Download This PaperThe Curious Case of Howard Law School’s Peer Ranking
Michael Conklin, The Curious Case of Howard Law School’s Peer Ranking, 23 RUTGERS RACE & L. REV. 299 (2022).
16 Pages Posted: 24 Nov 2020 Last revised: 8 Jun 2023
Date Written: October 5, 2020
Abstract
[NOTE: This research was republished with updated data (finding an even greater disparity) in https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4300723]
The U.S. News & World Report provides law school rankings based on a peer score (hereinafter “peer rank”) and an overall score (hereinafter “overall rank”). A law school’s peer rank is generally closely associated with its overall rank. For example, in the 2021 rankings more than 60% of law schools have peer ranks that are within nine places of their overall ranks. A glaring outlier is Howard University School of Law, whose peer rank is forty-six places higher than its overall rank. Even more peculiar is that this peer–overall disparity has existed every year for the last ten years during which it has experienced a gradual upward trend. This Essay analyzes the significance of the peer rank and considers potential explanations for this divergence.
Keywords: Howard University, Howard Law School, Historically Black Colleges, Law School Rankings, Peer Ranking, U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings
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