Detailed rankings

The rankings are based on three sub-rankings: cost, jobs, and academics. We also include a “stoplight indicator”: green schools are worth attending, yellow schools have significant issues, and red schools should be completely avoided in our view. See methodology for ranking details, and lower on that page for stoplight indicator info.

School	Stop light	Rank no cost	Indx no cost	Rank w/ cost	Indx no cost	Acad rank	Acad indx	Job rank	Job indx	Cost rank	Cost indx	U.S. News
Yale	green	1	0.98	1	0.90	1	0.99	3	0.96	60	0.64	1
UChicago	green	2	0.96	2	0.86	2	0.94	1	0.98	97	0.53	3
Harvard	green	3	0.93	5	0.81	3	0.92	6	0.94	139	0.42	4
Stanford	green	4	0.92	3	0.85	4	0.90	5	0.94	67	0.62	2
NYU	yellow	5	0.90	7	0.81	5	0.88	9	0.93	121	0.48	7
U Penn	green	6	0.89	8	0.80	11	0.83	2	0.96	113	0.49	6
Columbia	yellow	7	0.89	9	0.80	7	0.85	7	0.94	115	0.49	4
Duke	green	8	0.89	4	0.84	8	0.84	4	0.95	51	0.68	11
UVA	green	9	0.88	11	0.79	9	0.84	8	0.93	110	0.49	8
UC Berkeley	green	10	0.88	10	0.79	6	0.85	12	0.91	103	0.51	9
Cornell	green	11	0.85	12	0.79	16	0.80	10	0.92	81	0.56	12
Northwestern	green	12	0.85	15	0.78	15	0.80	11	0.91	94	0.54	13
U of MI	green	13	0.85	6	0.81	12	0.81	13	0.89	54	0.66	10
Vanderbilt	green	14	0.85	13	0.78	10	0.84	16	0.86	77	0.57	17
WUSTL	green	15	0.81	16	0.77	19	0.76	14	0.87	61	0.63	16
Georgetown	green	16	0.81	23	0.71	18	0.77	15	0.86	151	0.38	14
UCLA	green	17	0.81	18	0.75	14	0.80	19	0.82	89	0.54	15
UT Austin	green	18	0.80	17	0.76	13	0.80	20	0.81	68	0.62	17
USC	green	19	0.80	20	0.73	17	0.77	17	0.84	123	0.48	20
Boston U	green	20	0.77	25	0.70	20	0.75	23	0.79	117	0.49	17
Fordham	green	21	0.76	28	0.68	30	0.70	18	0.83	144	0.41	37
Notre Dame	green	22	0.76	24	0.71	24	0.73	21	0.80	83	0.55	25
U of MN	yellow	23	0.74	39	0.65	21	0.74	24	0.74	167	0.33	21
Boston College	yellow	24	0.74	35	0.66	35	0.68	22	0.79	142	0.41	35
GW	yellow	25	0.73	40	0.64	23	0.73	27	0.73	158	0.36	25
U of GA	green	26	0.73	19	0.73	26	0.72	25	0.74	29	0.75	29
BYU	green	27	0.72	14	0.78	25	0.72	30	0.72	2	0.99	23
Ohio State	red	28	0.72	52	0.61	29	0.72	32	0.72	175	0.26	30
U of NC	green	29	0.71	22	0.71	32	0.69	28	0.73	35	0.73	23
UC Irvine	yellow	30	0.70	37	0.66	28	0.72	40	0.69	108	0.50	37
Emory	red	31	0.70	67	0.57	33	0.69	34	0.71	189	0.12	30
U of FL	green	32	0.70	21	0.72	27	0.72	42	0.67	21	0.80	21
Wake Forest	green	33	0.69	29	0.68	36	0.67	31	0.72	57	0.65	37
William and Mary	yellow	34	0.69	33	0.67	22	0.73	49	0.63	65	0.63	30
Villanova	green	35	0.68	41	0.64	46	0.63	29	0.73	93	0.54	56
