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Bottom-Ranked Law Schools

Each year, US News & World Report ranks all the ABA-accredited law schools in the United States. The schools are placed into tiers. Tier 1 is the highest, Tier 2 second-highest, all the way down to Tier 4, which is the lowest possible tier. The schools in Tier 4 are not ranked one-by-one, so it is impossible to tell which schools are the lowest ranked. But Whittier Law School, the University of the District of Columbia Law School, and Appalachian School of Law consistently rank among the nation's worst law school for first-year attrition and bar passage rates.

  1. Whittier Law School

    • Whittier Law School, located in Costa Mesa, California, in 2009 had the highest first-year attrition rate at 51.5% in the country, according to Cincinnati School of Law professor Paul Caron's popular law blog. A first-year attrition rate is the number of students who flunk out or otherwise leave the law school after or during their first year. When this number is 51.5%, it means that more than half of the first year class did not make it to their second year at that school. Whittier Law School also had one of the lowest bar passage rates among all ABA-accredited schools in 2009 at 55.6% for first-time test-takers, well under the California state average of 65% for that year, according to the Internet Legal Research Group.

      Whittier Law School
      3333 Harbor Boulevard
      Costa Mesa, CA 92626
      714-444-4141
      www.law.whittier.edu

    The University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law

    • The University of the District of Columbia school of law also ranks near the bottom of all ABA-accredited law schools in first-year attrition rates and bar passage rates. In 2009 the law school ranked third from the bottom among ABA-accredited schools in bar passage rate at 53.8% for first-time test takers taking the Maryland bar exam, much lower than the Maryland state average that year of 77%, according to the Internet Legal Research Group (ILRG). The school's first-year student attrition rate was 20%, according to Caron's blog. US News & World Report ranks UDC in the fourth tier of ABA-accredited law schools.

      University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law
      4200 Connecticut Avenue NW Building 38 & 39
      Washington, DC 20008
      202-274-7400
      www.law.udc.edu

    Appalachian School of Law

    • The Appalachian School of Law became fully accredited by the ABA in 2006 and has been ranked in the fourth tier by US News & World Report since. Located in Grundy, Virginia, the law school does not rank among the lowest twenty schools for first year academic attrition. However, the school has one of the lowest bar passage rates among ABA-accredited law schools. Only 46.7% of first-time test takers of the Virginia bar exam pass, compared to the state average of 74%, according to the ILRG.

      Appalachian School of Law
      1169 Edgewater Drive
      Grundy, VA 24614
      (276) 935-4349
      www.asl.edu

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