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The top 25 law schools are the twenty-five highest-ranked ABA-approved schools in the U.S. News list, made up of the T14 plus eleven more strong national and regional schools just below them. The current order is led by Stanford 1st, with Chicago and Yale tied 2nd, then the rest of the T14 and schools ranked through the mid-20s, per U.S. News 2026-27 (via LSD.law).
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Every figure on this page was verified in August 2026 against the sources listed below.
The top 25 law schools are the twenty-five highest-ranked ABA-approved schools in the U.S. News list: the fourteen T14 schools plus eleven more that consistently rank just below them. The table shows the current top of the list with the two admissions medians that most affect your odds, and the ranking continues to the twenty-fifth school. The rank column reflects the U.S. News 2026-27 edition and the medians come from each school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report.
RankLaw schoolMedian LSATMedian GPA1Stanford Law School1733.962 (tie)University of Chicago Law School1743.972 (tie)Yale Law School174See ABA 509 report4 (tie)University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School1733.954 (tie)University of Virginia School of Law173See ABA 509 report6Harvard Law School1743.967 (tie)Duke University School of Law171See ABA 509 report7 (tie)NYU School of Law1723.929 (tie)Columbia Law School1733.929 (tie)Northwestern Pritzker School of Law1733.96
Rankings are from the U.S. News 2026-27 Best Law Schools list (via LSD.law); median LSAT and GPA come from each school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report, and where a school does not report a median UGPA in that set (Yale, Virginia, Duke), the figure is in its ABA Standard 509 disclosure.
Positions 11 through 25 add University of Michigan (tied 9th), Vanderbilt (12th), Cornell, UCLA, and Washington University in St. Louis (tied 13th), UC Berkeley and Texas (tied 16th), Georgetown and UNC-Chapel Hill (tied 18th), Boston College and Notre Dame (tied 20th), Texas A&M and Minnesota (tied 22nd), and Boston University and BYU (tied 24th), per U.S. News 2026-27.
U.S. News and World Report ranks schools using peer and lawyer-judge reputation surveys, incoming LSAT and GPA medians, graduate employment, bar passage, and per-student spending, with weights that shift each cycle and are published in the U.S. News Best Law Schools methodology. The admissions and outcome data behind each rank come from the schools' ABA Standard 509 reports, which are the authoritative source for the medians.
The T14 hire nationally, sending graduates to elite firms, federal clerkships, and academia across the country. Schools ranked roughly 15 to 25 are excellent and often place nationally too, but their reach is somewhat more regional and their outcomes vary more by market. For many applicants, a strong school in this 15-to-25 band with scholarship money is a better deal than a costlier T14 seat.
Compare your LSAT and GPA to each school's medians (each school publishes its median LSAT and GPA in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 report) to sort the top 25 into reach, target, and likely. Then weigh employment outcomes in the market where you want to practice and your cost after scholarships. Within the top 25, fit and price often matter more than a few places of rank.
The T14 refers to the fourteen law schools that have effectively always ranked in the U.S. News top 14: Yale, Stanford, Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, NYU, Virginia, Berkeley, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown. They anchor the top 25 and hire nationally rather than regionally. Their internal order changes yearly; in U.S. News 2026-27 it runs Stanford 1st; Chicago and Yale tied 2nd; Penn and Virginia tied 4th; Harvard 6th; Duke and NYU tied 7th; Columbia, Northwestern, and Michigan tied 9th; Cornell tied 13th; Berkeley tied 16th; and Georgetown tied 18th, per U.S. News 2026-27.
Yes, a top 25 law school generally offers strong national or broad regional placement, and with scholarship money it can be excellent value. Weigh the specific school's employment rate in bar-passage-required jobs and your debt against a higher-ranked but costlier option; each school publishes its employment rate and cost in its ABA disclosures. Fit with your target market matters as much as the rank.
The schools usually called the best are the T14; in the U.S. News 2026-27 list the top five are Stanford 1st, Chicago and Yale tied 2nd, and Penn and Virginia tied 4th, per U.S. News 2026-27. The best school for you, though, is the one where your LSAT and GPA are competitive and that places graduates in the market you want to work in.
Law school rankings are compiled by private publishers, mainly U.S. News, not by the ABA or any government body. U.S. News scores each school on reputation surveys, incoming LSAT and GPA medians, graduate employment and bar-passage rates, and per-student spending to produce the rank. The exact weights change periodically and are published in the U.S. News Best Law Schools methodology.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026