U of IL	green	36	0.68	26	0.69	40	0.65	37	0.70	40	0.72	35
IU Bloomington	green	37	0.67	47	0.63	34	0.69	44	0.66	114	0.49	43
SMU	yellow	38	0.67	55	0.60	49	0.63	33	0.72	153	0.37	58
U of IA	green	39	0.67	45	0.64	42	0.65	41	0.68	84	0.55	28
UC Davis	yellow	40	0.66	54	0.60	38	0.66	43	0.67	148	0.39	37
U of AL	yellow	41	0.66	27	0.68	31	0.70	51	0.63	32	0.75	25
Wash. and Lee	green	42	0.65	48	0.63	54	0.60	36	0.71	85	0.55	35
Temple	green	43	0.65	30	0.68	52	0.61	39	0.69	24	0.78	63
U of UT	yellow	44	0.64	38	0.65	37	0.66	57	0.62	49	0.69	37
Seton Hall	red	45	0.63	64	0.57	62	0.58	38	0.69	163	0.34	73
Cardozo	red	46	0.63	63	0.57	50	0.62	46	0.64	160	0.35	52
St. John's	yellow	47	0.63	69	0.56	82	0.52	26	0.74	162	0.34	84
U of WI	yellow	48	0.62	56	0.60	48	0.63	54	0.62	105	0.51	43
U of WA	red	49	0.62	62	0.57	47	0.63	56	0.62	149	0.39	49
AZ State	yellow	50	0.62	57	0.59	45	0.64	64	0.60	104	0.51	30
George Mason	yellow	51	0.61	36	0.66	41	0.65	70	0.58	19	0.82	30
Texas A&M	green	52	0.61	50	0.63	39	0.65	71	0.57	53	0.67	46
U of CO	yellow	53	0.61	46	0.64	43	0.64	69	0.58	39	0.72	49
FL State	yellow	54	0.61	31	0.68	58	0.60	52	0.62	9	0.91	47
Northeastern	yellow	55	0.61	58	0.59	53	0.61	60	0.61	98	0.53	73
U of KS	yellow	56	0.61	32	0.68	61	0.59	50	0.63	8	0.91	67
Wayne State	yellow	57	0.61	42	0.64	57	0.60	61	0.61	25	0.77	58
U of Houston	yellow	58	0.60	60	0.57	67	0.57	48	0.64	124	0.47	58
U of Miami	red	59	0.59	90	0.51	66	0.57	55	0.62	179	0.24	73
U of TN	yellow	60	0.59	73	0.55	51	0.62	74	0.57	136	0.42	56
Baylor	red	61	0.59	111	0.48	65	0.57	58	0.61	191	0.11	58
Pepperdine	red	62	0.59	93	0.51	44	0.64	94	0.53	177	0.25	52
U of MD	green	63	0.58	74	0.55	59	0.59	72	0.57	128	0.45	47
U of Richmond	yellow	64	0.58	70	0.56	56	0.60	80	0.56	118	0.48	52
U of KY	yellow	65	0.58	85	0.52	80	0.53	47	0.64	165	0.33	67
UC Hastings	yellow	66	0.58	71	0.56	77	0.54	53	0.62	116	0.49	51
Loyola Los Angeles	red	67	0.58	105	0.49	64	0.57	68	0.58	182	0.19	67
PA State	red	68	0.57	75	0.55	55	0.60	88	0.54	120	0.48	64
U of MO	red	69	0.57	44	0.64	76	0.54	59	0.61	15	0.87	67
FIU	yellow	70	0.57	53	0.61	63	0.58	81	0.56	31	0.75	98
U of Cincinnati	green	71	0.56	34	0.66	68	0.56	79	0.56	1	1.00	88
U of OK	yellow	72	0.56	43	0.64	73	0.55	77	0.57	5	0.93	88
Tulane	red	73	0.56	98	0.50	81	0.52	65	0.59	172	0.30	55
Drexel	yellow	74	0.56	61	0.57	98	0.47	45	0.65	70	0.61	78
U of AZ	yellow	75	0.56	49	0.63	60	0.59	98	0.52	13	0.87	45
American	yellow	76	0.55	77	0.54	69	0.56	86	0.55	109	0.49	73
U of San Diego	red	77	0.55	94	0.51	71	0.55	84	0.55	154	0.37	64
