Admissions data, knowledgeable faculty and bar passage rates propelled the University of Virginia past Georgetown, William and Mary, and George Washington University to the 10th spot in U.S. News & World Report’s list of best law schools.But when it comes to getting a good job, it’s all about a private school reputation, right? Wrong. Hiring partners at private law firms ranked the Charlottesville public school sixth among law programs, according to first-time rankings from the magazine.
| Top graduate schools | ||||
| Business | Law | Medical (Research) | Medical (primary care) | |
| American University | – | 50 | – | – |
| Catholic University of America | – | 79 | – | – |
| College of William and Mary | 83 | 27 | – | – |
| George Mason University | – | 40 | – | – |
| George Washington University | 52 | 20 | 60 | – |
| Georgetown University | 25 | 14 | 45 | 82 |
| Howard University | 91 | – | – | – |
| Johns Hopkins University | – | – | 3 | 16 |
| University of Maryland, Baltimore | – | 42 | 38 | 49 |
| University of Maryland, College Park | 45 | – | – | – |
| University of Richmond | – | 67 | – | – |
| University of Virginia | 13 | 9 | 22 | 20 |
| Virginia Tech | 73 | – | – | – |
| Washington and Lee University | – | 30 | – | – |
| Source: U.S. News & World Report | ||||
| A “-” indicates that the school does not offer the program or was not ranked. | ||||
On this reputation-alone measure, Georgetown came in at 13th, the only other area school to make the top 25. Georgetown is ranked 14th on the traditional law school list, which weighs reputation among many factors. GW placed 20th, followed by the College of William and Mary in the 30th slot.
“That’s probably the atypical situation, that the public tops the private. That’s more unique in this metropolitan area,” said Bob Morse, director of data research for the graduate school rankings.
The University of Maryland, for instance, placed 42nd among law schools. Yale, Harvard and Stanford topped the list, in that order.
“University of Virginia is just a well-established school that has a top reputation and top resources,” Morse said.
Among medical schools, Johns Hopkins University ranked third for research and 16th for primary care. U.Va. was next in line among Washington-area schools, placing 22nd and 20th, respectively.
U.Va. was also the region’s best for business schools at 13th in the nation, followed by Georgetown at 25th, and the University of Maryland, College Park at 45th.
Last month, U.Va.’s Cavaliers were recognized for attending the nation’s “best value” public school for the third year in a row by the Princeton Review.
