Law Dean Boycotts US News Rankings
Garcia. Law school photo.
The law school rankings by U.S. News & World Report has all zeros and “not availables” for St. Thomas University School of Law in Florida.
The reason: The school’s dean, Al Garcia, is the only educator who decided to boycott the law school rankings, the Daily Business Review reports.
“I have personally stood in front of The Florida Bar’s standing committee on professionalism and attacked U.S. News & World Report because it does a disservice to groups like us that represent minorities,” Garcia told the Daily Business Review. “Everybody decries the survey, but everyone participates in the survey. Boycotting is not going to solve matters, but I figured I would put my money where my mouth is.”
Garcia says U.S. News relies on outdated measures such as grade point averages and student-faculty ratio. The magazine has a separate diversity index, but Garcia says it’s there “to mollify people who serve minority and underserved populations.”
“What U.S. News & World Report should be looking at is do you provide the skills necessary to make the students competent and ethical lawyers,” he told the Daily Business Review.
Question for readers: If law deans loathe rankings, why don’t more follow Garcia’s lead?
Please answer in the comments below.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Yale’s Still #1 in Latest US News Rankings; Harvard, Stanford, Columbia & Chicago Follow”
ABA Journal: “Rankings to Get ABA Review”
