- Brigham Young University cracks "Best Law School" top-25 poll.
- The University of Utah also received solid reviews in annual rankings.
- A study is underway to determine if Utah Valley University should be home to state's third law school.
The national polls have been familiar homes for Brigham Young University over the past year.
Both the Cougar football and men’s basketball teams were mainstays in the recent rankings. And now BYU is once again listed among the nation’s top 25 — albeit in areas of torts and civil procedure rather than touchdowns and jump shots.
BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School is ranked No. 24 in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Law Schools survey.
The school’s spot in the publication’s annual list places them in “Top-25 company” with America’s law school heavyweights — including Stanford, University of Chicago, Duke and several Ivy League institutions.
Sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU’s law school also received high “speciality” rankings in areas such as business/corporate law, constitutional law, tax law and placing graduates “at big law firms.”
“The rankings capture only a glimpse of what BYU Law offers,” said BYU Law School Dean David Moore in a statement.
“As a faith-based school, BYU Law seeks to educate the whole person — developing ‘people of integrity who combine faith and intellect in lifelong service to God and neighbor.’
“This unique mission drives strong student interest and produces graduates who are leaders in their families, church, the profession, and world.”
Solid scores for Utah’s oldest law school
Meanwhile, the Beehive State’s oldest and only public law school, the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, notched a respectable No. 44 in the U.S. News & World Report ranking — and is listed among the publication’s top 20 public law schools in the country.
The recent poll counted the University of Utah Law School as the nation’s eighth-ranked institution in environmental law — while also awarding the Quinney College high marks for intellectual property law, criminal law and health care law.
The top law schools in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report are, in descending order: Stanford University, University of Chicago, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, Harvard University, Duke University, New York University, Columbia University, Northwestern University and University of Michigan.
Responding to the rising costs of becoming a lawyer
While Utah’s two law schools received high marks for their legal academics, they are also relative bargains at a time when many future lawyers are feeling painful tuition ouch.
Given its high overall ranking, BYU can aptly be called the nation’s “best value” law school. Annual tuition and fees at BYU’s law school for Latter-day Saints are just under $16,000, according to the U.S. News & World Report.
Tuition for non-Latter-day Saints is approximately double that amount.
“In addition to low tuition, approximately half the student body receives at least a full tuition scholarship and all students receive a scholarship,” noted Moore.
“Not surprisingly, over half the class of 2025 graduated debt free. Since 2020, 100% percent of students seeking employment have secured employment — with BYU Law recently ranking in the top 10 for percentage of students in federal clerkships," Moore said.
Almost half of BYU law students borrow funds to cover tuition costs. Meanwhile, over 90% of BYU JD graduates reportedly pass the bar on first-attempt.
Moore told the Deseret News that the support from the church and school donors “allows us to provide scholarship funds that make it really extraordinary. It’s an incredible return on investment at BYU law.”
Only the University of the District of Columbia has a lower reported tuition rate — $13,438 — than BYU Law. Comparatively, that school’s overall ranking was in the Nos. 174-194 category.
Moore added BYU Law remains committed to improving through faculty and student development. “We’re expanding our global reach and strengthening fundamentals as well — including our commitment to pro bono service. The future is very bright for BYU Law.”
Full-time, in-state tuition at the University of Utah’s Quinney Law School is $35,829, reported U.S. News & World Report.
That’s in line with many of the top-50 public schools. Some are less expensive. Some are far more costly.
In-state tuition at the University of Georgia’s No. 26-ranked law school, for example, is about $19,502, according to the report.
More than 77% of University of Utah law students reportedly borrow money to pay for their legal training, but the school offers a loan repayment assistance program for graduates.
Meanwhile, almost 95% of their graduates pass the bar on their first attempt.
Tuition rates at Utah’s two law schools remain significantly below many of the nation’s top-ranked schools. Stanford’s annual tuition, for example, is reported to be just under $80,000 — which is still about $7,000 less than attending New York University.
Meanwhile, attending Michigan — the nation’s top-ranked public law school — will cost its law students almost $80,000 a year.
Is a third law school in Utah’s future?
The University of Utah has trained future lawyers for more than a century — and BYU established the state’s second law school in 1973.
But some say two law schools in Utah are not enough to meet the legal needs of a growing state.
During Utah’s recent legislative session, lawmakers accepted a proposed resolution directing Utah Valley University to conduct a feasibility study for establishing a law school at the school with the state’s largest student body.
During committee hearings, resolution sponsor Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, a practicing attorney, argued Utah is caught in a lawyer deficit.
“We’re low on public defenders. We’re low on prosecutors. We’re low on agency attorneys. Our cities are struggling with this. Our counties are struggling with this,” said Brammer.
“Throughout the state, what we really have is a problem with a supply of attorneys.”
The feasibility study directs UVU to explore launching a law school that includes evening and weekend instruction to best serve working professionals and nontraditional students.
The study also asks for projected enrollment for initial and subsequent classes — along with tuition cost projections.
Brammer has said the UVU properties at Thanksgiving Point near the Point of the Mountain would be an ideal locale for a third law school because of its accessibility to two major county “economic machines” — Utah County and Salt Lake County.
Frank Pignanelli — an attorney, former lawmaker and a Deseret News columnist — spoke during a Senate committee hearing on behalf of the State Bar and in favor of the UVU feasibility study.
“It’s our belief that the more lawyers, the better,” he said.
Pignanelli said he and other veteran attorneys are “especially excited” for the different approach that the resolution envisions for “making a more practical education.”