Nebraska Law Named Among Top Law Schools by Above the Law

01 Jul 2019

The University of Nebraska College of Law has been named a top law school by Above the Law, making the list at #36 of over 200 U.S. law schools.

Above the Law’s Top 50 Law School Rankings focus on outcomes, identifying the schools “with quality employment prospects both outside of their particular region and/or for graduates who don’t graduate at the top of the class.” The rankings include measures for real law jobs, quality full-time positions, costs and debt, and alumni satisfaction.

“Three data points should be paramount to prospective law students and law students: cost, bar passage rate, and job placement rate,” said Anna Shavers, acting dean at the College of Law. “These numbers are essential when trying to evaluate the quality of education a law school provides.”

Nebraska Law’s Class of 2018 tallied a 94 percent employment rate within 10 months of earning a degree. This places Nebraska 6^th in the country for bar passage required and JD advantage employment.

Although the Above the Law ranking does not consider JD advantage employment, Tasha Everman, assistant dean and director of career development, noted that students have an increasing interest in jobs outside traditional legal employment. “We have found that graduates are pursuing a diversity of jobs that fall under the ‘JD advantage’ category - including positions such as health care and banking compliance officers, international tax advisors, and cyber risk analysts, just to name a few.”

Another key factor in Above the Law’s ranking is cost, both total cost and debt. Nebraska Law scores high in both of these categories.

The total cost for a Nebraska resident to attend Nebraska Law is under $50,000. That is the lowest resident tuition cost in U.S. News’ top 100 law schools. Nebraska Law also has the 6^th lowest law school debt in the country.

“Above the Law’s ranking is important because it is based on data points that matter. We are proud to be recognized for having a low-cost legal education while still achieving high rates of bar passage and employment,” said Shavers.