Your article “Deans Say U.S. News Rankings Penalize Schools in the Golden State” reported the unanimous position of the California law school deans, who agree that California’s poor employment prospects are a drag on the rankings at all 21 accredited California law schools—even though they are no fault of the California law schools or their students. Put simply, if a law school in Iowa, where unemployment is 4.2 percent, places 85 percent of its students, and a law school in California, where unemployment is 8.3 percent, places 84 percent of its students, U.S. News ranks the Iowa school ahead of the California school. That is nonsense, if the purpose is to rank the quality of the two law schools. Nevertheless, U.S. News’ Bob Morse responded:
“The schools that are underperforming or falling in the ranking, [it's] not because of the state of California’s employment woes … but because their students are not in demand, or they’re unable to obtain real legal jobs.” Mr. Morse pointed to the list for proof, stating: “The top ten schools in California have seen little change in their rankings over the last few years, showing that their graduates are still in demand and they’re still getting real legal jobs, despite the California employment status.”
