The 2019 edition of "The Best 165 Law Schools" featured multiple student reflections on Elon Law's approach to experiential education, with one student concluding "Elon Law doesn’t just teach the law, but paves the way for practicing the law."
Elon University School of Law has again been listed among the nation’s best institutions for a legal education.
For the fourth consecutive year, Elon Law made the “The Best 165 Law Schools,” a guide published by The Princeton Review based on an 80-question survey where 17,700 students rated their schools on several topics and report on experiences at their schools.
“The schools that made our lists and the 165 law schools that we profile on our site all offer outstanding programs,” said Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review. “They vary considerably in their offerings and their campus culture: we highlight their distinctions in our profiles. Our purpose is not to rank all 165 schools hierarchically or crown any school as ‘best’ overall. We provide a wide range of information and campus feedback to help applicants find the best law school for them.”
On average, 107 students at each law school were surveyed. The surveys were done during the 2017-18, 2016-17, and 2015-16 school years.
Elon Law in downtown Greensboro is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with course-connected, full-time residencies-in-practice in a logically sequenced program of transformational professional preparation.
Elon Law’s groundbreaking approach is accomplished in 2.5 years, which provides distinctive value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their legal careers.
Students praised the school’s “friendly atmosphere” and noted how Elon Law’s smaller size ensures that “everyone knows your name.” Another shared with The Princeton Review how the staff makes it clear they “want you to succeed.”
Among the student quotes showcased in Elon Law’s online profile:
- Students mentioned that the “administration is very accommodating and accessible.” They work incredibly “hard to make sure that all of our academic, social [and] health (physical and mental)…related needs are met.”
- Students unanimously agree that Elon Law’s focus on experiential learning is perhaps its biggest asset as all students must “complete extensive work in real-world legal settings that require [the] application of classroom material to everyday scenarios.”
- Elon Law’s “librarians are not only knowledgeable but also excellent teachers.” They “do a very good job explaining complicated topics and teaching us how to be more efficient researchers.”
- Inside the classroom, students are greeted by “challenging” and “thought provoking”professors. And rest assured these instructors “have a thorough comprehension of both the history of law and the current state of the law.”
- Faculty are “really passionate about their subject areas,” students reported. They’re also quite “approachable” and “genuinely care about the students.”
Elon Law also made The Princeton Review’s top 10 list of “Most Competitive Students,” a category that reflects the level of student commitment to studying outside the classroom, and the degree of ambition and competitiveness students report among their peers.
“We are pleased to see students note our friendly atmosphere and that our faculty are approachable, genuinely care about students and want them to succeed,” said Alan Woodlief, senior associate dean for admissions, administration and finance, and an associate professor at Elon Law. “This supportive environment is a vital part of program and allows students to maximize the benefits of our accelerated 2.5 year program, which they appropriately recognize as challenging and thought provoking.
“The Princeton Review survey confirms that our students find our focus on experiential learning to be the school’s biggest asset. It also shows, as we would expect, that they invest a good bit of time outside of class studying and interacting with faculty and fellow students.”