Add one more variable to the rankings of top law schools: Does the school leave religious students feeling "soul-less"?
The National Jurist, a magazine which describes itself as "the voice of legal education," explored this question in attempting to identify the best law schools for "devout" students of major religions. "To answer the question," writes Mike Stetz in sister pub preLaw, the publication "undertook a detailed look at how much emphasis law schools place on religion in their curriculums, faculty makeup and daily campus lives."
After reviewing 52 law schools affiliated with faith groups—as well as law schools with "large populations" of Muslims, Jews, and Mormons—the journal ranked the top schools for each religion based on these criteria:
Percentage and activity of students who belong to the faith;
Percentage and activity of faculty who belong to the faith;
Number of religion-focused courses and other ways the school incorporates the faith into the curricula;
Religion-related journals, centers and clinics;
Religious services and clergy at the law school;
Mission of the law school.
For non-Catholic Christians, here are National Jurist's top five schools:
Liberty University
Trinity Law School
Regent University
Pepperdine University
Baylor University
See which schools top the list for Catholics, Mormons, Jews, and Muslims in the preLaw article here.
CT recently noted how Stanford University launched America's first religious liberty law school clinic, as well as how Canada's first Christian law school was approved despite a gay lifestyle ban.
(Photo of law school library courtesy of Tulane Public Relations – Flickr)