U of Denver	red	78	0.55	91	0.51	75	0.54	78	0.56	150	0.39	78
Case Western	red	79	0.54	95	0.51	70	0.55	93	0.54	147	0.39	78
U of SC	yellow	80	0.54	51	0.62	86	0.51	67	0.58	14	0.87	84
U of Pittsburgh	yellow	81	0.54	83	0.53	84	0.52	87	0.55	112	0.49	78
Brooklyn	red	82	0.53	103	0.49	94	0.47	63	0.60	159	0.35	98
U of CT	red	83	0.53	109	0.48	88	0.50	73	0.57	171	0.31	64
UNLV	yellow	84	0.53	59	0.58	74	0.55	99	0.52	38	0.72	67
GA State	yellow	85	0.53	86	0.52	79	0.53	96	0.53	111	0.49	78
Texas Tech	red	86	0.53	68	0.57	99	0.47	66	0.59	47	0.70	105
Loyola Chicago	red	87	0.52	81	0.53	87	0.50	92	0.54	79	0.57	73
PA State Dickinson	red	88	0.51	65	0.57	91	0.49	91	0.54	30	0.75	58
Howard	red	89	0.51	66	0.57	143	0.33	35	0.71	27	0.76	98
Marquette	red	90	0.50	108	0.48	107	0.44	76	0.57	140	0.41	105
Saint Louis	yellow	91	0.50	89	0.52	101	0.46	85	0.55	80	0.57	98
Rutgers	yellow	92	0.49	82	0.53	121	0.39	62	0.60	56	0.65	86
St. Thomas MN	red	93	0.49	79	0.54	90	0.49	104	0.50	50	0.68	127
Syracuse	red	94	0.49	97	0.50	113	0.42	75	0.57	91	0.54	103
Belmont	red	95	0.49	137	0.41	72	0.55	126	0.43	187	0.16	133
U of OR	red	96	0.49	117	0.47	85	0.52	115	0.46	138	0.42	67
U of NH	red	97	0.49	101	0.49	92	0.48	107	0.49	100	0.52	105
U of NE	red	98	0.48	84	0.52	78	0.54	124	0.43	55	0.65	78
Duquesne	red	99	0.48	118	0.47	102	0.46	102	0.51	135	0.43	129
Chicago-Kent	red	100	0.48	102	0.49	89	0.49	114	0.47	95	0.54	94
WVU	yellow	101	0.48	78	0.54	111	0.43	89	0.54	36	0.73	118
Chapman	red	102	0.48	121	0.44	97	0.47	106	0.49	169	0.32	118
IU Indianapolis	yellow	103	0.48	80	0.53	108	0.44	100	0.52	41	0.71	98
LA State	red	104	0.47	104	0.49	106	0.45	105	0.50	86	0.55	105
Mercer	red	105	0.47	88	0.52	112	0.42	97	0.52	52	0.68	122
U of MT	green	106	0.47	72	0.56	110	0.43	101	0.51	16	0.85	103
U of Louisville	yellow	107	0.47	76	0.54	93	0.48	116	0.45	23	0.79	94
MI State	yellow	108	0.47	96	0.51	103	0.45	109	0.48	59	0.65	91
Stetson	red	109	0.46	119	0.47	104	0.45	108	0.48	119	0.48	111
Albany	red	110	0.46	106	0.49	126	0.38	90	0.54	76	0.57	122
Gonzaga	red	111	0.45	92	0.51	119	0.40	103	0.51	43	0.71	116
Lewis and Clark	red	112	0.45	110	0.48	83	0.52	142	0.38	75	0.58	88
Detroit Mercy	red	113	0.45	131	0.42	134	0.35	82	0.56	166	0.33	139
U of NM	red	114	0.45	133	0.42	96	0.47	129	0.42	168	0.33	91
Drake	red	115	0.43	124	0.44	114	0.42	118	0.45	126	0.46	111
Regent	red	116	0.43	99	0.49	100	0.46	137	0.40	44	0.71	142
Hofstra	red	117	0.43	149	0.39	147	0.31	83	0.55	181	0.24	118
SUNY Buffalo	yellow	118	0.43	87	0.52	122	0.39	113	0.47	18	0.82	94
