Wednesday 16 November 2022 05:02 PM Woke Yale Law School abandons rankings system, saying it discourages support ... trends now
Yale Law School is pulling out of the US News & World Report's law-school ranking list over claims it discourages support for low-income students.
The highly influential list ranks the best law schools in the nation, and is often used by prospective students and parents when determining which colleges to apply to.
The list can also influence students' chances when applying for jobs, graduate school and PHD programs, as those who come from the best schools appear as the most desired candidates.
Yale, which has dominated the list at first place since 1990, called it 'flawed' because it allegedly puts the most weight on scholarships for high test scores -rather than for low-income students who need the aid- and graduates' employment.
Woke school dean Heather Gerken said the current list devalues programs aimed at providing aid for low-income students and programs that encourage low-paying public interest jobs.
'The U.S. News rankings are profoundly flawed,' Gerken said in a statement. 'They disincentivize programs that support public interest careers, champion need-based aid, and welcome working-class students into the profession.
'Its approach not only fails to advance the legal profession, but stands squarely in the way of progress.'
The dean ultimately said the system undermines altruistic efforts to give students opportunities as colleges focus on rankings for prestige.
'In fact, in recent years, we have invested significant energy and capital in important initiatives that make our law school a better place but perversely work to lower our scores,' she said of the university's work.
It's the latest criticism levied against the national ranking system after Columbia University dropped from second place to eighteenth in September for best National Colleges when staff admitted to submitting false stats.
Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken (above) said the school would pull out of the US News & World Report's law-school ranking list. Gerken said the 'flawed' system devalues programs aimed at providing aid for low-income students and programs that encourage low-paying public interest jobs
Yale has remained at the top of the prestigious list for 32 years, but officials have longed complained about the lists prioritizing test scores and graduate employment
With about 20 percent of the overall ranking score based on median LSAT or GRE test scores and grad-point averages, Gerken said the ranking hurts school that admit students who couldn't afford the test-prep courses and scored lower points.
She also criticized the rankings preference over schools that give scholarships to the students with the best scores, not for those who need the financial aid.
'This heavily weighted metric imposes tremendous pressure on schools to overlook promising students, especially those who cannot afford expensive test preparation courses,' Gerken said.
'At a moment when concerns about economic equity stand at the center of our national dialogue, only two law schools in the country continue to give aid based entirely on need — Harvard and Yale.'
The dean added that graduates appeared to be classified as unemployed in the US News ranking if they took school-funded fellowship for public interest jobs, or if they went on to enroll for higher education.
Gerken noted that she and a group of other law-school deans reached out to US News five years ago to alter their ranking system, but to no avail.
It remains unclear if other top universities, like Stanford and the University of Chicago will join Yale's boycott.
US News & World Report did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
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