The Princeton Review and student voters applauded the University of Colorado Law School for its collaborative and collegial culture, diverse course offerings, accessibility of faculty, and more in its 2020 annual list of the best law schools, released on Nov. 5, 2019.
The rankings were based on a survey of 19,000 students attending 167 law schools. Some ranking list tallies also factored in school-reported data.
Student survey respondents ranked Colorado Law No. 5 for "Best Quality of Life" based on answers to survey questions about whether there is a strong sense of community, whether differing opinions are tolerated in the classroom, the school’s location, the quality of social life, and research resources at the school, including library, computer, and database resources.
One student survey respondent explained that Colorado Law professors "clearly care about students …, even going so far as to video chat or talk on the phone when they are traveling and coming in on the weekends to meet with students." The faculty "do a great job of promoting interest in their respective fields," and students cited feeling "comfortable to speak up in the classroom and engage in dialogue with each other and the professors." While "classrooms vary in style, [they] tend to be cooperative learning environments with relatively high engagement."
Students also noted that "people are passionate and excited to do things both in and out of school" and that they regularly engage "socially outside of school, whether it be happy hours, speaker series, or skiing and hiking." They enjoy "a collegial atmosphere that lends itself more to intellectual curiosity than concern for grades" where "everyone wants everyone else to do well."
Law schools also received a rating between 60 and 99 on factors such as academic experience, accessibility of professors, admissions selectivity, and career opportunities (based on students' confidence in their school's ability to lead them to quality employment opportunities and school-reported statistical data). Colorado Law received a score of 91 for academic experience, 95 for professor accessibility, 91 for admissions selectivity, and 91 for career opportunities.