Officials from Harvard and Yale law schools announced that they would no longer participate in US News and World Report’s annual ranking of the best law schools in the world. Yale University officials questioned the methodology behind the list and said it was “profoundly flawed.”
Heather Gerken, Dean of Harvard Law School, wrote in a blog that “we have reached a stage where the rankings process has undermining core commitments to the legal profession.” She noted that the school had “taken the top spot every single year” since the rankings began.
According to CBS News, she stated that “as a result,” they will not participate in the university’s courses. She said this because the list discourages low income students and public service aspiring students from pursuing them.
CBS News was informed by John Manning, Harvard’s Dean, that the university will also be dropping its name off the list “because it has become difficult to reconcile [our principles and commitments] with the methodology and incentives that the US News rankings reflect.”
Due to their global position and their renowned alumni, both universities will not be affected by the removal of their names from the list. The Yale University alumni include the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and four Supreme Court judges.
After the University of Colombia provided inaccurate data in order to boost its ranking, US News and World Report was previously criticised.