SMU’s Dedman School of Law tops list of best in Texas

by PegNews wire

According to Texas Lawyer, Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law is the best dang law school in the whole darn state of Texas.

The results of that publication's "Dear Dean" survey for 2008 are hot off the virtual presses, and they show that - of all the law schools in the survey - students at the Dedman School are most satisfied with the educational experience they're receiving.

About 1,100 students currently enrolled in Texas' nine American Bar Association-accredited law schools participated in the survey; from 10 to 25 percent of those eligible to complete the survey at the various schools actually did so.

Categories of evaluation included teaching quality; faculty accessibility; preparation for practice; placement office helpfulness; collegiality; student diversity; technology; and library services.

Based on a scale of one to five with five being the highest rating - heck, I could have told you that and I can't even spell "jurisprudence" (O.K., maybe I can, but only thanks to the spell checker) - SMU Dedman students awarded an average score of 4.09 to their legalistic training ground. (The next closest school for high scores was the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, whose students bestowed upon their academic arena a 4.07.)

85.44% of SMU respondents said they'd still choose to attend Dedman if they could go back in time, knowing what they know now about the experience. (8.74% said they'd choose a different law school. Damn quitters.)

Average debt incurred in the course of completing a program at Dedman School of Law: $67,612.

Even though the lowest rating given by SMU law pups came in the placement office satisfaction category (which averaged out to 3.61), more than 97 percent of Dedman School graduates are employed within nine months of graduation. 'Course, it doesn't specify where they end up being employed.

posted by JM