TALLAHASSEE — The National Jurist magazine has ranked Florida State University College of Law the 10th best value law school in the nation. The ranking, which will be published in The National Jurist’s September/October 2014 issue, weighs important student outcomes – bar passage rate and employment rate – against tuition, cost of living and indebtedness. According to The National Jurist, the rankings are “designed to find the law schools where graduates have excellent chances of passing the bar and getting a legal job without taking on a ton of debt.” Florida State is the only law school in Florida ranked in the top 10. This is the sixth year in a row that The National Jurist has ranked Florida State one of the nation’s top 15 best value law schools.

The national ranking reflects the law school’s strong student outcomes. Florida State graduates passed the most recent administration of the Florida Bar Examination at a rate of 82.8%. By contrast, the overall passing rate for first-time test takers was 72.9%. Additionally, a National Law Journal report (2014) rates Florida State as Florida’s #1 law school, and the nation’s 25th best, in terms of the percentage of 2013 graduates employed nine months after graduation in full-time, long-term, bar passage-required jobs not funded by the school.

“We are thrilled to be ranked once again as #1 in Florida, especially because employment rate is the highest weighted factor in this ranking,” said Dean Don Weidner. “Launching the careers of our students is the most important thing we do.”