3/30/01--Boston College Law School has moved up to number 22 in the latest rankings released by US News & World Report. The report also ranked the BCLS clinical programs number 11 in the country.

On newsstands Monday, April 2, the report ranks 174 ABA-accredited law schools, taking into account a number of measures, including reputation, student selectivity, placement success, and faculty resources. Boston College Law School moved up from number 23 in last year's rankings.

"We should always be careful not to attach too much significance to these rankings," BCLS Dean John H. Garvey commented. "But we can take pleasure in seeing that the poll has continued to move in the direction of a more accurate estimate of our true worth."

US News uses a weighted average to determine each school's final placement. A school's score on each indicator was standardized. Then scores were weighted, totaled, and rescaled so that the top school received 100 and other schools received a percentage of the top score. BCLS received an overall score of 66, up from last year's 63.

The full rankings for graduate schools will be available online April 2 at http://www.usnews.com.

Boston College Law School was again among the top 6 law schools in application volume this year, drawing 5,709 applications for 270 available seats, a 6.5% increase from last year. The other five schools ahead of BCLS in application volume all have significantly larger entering classes.