University of Illinois Law School Ranking Drops

The University of Illinois College of Law dropped 12 places to No. 47 in the country in this year's U.S. News & World Report rankings.

The drop comes less than a year after the law school was sanctioned for falsely inflating the performance of incoming students in data used to market the school.

U.S. News & World Report's Robert Morse talked to The News-Gazette in Champaign about the decline. He said a key factor was a change in the way the magazine evaluated job-placement data.

Bruce Smith is dean of the law school. He said he is disappointed by the drop from 35 to 47.

High U.S. News & World Report rankings are coveted by university leaders because they're widely used by students and parents.