Baylor Law School Ranked Among Top 20 Advocacy Programs; Other Programs Cited by U.S. News

April 30, 2002

by Alan Hunt

Baylor Law School is rated among the top trial advocacy programs in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's recently released "2003 Best Graduate School" rankings. Baylor's trial advocacy program was ranked 16th, four spots ahead of Yale Law School.
Overall, Baylor Law School is ranked by U.S. News in the second tier among the top 90 law schools in the country. The magazine evaluated 175 accredited law schools nationwide, using 12 "measures of quality." These include expenditures per student for instruction, library and supporting services; student/faculty ratio; placement success; financial aid resources; library facilities; and bar exam passage rate. Deans and faculty, lawyers and judges also were asked to rate the schools.
Baylor was recently described by The Princeton Review as "the Marine Corps of law schools," adding, "For students lucky enough to gain admission, Baylor's unique, ultra-intense, and 'tough' Practice Court Program is arguably the best training ground in the nation for practical lawyering."
Baylor Law Dean Brad Toben noted that "we have a superb reputation as a school that truly prepares our graduates to effectively represent their clients inside and outside the courtroom. This sort of recognition of our excellence is very gratifying."
Other Baylor programs are featured in the U.S. News graduate survey, most of them based on rankings completed by the magazine in 2000. Among its health disciplines rankings, U.S. News again ranks Baylor's speech-language pathology program at 46th in the nation, and the master's degree program at Baylor's Dallas-based Louise Herrington School of Nursing is ranked 59th nationwide. A total of 199 schools were surveyed for the 2000 ranking.
The joint physical therapy program operated by Baylor and the U.S. Army is ranked 14th nationwide. Students studying for a master of physical therapy degree at the Academy of Health Sciences at San Antonio's Fort Sam Houston are commissioned officers in one of the uniformed services. Another joint Baylor-U.S. Army master's program -- health services administration -- is ranked 26th out of a total 40 programs nationwide.
Baylor's doctoral program in clinical psychology (PsyD) is rated 82nd among the health disciplines rankings. The PsyD program, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association, is one of only two PsyD programs in the country included in the rankings; all of the others are PhD programs. The programs were based on rankings in 2001.
The U.S. News rankings can be found at www.usnews.com .