FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas School of Law is included among the “most diverse law schools in the country” as ranked by U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Graduate Schools 2006. According to the report, African-American students comprise the School of Law’s largest minority, making up 14 percent of the student body.

The UA School of Law also ranks 12 in the specialized category of “Legal Writing.” Data for the specialty ranking are compiled from information gathered from surveys conducted in 2004.

“I am delighted with the recognition these rankings bring both to our outstanding legal writing program and to the diversity of our student population,” said Richard Atkinson, dean of the School of Law. “Particularly impressive, though, is that of the 72 schools recognized by U.S. News & World Report for diversity, the UA School of Law is one of only six listed with African-Americans both as its largest minority group and as constituting 14 percent or more of the total student body.”

U.S. News and World Report created its diversity index based on the total proportion of minority students—not including international students—and the mix of racial and ethnic groups on campus. The data are calculated from the law school's 2004-05 student body, including both full and part-time students.

The School of Law received a diversity index score of 0.36 (out of a possible 1.0) and tied with Cardozo-Yeshiva University, Florida State University, the Ohio State University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the University of Notre Dame.

The School of Law’s diversity index score increased from one year ago, when the school scored 0.32 of a possible 1.0.

Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law had the highest diversity index score of 0.66. African-American students make up 49 percent of its student body.

Other Southeastern Conference institutions included among the most diverse law schools are the University of Florida and Vanderbilt University. Both received a 0.39.

The largest minority group at Florida is Hispanic, at 10 percent of the law school overall. The largest minority group at Vanderbilt is African-American at 13 percent of the school overall.  U of A’s largest minority group is African-American at 14 percent of the school overall.

In the overall rankings of the top law schools, the UA School of Law was included in the third tier. The school has a student to faculty ratio score of 13.6, a range of LSAT scores between 150-159 among the middle half of students accepted in 2004, a range of undergraduate GPAs between 3.06-3.68 among the middle half of students from the same entering class, and an employment rate of 95.5 percent within nine months of graduation.

“In terms of LSAT scores, undergraduate grade-point averages, and diversity, this group of students is by far the strongest we have ever had at the Law School in my 30 years of teaching here,” Atkinson said. “Applications have more than doubled from 2002 to 2004, and this year applications are running 20 percent ahead of last year's record number, even though most law schools are currently experiencing a decline. Thus, there is every indication that next fall's entering class will be even more qualified and more diverse-a fact I fully expect to have a positive impact on future rankings.”

The overall ranking of 179 accredited law schools by U.S. News and World Report is based on the weighted averages of 12 categories. Those categories include assessment rankings from peer institutions and lawyers and judges, acceptance rates for the 2004 academic year, and overall passage rates for the bar exam.

 Among SEC institutions, Vanderbilt University’s Law School ranked highest at 17. The University of Georgia School of Law ranks the highest among public law schools from the SEC at 36, followed by the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law at 41 and the University of Tennessee College of Law at 52. The University of Mississippi School of Law is ranked 85, and Louisiana State Paul M. Hebert Law Center and the University of South Carolina School of Law are both ranked 90.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s William H. Bowen School of Law was also included among the third tier of law schools.