Suffolk	red	119	0.43	139	0.41	127	0.38	112	0.47	155	0.37	122
U of MS	red	120	0.41	150	0.38	115	0.42	135	0.41	176	0.25	111
Depaul	red	121	0.41	140	0.41	120	0.40	121	0.43	143	0.41	105
Samford	red	122	0.41	134	0.42	124	0.39	119	0.44	130	0.45	139
Cleveland State	red	123	0.41	113	0.48	118	0.41	133	0.41	42	0.71	127
NY Law School	red	124	0.41	138	0.41	139	0.34	111	0.47	131	0.44	129
Campbell	red	125	0.40	136	0.42	123	0.39	132	0.42	127	0.46	unranked
Seattle U	red	126	0.40	130	0.42	133	0.35	117	0.45	106	0.51	116
Catholic	red	127	0.40	126	0.43	117	0.41	139	0.39	92	0.54	94
Liberty	red	128	0.39	116	0.47	116	0.41	144	0.37	33	0.75	unranked
U of Tulsa	yellow	129	0.39	100	0.49	132	0.36	122	0.43	17	0.84	118
Loyola New Orleans	red	130	0.39	147	0.39	125	0.38	138	0.40	146	0.40	133
U of HI	red	131	0.39	161	0.33	109	0.43	151	0.34	188	0.13	91
U of AR Fayetteville	red	132	0.39	129	0.42	105	0.45	155	0.32	87	0.55	86
Pace	red	133	0.39	132	0.42	162	0.26	95	0.53	96	0.53	142
U of WY	red	134	0.38	122	0.44	137	0.34	125	0.43	58	0.65	129
Santa Clara	red	135	0.37	172	0.30	129	0.38	145	0.37	193	0.05	133
Elon	red	136	0.37	128	0.43	150	0.31	123	0.43	63	0.63	unranked
U of ME	red	137	0.36	144	0.40	95	0.47	177	0.25	99	0.53	114
CUNY	red	138	0.36	107	0.48	130	0.37	147	0.36	12	0.88	133
Toledo	red	139	0.36	120	0.45	138	0.34	140	0.39	37	0.72	unranked
UMKC	red	140	0.36	142	0.41	128	0.38	150	0.35	78	0.57	114
U of SD	red	141	0.36	145	0.40	131	0.37	148	0.36	101	0.51	133
Nova Southeastern	red	142	0.36	155	0.35	164	0.26	110	0.47	164	0.33	unranked
Ohio Northern	red	143	0.36	112	0.48	151	0.30	130	0.42	10	0.89	unranked
Washburn	red	144	0.35	123	0.44	155	0.29	128	0.42	34	0.74	105
U of ND	red	145	0.35	127	0.43	154	0.29	131	0.42	48	0.69	unranked
U of Dayton	yellow	146	0.34	114	0.48	161	0.27	127	0.43	6	0.92	122
U of Akron	red	147	0.34	115	0.48	159	0.28	134	0.41	3	0.93	unranked
U of Memphis	red	148	0.34	125	0.43	136	0.34	154	0.33	26	0.76	142
South Texas	red	149	0.33	153	0.36	152	0.30	146	0.36	122	0.48	unranked
Southwestern	red	150	0.33	177	0.28	146	0.32	152	0.34	190	0.12	unranked
McGeorge	red	151	0.32	164	0.32	135	0.35	162	0.30	170	0.32	133
Creighton	red	152	0.32	173	0.29	141	0.34	161	0.30	183	0.19	139
UNT	red	153	0.32	135	0.42	170	0.24	136	0.41	28	0.76	unranked
New England	red	154	0.32	156	0.35	153	0.30	153	0.34	125	0.47	unranked
OK City	red	155	0.31	151	0.38	166	0.25	141	0.38	74	0.58	unranked
St. Mary's	red	156	0.31	162	0.33	157	0.28	149	0.35	152	0.38	unranked
UIC	red	157	0.31	160	0.33	167	0.25	143	0.37	141	0.41	unranked
