Dear Friends,

In the height of the ratings season, during which US News & World Report (“US News”) just released its annual law school rankings, I am pleased to share that our Santa Clara Law community is rising together. 

We are justifiably proud that our distinctive strengths are becoming more fully captured in the rankings, including: 

• Santa Clara Law is ranked #4 in the country by US News for its intellectual property program, in recognition of its consistently outstanding level of scholarship, teaching, and student success in intellectual property, high tech, and AI law, including through its newly endowed Datta Center for High Tech Law and the unique Tech Edge JD program.
  
  
• Santa Clara Law’s part-time JD program has risen to #15 in the nation according to US News. Our highly-ranked and innovative Flex JD program has made our Santa Clara legal education even more affordable and accessible to increasing numbers of extraordinary students from all walks of life.
  
  
• Santa Clara Law is #1 among all law schools in offering ABA accredited international study abroad programs and received an A+ grade from National Jurist as a top law school for international law.
  
  
• Santa Clara Law is ranked #10 among all law schools in the country for social justice by National Jurist, which bears witness to the tens of thousands of hours of pro bono services provided by its faculty, students, and staff-educators, as well as the transformative work of its Center for Social Justice and Public Service, Public Interest JD, and six community-based clinics—the Northern California Innocence Project, the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center Clinic, the Entrepreneurs’ Law Clinic, the International Human Rights Clinic, the Immigration Appellate Practice Clinic, and the Bates Mediation Clinic.
  
  
• Santa Clara Law jumped 39 spots in the US News rankings to #47 in the country for its dispute resolution program, thanks to the generosity of our alum, John Bates, who supported the development of our mission-aligned and pathbreaking Mediation Clinic and conflict resolution program. Under the expert guidance of our faculty, Santa Clara Law's Bates Mediation Clinic enables students to develop their practical skills as mediators in real world cases in the Santa Clara Superior Court.
  
  
• Santa Clara Law’s campus is ranked the #6 most beautiful in the country, according to Travel and Leisure Magazine, and is home to our stunning, state of the art Charney Hall of Law.
  
  
• Santa Clara Law is ranked #37 by US News among all law schools for the most graduates who are hired by Big Law.
  
  
• Santa Clara Law has received praise for setting a “high bar for institutional aid” from publications like the Chronicle of Higher Education and the ABA Journal as a result of launching its one-of-kind Pledge Scholarship, which ensures that every enrolled student will be able to cover their tuition entirely through guaranteed federal aid and afford their legal education regardless of their financial circumstances.
  
  
• Santa Clara Law has achieved remarkable gains over the past few years in bar passage, employment success, applications, and student credentials, which will greatly accelerate its trajectory in overall ranking (up 6 spots this year to 150) as soon as those accomplishments become fully reflected in important, but lagging US News ranking metrics.
  
  
• As a result of its soaring student credentials, student outcomes, and student support, Santa Clara Law is already ranked #37 among all law schools for the return on investment (“ROI”) that its graduates enjoy–achieving careers of great prominence and purpose, making a good living and also making a good life.  

Thanks to all of you, Santa Clara Law is uplifting the value proposition for all of legal education and rising together in so many ways, including some that are starting to be even more fully captured in the rankings. 

With warm regards and tremendous gratitude,

 

Michael J. Kaufman
Dean and Professor of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law