Officials from the law schools at Yale and Harvard declared on Wednesday, November 16, that they will no longer be taking part in US News and World Report’s annual rankings of the best legal schools in the world.
The process used to compile the list is “profoundly incorrect”: Yale University
According to a Yale source mentioned by CBS News, the process used to compile the list is “profoundly incorrect.” Dean Heather K. Gerken announced it in a blog post. The institution “has taken the top slot every year” since the rankings started, she noted, adding that “we have reached a stage where the rankings process is undermining the essential commitments of the legal profession.” Therefore, we will no longer take part.
She claimed that because loan-forgiveness programmes for student debts are not included on the list, it deters low-income students or those interested in entering the public service from enrolling in courses. In order to forgive student loans for American students who want to work in public service, the Public Service Programmes Loan Forgiveness programme was established in 2007.
The administrators persisted in claiming that the list deters universities from accepting students from low-income backgrounds. One such metric is “reputation,” or how the college interacts with competitor institutions. The detractors contended that this is not particularly related to the college’s capacity to instruct its students. It also increases income inequality, which reduces student diversity, according to critics.
The University of Colombia supplied false information to boost their ranking
Harvard will also be removing its name from the list, according to Dean John Manning in a letter to CBS News, because “it has become hard to square our ideals and objectives with the methods and incentives the US News rankings reflect.”
Given their prominent global standing and distinguished, successful graduates, Yale and Harvard will not suffer if their names are removed from the list. Former US President Bill Clinton and four Supreme Court justices are among Yale’s alumni. Both also have money set aside to aid kids from disadvantaged backgrounds. The plans from Harvard and Yale total $50 billion and $41 billion, respectively.
The University of Colombia supplied false information to the US News and World Report to boost its ranking, which led to prior criticism of the publication. Additionally, it stated that it would not be supplying any data for the list. The university managed to maintain rank 2, while the Ivy League School’s position dropped to 18.