Students praised Elon Law in the 2022 edition of a popular law school guide with their emphasis on care shown by faculty and staff, the law school’s many experiential learning opportunities, and its commitment to inclusive excellence.
For the seventh consecutive year, Elon University School of Law has been named in an influential college guide that showcases the nation’s best law schools.
The Princeton Review listed Elon Law in its 2022 guidebook of “The Best 168 Law Schools,” a determination based on institutional and student surveys of academic rigor, student bodies, and campus life, with additional questions about student career plans.
“Every school we chose for our list of Best Law Schools for 2022 offers outstanding academics,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor in chief. “We report law school ranking lists in several categories—in lieu of a mega-list, solely based on academics—for one reason: to help applicants identify the law school best for them.”
Now celebrating its 15th year, Elon Law in downtown Greensboro is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with course-connected, full-time residencies-in-practice in a logically sequenced program of transformational professional preparation.
Elon Law’s approach is accomplished in 2.5 years, which provides distinctive value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their legal careers. Since the adoption of its accelerated program, student loan debt at graduation has been cut by nearly a third, and strategic investments in faculty and staff have led to ultimate bar pass and post-graduate career placement rates that annually range from 87-90%.
Student Reflections as Reported by The Princeton Review
- Professors are “approachable and interested in teaching” and ”are what make this school shine” by virtue of being “very helpful in crafting the legal learning process.”
- Elon Law “has an amazing sense of community—for the most part,” but the Community Inclusion Committee “is working to fix the few problems that do exist” with faculty who “strongly support our open discussions about the issues that marginalized communities in our school face.”
- Faculty and staff in the Office of Academic Success “are truly devoted to helping the students” and the “responsive administration” is “constantly … seeking insight on improvement.”
- “If you walk up to another group of friends and talk to them, everyone is plenty friendly and more than willing to talk.”
- “The law school is small, (so) you will know everyone in your class and in other classes.”
The Princeton Review’s rankings of Best Law Schools for 2022 are based on data from the company’s surveys of 15,000 students and law school administrators. Student surveys were conducted during the past three academic years with respondents answering 80 questions about their schools’ academics, student body, and campus life, and about their career plans.
On average, 85 students at each law school were surveyed. Administrator surveys were conducted in 2020-21.
And Elon Law once again made The Princeton Review’s top 10 list of “Most Competitive Students,” a category that reflects the level of student commitment to studying outside the classroom, and the degree of ambition reported by students. The law school was ranked #7 in the most recent edition – the second consecutive year of holding the spot.
“We often hear from students how Elon Law consistently delivers on its promise of an experiential education with faculty and staff members who care deeply about their wellbeing,” said Alan Woodlief, senior associate dean for admissions, administration and finance, and an associate professor at Elon Law. “We are pleased that their survey responses to The Princeton Review reflect our emphasis on learning by doing through residencies, clinics, moot court and mock trial – and that their experiences are preparing them well for successful careers in the legal profession.”