Joy JuedesChapman University’s Fowler School of Law continued its climb toward the nation’s top 100 law schools, rising from No. 118 to No. 109 in the new Best Law Schools rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
Rankings are based on placement of graduates, faculty resources, achievements of entering students, and opinions by law schools, lawyers and judges on overall program quality, according to U.S. News.
“The Fowler School of Law’s impressive nine-spot leap in the U.S. News & World Report ranking speaks not only to several years of tremendous strides in employment outcomes and bar pass, but to the ever present and passionate commitment to our No. 1 priority: our students’ success,” said interim Dean Marisa Cianciarulo.
In addition to the overall ranking, Fowler Law placed No. 68 in trial advocacy.
One of Chapman’s long-term goals in its new five-year strategic plan is a top 70 ranking for the law school.
That goal is part of the university’s priority to continue rising in national rankings, with a focus on measures of academic achievement, financial resources and graduation/retention rates. Chapman is the No. 11 law school in California in the 2023-24 rankings.
Fowler’s new ranking builds on momentum from 2020, when the law school rose 21 spots under then-Dean Matt Parlow. It was the largest increase of all California law schools that year.
Fowler alumni outperformed national scores in the March Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), which is required to practice law in California along with passing the state bar exam. Seventy-five percent of alumni met or exceeded the passing score, compared to about 68% of takers nationally.