U of San Francisco	red	158	0.31	179	0.28	140	0.34	171	0.28	185	0.18	unranked
Northern Kentucky	red	159	0.31	152	0.38	144	0.32	164	0.29	72	0.60	unranked
Quinnipiac	red	160	0.31	167	0.31	145	0.32	165	0.29	161	0.34	unranked
U of ID	red	161	0.30	158	0.34	148	0.31	163	0.30	129	0.45	142
Capital U	red	162	0.30	154	0.36	156	0.28	156	0.32	82	0.55	unranked
U of Baltimore	red	163	0.30	163	0.33	149	0.31	168	0.28	137	0.42	122
Widener PA	red	164	0.29	157	0.35	187	0.16	120	0.44	90	0.54	unranked
VT Law	red	165	0.29	165	0.32	142	0.33	178	0.24	133	0.44	142
U of AK Little Rock	red	166	0.26	148	0.39	160	0.27	173	0.26	20	0.80	unranked
Southern Illinois	red	167	0.26	141	0.41	179	0.21	159	0.31	4	0.93	unranked
Faulkner	red	168	0.25	159	0.33	168	0.25	175	0.25	69	0.62	unranked
MS College	red	169	0.25	143	0.40	176	0.21	166	0.29	7	0.92	unranked
St. Thomas FL	red	170	0.25	190	0.21	175	0.21	169	0.28	192	0.07	unranked
Northern IL	red	171	0.25	146	0.39	183	0.19	160	0.31	11	0.89	unranked
Charleston	red	172	0.24	181	0.27	173	0.21	170	0.28	157	0.36	unranked
Barry	red	173	0.24	169	0.31	185	0.18	157	0.31	102	0.51	unranked
Willamette	red	174	0.24	185	0.23	158	0.28	182	0.20	186	0.17	129
Widener DE	red	175	0.24	171	0.30	181	0.20	167	0.28	107	0.50	unranked
Ave Maria	red	176	0.24	176	0.28	178	0.21	172	0.26	134	0.44	unranked
Roger Williams	red	177	0.23	180	0.27	174	0.21	174	0.26	145	0.41	unranked
CA Western	red	178	0.23	189	0.22	163	0.26	181	0.21	184	0.18	unranked
Mitchell Hamline	red	179	0.22	166	0.32	165	0.25	183	0.19	62	0.63	unranked
John Marshall	red	180	0.22	186	0.22	182	0.19	176	0.25	180	0.24	unranked
Touro	red	181	0.21	187	0.22	190	0.13	158	0.31	178	0.25	unranked
Lincoln Memorial	red	182	0.19	175	0.29	171	0.21	185	0.17	66	0.62	unranked
TX Southern	red	183	0.19	174	0.29	186	0.17	180	0.21	64	0.63	unranked
FL A&M	red	184	0.19	178	0.28	177	0.21	186	0.17	73	0.59	unranked
Western State	red	185	0.19	183	0.25	189	0.15	179	0.23	132	0.44	unranked
U of MA	red	186	0.19	168	0.31	172	0.21	188	0.16	45	0.70	unranked
NC Central	yellow	187	0.18	170	0.30	184	0.19	184	0.18	46	0.70	unranked
W. New England	red	188	0.16	182	0.26	180	0.21	191	0.11	71	0.60	unranked
Southern U	red	189	0.15	191	0.20	188	0.15	187	0.16	156	0.37	unranked
Appalachian	red	190	0.12	188	0.22	191	0.12	189	0.14	88	0.54	unranked
Golden Gate	red	191	0.12	192	0.14	169	0.24	193	0.00	174	0.28	unranked
Cooley	red	192	0.10	193	0.14	193	0.09	190	0.12	173	0.29	unranked
DC	red	193	0.10	184	0.24	192	0.11	192	0.10	22	0.80	unranked