Law Schools

The Number Of People Applying To Law School Is Up Again This Year, Proving The 'Trump Bump' Is More Than Just A Fleeting Trend

It's good news for law schools.

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If you’re a big fan of legal education, there’re some good news for you — the number of people applying to law schools is, again, on the rise. According to Kellye Testy, the president & CEO of the Law School Admissions Council, law school applicants are up 3.3 percent, which on top of last year’s massive applicant increase means there’s been an 11.6 percent increase over the last two years:

With nearly all our 2019-2020 applicant and application data accounted for, as of July 31, 2019 we’re seeing 62,427 applicants to U.S. law schools which represents a 3.3 percent increase over last year and an 11.6 percent increase over a two-year period.

And, despite the increased competition from the GRE in law school admissions, the number of LSATs administered is up big, which definitely suggests the trend of increased law school applications is far from over:

We’re also seeing an increase of 7.3 percent in the number of LSATs administered (26.7 percent when looking at a two-year period), and a 3.2 percent increase in new test takers. Because almost all applicants begin their enrollment journey by taking the LSAT, national trends in test takers help preview the coming cycles.

For this year, the number of applications submitted to law schools dipped slightly over last year’s high, but still remains strong:

Although the number of applications to U.S. law schools declined slightly by 1.5 percent to 379,696, we’re seeing an increase of 7.1 percent over a two-year period. The average number of schools to which candidates apply has remained stable for several years at around six.

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And the numbers from the most recent application cycle also suggest the pipeline is not the problem (or at least not the biggest problem) when it comes to diversity in the legal profession:

When we break applicants down by ethnicity, we see substantial gains among both Hispanic/Latino (8.7 percent) and Asian (7.5 percent) applicants, with other ethnic groups remaining relatively stable. The number of female applicants continues to grow this year, reaching nearly 34,000 or 54 percent of all genders – while males applied in roughly the same numbers as last year.

Many observers of legal academia suggest that politics — specifically the election of Donald Trump — is behind the increased interest in law school. The law school Trump Bump is a phenomenon where more — and smarter —  people want to be lawyers because of the tumultuous political landscape, and it’s led to the biggest law school enrollment in years. Indeed, 45 percent of law school applicants say politics played a role in their decision to go to law school. And with the post law school job market stronger than it’s been in 10 years, that might not be a terrible decision. Which is a good thing, as this trend looks like it’s here to stay.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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