DeKALB | NIU College of Law ranked 13th on “preLaw” magazine’s nationwide “List of the 2010 Best Value Law Schools.” NIU is the only school in Illinois to rank on “preLaw’s” top 60.

To be included on the list, a law school must have a higher bar test passage rate than the state average, an average student indebtedness of under $100,000 and 85 percent employment for students nine months after graduation. The 60 schools to meet this criteria are ranked according to those factors and in-state tuition.

In calculations of rank, tuition and indebtedness accounted for 90 percent of the weight. Employment weighed 7 percent and the bar passage rate, 3 percent.

According to “preLaw” magazine, the rankings reflect more than purely financial “return[s] on investment.” The list is intended “for students who want a quality education at an affordable price.”

Sergio De Stefanis, third year law student, said he looked at other schools, but made his decision to study at NIU based on tuition and the Law School Admission Council’s (LSAC) employment success information.

“The LSAC puts out reports on…percentage of students who are employed within nine months of graduation, and [NIU] is quite high for employment,” De Stefanis said.

About 87 percent of students have found employment nine months after receiving their law degree from NIU.

The rate of NIU College of Law students who pass the bar exam the first time they sit for it is 96.08 percent, the eighth highest on the list and larger than the rate of the first ranked school, Georgia State University, at 94.19 percent.

Jennifer Rosato, dean of the College of Law, said that NIU’s program has the same “excellence in education” as Chicago area competitors, “but also allows students to maximize their choices because of the lower tuition, the lower indebtedness and scholarships and tuition waivers.”

NIU allows out-of-state students to pay in-state tuition after they meet the six-month residency requirement, which also helps to reduce costs, Rosato said.

Rosato said she is happy NIU has been recognized for its value and quality. She said the College of Law is trying to work toward the same “distinction that some of [the higher profile] schools have…in our own right, and building on the strengths of the university.”