The metrics that US News uses isn't always known, and they change which ones they prioritize year after year. I know that US News's Law School rankings took tuition, average debt and cost of living and made those a higher priority over last year. Maybe that has something to do with the regular rankings as well. UM Law's amount of average debt to its employment outcomes and bar passage rate is kind of notorious nationally for being perceived as 'bad value.' If you don't get awarded a substantial scholarship and aren't open to practicing in Miami, its not advisable to attend at sticker price. Its like an east coast Pepperdine, middle ranked private school with crazy high tuition and cost of living but with a very entrenched local alumni network. If you're sure you want to live and practice in Miami long term, there's still probably no better school for that outside the top 14.
Another good case study, law school rankings. For instance, using "bar passage rate" (while not unimportant) is a misleading metric. Many people do not understand the differences between "national" law schools like Miami (which teach black-letter law, not state-specific law) and "state" law schools like Florida and Stetson, which incorporate a signficant chunk of "Florida law" into every subject taught.
Not to mention, Stetson has long "taught to the test". So back when Stetson's FLORIDA bar passage rate was routinely in the mid-90s, and Miami's was in the 80's, people made a lot of hay over that statistical discrepency. And there are valid reasons that explain what is happening there, including the fact that Miami's best law grads frequently took the NY, MA, IL, or CA bar exams, and not the FL bar exam.
Regardless...does anyone in their right mind think that Stetson is a BETTER law school than Miami, a better ACADEMIC law school than Miami? Uhhh, no.
Oh well, no need to go into super-deep detail. I'll just say this.
If US News wants to delve into details like "alumni giving" and "student-loan debt", they should do so in a SEPARATE metric. Maybe "best value universities" or something similar.
But to produce only "one" ranking number, when that ranking number is made up of 60% non-directly-academic factors, is just silly.
And misleading.
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