University |
6% |
1/15 |
2% |
| |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
6% |
1/16 |
3% |
| 33 |
University of Iowa |
5% |
1/18 |
5% |
| Other Schools with At Least 10 Graduates Seeking Teaching Jobs |
| |
American University |
0% |
0/27 |
|
| |
Boston College |
0% |
0/10 |
|
| |
Brooklyn Law School |
0% |
0/12 |
|
| |
Cornell University |
0% |
0/22 |
|
| |
George Washington University |
0% |
0/18 |
|
| |
Hofstra University |
0% |
0/12 |
|
| |
Indiana University |
0% |
0/22 |
|
| |
Northeastern University |
0% |
0/11 |
|
| |
Ohio State University |
0% |
0/14 |
|
| |
Suffolk University |
0% |
0/17 |
|
| |
Syracuse University |
0% |
0/10 |
|
| |
Temple University |
0% |
0/15 |
|
| |
University of California, Hastings |
0% |
0/19 |
|
| |
University of North Carolina |
0% |
0/12 |
|
| |
Washington University, St. Louis |
0% |
0/10 |
|
|
|
