Harvard and Yale officials said Wednesday they will withdraw their law schools from the US News & World Report rankings, a seismic shift in the college ranking system.
In separate statements, leaders of the two programs said they believe the rankings – which are used by students to select schools and colleges to attract applicants – are unreliable and “deeply” flawed.
“They discourage programs that support public interest careers, support need-based aid and welcome working-class students into the profession,” Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken said in a statement Wednesday. “We have reached a point where the classification process undermines the fundamental commitments of the legal profession. As a result, we will no longer participate.”
Harvard followed suit. Law school dean John Manning said it had become “impossible to reconcile our principles and commitments with the methodology and incentives that reflect the US News rankings.”
“It does not advance the best ideals of legal education or the profession we serve, and it contradicts the deep commitments of Harvard Law School,” Manning said of the rankings, adding that “they can create perverse incentives that influence school decisions in certain ways. which undermines student choice and harms the interests of prospective students.”
Both Manning and Gerken said they are concerned about US News’ strong ranking of LSAT scores and GPAs, which they say could deter more applicants. They said that despite bringing these concerns to the for-profit magazine, not enough was being done.
The departures are significant. Yale Law School has topped the US News list since the company began publishing its list in 1990. Harvard, currently ranked fourth, has maintained a prominent place on the list alongside other respectable programs .
Eric Gertler, head of US News and World Report, said the company would continue to publish its rankings. It is unclear whether Yale and Harvard will remain on the list, as much of the information used for the ranking system is publicly available.
“As part of our mission, we must continue to ensure that law schools are held accountable for the education they will provide these students,” Gertler said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.
Other schools Yale and Harvard may continue to submit data for inclusion in the US News rankings.
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