The LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center has been ranked the #3 Best Value Law School in the nation by the National Jurist, a legal education publication. The 2012 rankings move the Law Center up three spots from last year’s Best Value rank of #6.
According to the magazine, the Best Value rankings are designed to identify the law schools where graduates have the best chance of passing the bar exam and securing a legal job, without taking on an inordinate amount of debt. The magazine considers the following when ranking the law schools: (1) percent of graduates who pass the bar exam; (2) percent of graduates who are employed; (3) tuition; (4) cost of living; and (5) average indebtedness upon graduation.
“I’m pleased to report that a high percentage of our graduates have continued to find full-time jobs in a challenging legal employment environment,” said LSU Law Chancellor Jack Weiss. “Our students also continue to surpass all other Louisiana schools, public and private, in passing the Louisiana bar exam.”
“The three point jump in our ranking from last year reflects the quality legal education students receive at the Law Center, while also acknowledging our reasonable tuition rates and relatively manageable student debt,” said Weiss. “We have worked diligently to keep tuition at a moderate level, despite continued state budget reductions over the past several years. This #3 ranking again confirms that LSU Law offers an exceptional legal education at an exceptional value.”
This year, for the first time, the National Jurist Best Value rankings weighted full-time, long-term employment of graduates more heavily than part-time and short-term employment. A Wall Street Journal analysis of full-time, long-term employment data for 2011 law school graduates placed LSU Law 11th nationally among approximately 200 law schools for which data was available.
