The Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law is among the nation’s most outstanding law schools, according to The Princeton Review. The ONU College of Law is included in the 2017 edition of The Princeton Review’s annual feature, “The Best 172 Law Schools.”

The rankings are based largely on the responses of students who attend the colleges of law and how they rate their law college experience as well as data collected from colleges of law nationwide.

“We are pleased to be included in this ranking, which affirms the unique, student-focused educational experience offered by the ONU College of Law. We offer a high-impact learning environment that blends theoretical and experiential learning opportunities,” said Stephen Veltri, interim dean of the College of Law.

“Students often remark on the sense of community and high quality of life they experience. Further, our students have the opportunity to interact with highly regarded and qualified faculty members, who not only are superb instructors, but also serve as mentors to our students.”

According to Robert Franek, senior vice president-publisher of The Princeton Review, “We chose 172 schools in this cohort based on our high regard for their academics and our assessment of institutional data collected from the schools. We also solicited the opinions of students attending the schools who reported on their experiences.”

The Princeton Review’s survey asked students about their school’s academics, student body and campus lives as well as about themselves and their career paths. The surveys were conducted during the last three academic years.

According to students’ comments in The Princeton Review, ONU is known for its “congenial atmosphere between students and teachers” and its “small class sizes [that] enable you to interact more and [give] the professors the opportunity to [get to know] you on a first-name basis.”

As for classes, one student listed the “academics themselves” as a strong suit, and several more expressed enthusiasm for ONU’s “great teachers” who are “extremely knowledgeable and willing to help students learn as much as they can” and who “genuinely care about the students.” They “devote more time to getting you networked with the appropriate legal communities” and “are easily accessible … outside of class.”

The ONU College of Law has been recognized by other venues for its excellence. For example, The National Jurist has named ONU a top law school for practical skills training as well as preparing students to pass the bar exam. The College of Law regularly ranks among the top three schools in the state for first-time bar-passage rates.

Further, the ONU College of Law has been recognized for its visionary curriculum, which offers nine specialized tracks, and its emphasis on public service, which encourages students to become involved in service to their communities during both their academic and professional careers.

ONU law faculty members are highly respected and have earned degrees from universities such as Cornell, Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Michigan and Yale.