Wash. Univ. Law school rises in national rankings

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Apr 30, 2002 by Elissa Fuchs

U.S. News and World Reports offered good news to the Washington University Law School: an overall rank of the 25th best law school in the country in 2002. When the annual graduate school ranking edition of the magazine came out earlier this month, the law school's ranking was an improvement from last year, when they held the 27th spot.

Dean of the law school Joel Seligman was pleased with the rise, not only over the year, but also because the ranking has improved steadily, from 32nd three years ago. "This makes us among the fastest rising [law] schools in the country," Seligman said. He attributes the law school's rise to "great faculty hires, many new programs, such as those in intellectual property, interdisciplinary studies and international law, and a focus on being a student-friendly law school."

Seligman also noted that the admissions selectivity data, employment nine months after graduation and faculty reputation were ranked higher than the overall ranking.

Seligman is cautious not to extrapolate too much from the ranking. He does not "want to exaggerate the significance of the magazine's rankings" but says that "it is nonetheless gratifying to see we continue to make progress." He points out that an even stronger indicator of the law school's improvements is the increase in the number of law school applicants. Last year, the law school had 2,000 applicants, which was a record high at that time. This year, there have been more than 3,100.

The law school is only one of the Washington University graduate schools that saw an improvement in the U.S. News and World Reports rankings. The medical school advanced from 4th in 2001 to 3rd, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences rose from 40th in 2000 to 35th. The Olin School of Business, however, dropped from 26th in 2000 to 31st.

Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton expressed his sentiments about the graduate schools' improvement in the rankings: "We are pleased to see a steady growth in the recognition of the quality of our graduate and professional programs. [This] reflects the superb faculty and students who teach, learn and do research here. The fact that 18 of our graduate-level programs are now ranked in the nation's top 10 by U.S. News is gratifying evidence of our strengths in many academic disciplines."