By Charles Ratliff
Arizona Daily Wildcat
When the U.S. News and World Report released their findings on the top law schools in the nation on March 20, the UA College of Law found it had jumped two spots to become one of the top public institutions in the country.
Thomas Sullivan, University of Arizona law dean, said the report ranked UA 12th among public universities in the nation and 30th among public and private law schools combined.
"We're very pleased with the ranking," Sullivan said. "Our ranking has improved every year."
Sullivan said the UA law school was ranked 14th last year and the new placement puts UA in the top 16 percent of all law schools in the nation.
Gary Rydout, pre-law adviser with the College of Arts and Sciences, said that although national rankings can tend to be nothing more than beauty contests, the overall value of having a high ranking can lead to more applicants to the UA law school.
"I'm sure, nationally, they'll get more applicants," he said.
Sullivan said the high ranking has had an impact in the past on the number of applicants to the law school.
He said last year, 2,500 students applied for the 150 seats available in this year's class, which gave students a 6 percent chance of acceptance.
Keeping those numbers in mind, Sullivan said the school places 94 percent of its graduates, a number he said is among the highest in the nation. Coincidentally, Sullivan said UA's law school continues to lead all law schools with 92 percent of its students passing the Arizona Bar Exam.
Rydout said most pre-law students tend to make the UA law school their first choice because of the school's commitment to serve Arizona students first.
But the competition is still fierce, and could possibly continue to grow as a result of the ranking, he said.