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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's two law schools — the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law and Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School — each ranked 28th in the nation, according to the latest U.S. News & World Reports 2024 rankings.
BYU has ranked in the Top 25 three times in recent years, ranking 22nd overall in the media company's 2023 rankings. For Utah, this year was the college's highest ranking ever, the first time it reached the Top 30 and its sixth consecutive year of gains, according to Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner. In 2023, it ranked 32nd overall.
"This is a collective accomplishment that reaffirms Utah Law's position among the best law schools in the nation," Warner said.
Utah and BYU tied with the law schools of Boston College, the University of Florida and George Mason University among the ranking of 196 law schools nationwide.
BYU Law has become one of the nation's leading law schools in its 50-year history, said BYU Law Dean David H. Moore.
"No other law school as young as BYU Law has performed as well in the U.S. News ranking system. Rankings, of course, cannot capture all that makes a law school great. BYU Law helps students develop their full potential as lawyers, leaders and people of faith. As our mission statement declares, 'We seek to be and develop people of integrity who combine faith and intellect in lifelong service to God and neighbor,'" Moore said in a statement.
Not only does BYU's legal education consistently rank well among its peers, Moore also noted that "BYU Law offers this unique education at a remarkable rate, with the lowest tuition of any private law school. A high percentage of our students graduate debt-free. Not surprisingly, the school is routinely ranked as a best-value law school. BYU Law's low tuition allows our graduates to prioritize many forms of success."
No other law school as young as BYU Law has performed as well in the U.S. News ranking system.
–David H. Moore, dean of BYU Law
Several of BYU's specialty law programs ranked well nationally as well, such as its business and corporate law program, which tied for 28th overall; contracts and commercial law, which tied for 29th and 40th for tax law.
The law school celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Its full-time tuition for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is $15,076 annually and about double that for nonmembers. Utah's tuition is $33,634 for resident students and $43,598 for nonresident students.
The S.J. Quinney College of Law ranked 11th among public law schools, which the college attributes to its low student-to-faculty ratio, rated No. 2 nationwide; ranking third overall for graduates' passage of Utah's bar exam the first time they take it; and ranking 20th overall and ninth among public law schools for its employment rate 10 months after graduation.
Several of Utah Law's speciality programs ranked highly as well. Its environmental law program ranked third among public law schools and seventh overall.
We know that rankings are just one measure of success, and Utah Law's excellence extends far beyond the numbers.
–Elizabeth Kronk Warner, dean of S.J. Quinney College of Law
Its intellectual property law program ranked 10th among public schools and 26th overall.
"We know that rankings are just one measure of success, and Utah Law's excellence extends far beyond the numbers," said Warner.
"Our college is defined by its impact on society — our students' commitment to improving communities, our faculty's transformational research and teaching, our alumni's leadership across society, and our staff's tireless efforts to make this college thrive," she said.
The university's first law school class graduated in 1913. The graduates included eight men, all from Utah, according to the law school's website .
This is not the first time Utah and BYU have tied in academic rankings. Among national colleges, both BYU and the University of Utah ranked 115th overall in U.S. News' 2024 rankings.
Correction: An earlier version said BYU Law cracked U.S. News & World Report's Top 25 rankings for the first time in 2023. BYU has ranked in the Top 25 three times in recent years.
