The Law Schools That Provide The ‘Best Value’ For Students (2025) – Above the Law

There
are
many
ways
to
rank
law
schools,
but
the
way
that
the
National
Jurist’s
preLaw
Magazine
does
it
is
quite
interesting.
Rather
than
concentrating
on
the
prestige
factors
that
usually
dominate
law
school
ranking
systems,
this
ranking
focuses
solely
on
factors
that
provide
the
“best
value”
for
students.
That
said,
this
is
a
list
that
is
typically
dominated
by
public
schools,
with
a
smattering
of
private
schools
mixed
in.
Curiously,
for
the
past
few
years,
a
private
school
had
come
out
on
top
of
the
National
Jurist
ranking
—
but
that
has
stopped,
and
a
new
value
victor
reigns
supreme
in
2025.

Before
we
get
to
the
Top
20
ranking,
let’s
discuss
the
methodology
used
to
suss
out
which
law
schools
are
providing
the
best
value
for
students.
The
National
Jurist’s
ranking
takes
into
account
a
law
school’s
tuition,
students’
cost
of
living
expenses,
students’
average
indebtedness
upon
graduation
(collectively
weighted
55%),
the
percentage
of
graduates
who
got
a
job
after
graduation
(30%),
and
bar
passage
rates
(two-year
difference
between
first-time
pass
rate
and
average
state
pass
rate;
two-year
ultimate
pass
rate;
and
two-year
first-time
raw
pass
rate)
(15%).

As
noted
previously,
based
on
these
inputs,
the
ranking
tends
to
skew
heavily
towards
public
schools,
but
private
schools
made
a
showing
in
this
year’s
ranking.
One
private
school
cracked
the
Top
20,
while
10
others
followed
behind
later.
For
what
it’s
worth,
the
2025
Best
Value
ranking
reminds
us
a
bit
of
U.S.
News
law
school
rankings,
in
that
we’ve
got
an
18-way
tie
for
21st
place
and
a
20-way
tie
for
22nd
place.

Without
further
ado,
here
are
the
National
Jurist’s Top
20
Best
Value
Law
Schools:

1. Florida
   State
   University
2. Brigham
   Young
   University
3. University
   of
   Georgia
4. University
   of
   Florida
5. University
   of
   Kansas
6. University
   of
   Alabama
7. University
   of
   North
   Carolina
8. University
   of
   Missouri
9. Texas
   A&M
   Law
10. University
    of
    Illinois
11. University
    of
    Nebraska
12. University
    of
    Oklahoma
13. University
    of
    Tennessee
14. Georgia
    State
    University
15. University
    of
    Iowa
16. University
    of
    Montana
17. University
    of
    Kentucky
18. University
    of
    Buffalo
    School
    of
    Law
19. University
    of
    Texas
20. Texas
    Tech
    University

Erin
O’Hara
O’Connor,
dean
of
FSU
Law,
attributes
the
school’s
success
in
the
2025
Best
Value
ranking
to
the
school’s
overall
philosophy,
that
affordability
plus
opportunity
equals
freedom
—
the
freedom
to
build
their
desired
careers.
“Per
dollar
invested
in
their
legal
education,
our
students
cannot
and
will
not
receive
a
better
education
and
better
opportunities,”
O’Connor
said.

The
lesson
to
be
learned
here
is
simple:
if
you
want
to
keep
your
debt
low,
consider
enrolling
at
a
public
law
school.
If
you
don’t
mind
up
to
a
six-figure
debt
load,
enroll
in
the
best
law
school
you
can
get
into
(let’s
say
the top
50),
because
those
are
the
schools
where
you’ll
be
able
to
get
jobs
that
will
allow
you
to
service
your
loans.

Congrats
to
the
law
schools
that
offer
their
students
the
“best
value.”

Best
value
law
schools
[preLaw
Magazine
/
National
Jurist]

FSU
Law,
BYU
Law
and
UGA
School
of
Law
take
top
spots
for
best
value
law
schools
[preLaw
Magazine
/
National
Jurist]

---

Staci
Zaretsky is
the
managing
editor
of
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
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from
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