So, I did some number crunching to compare the 2009 rankings to the 2010 rankings, for UNLV.
Most things stayed the same. Of the things that changed:
Peer assessment dropped .1 point, to 2.3.
GPA 25-75% dropped from 3.2-3.71 to 3.18-3.66 (that is, they accepted lower GPA's at the 25% and 75% mark.)
Acceptance rate dropped 1 point from 23% to 22%. (The school got harder to get into, which is good for rankings.)
The students employed at graduation jumped from 75.7 to 86.7. In a horrid job market, employment at graduation actually increased 9%. (Good)
Students employed 9 months out dropped .1%.
Bar passage rate increased 1.3% to 81.5% (Good)
Bar passage rate overall increased 3% in NV.
So, here's some important things to take from the rankings.
Compared to last year:
UNLV is harder to get into, but accepted lower GPA's.
UNLV placed significantly better at graduation.
Student / Faculty ratio remained the same despite budget problems for the UG.
Slightly more students passed the bar on the first go-round.
It's tough for me to conclude anything except that UNLV is a better school this year than last year, despite the drop in rankings. Perhaps it just didn't increase as much relative to other schools?
2009 Rankings Info:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/346 ... 0f39_o.gif
2010 Rankings Info: --LinkRemoved--
Edit: By harder to get into, I mean rejected more applicants. Because GPA 25-75 dropped, and LSAT remained the same, does that mean the school is easier to get into, but had more applicants with lower numbers?