Legal Education Statistics

Law school applicants are down, for now, for the first time since 2018

The number of law school applicants has decreased nearly 5% compared to the same time last year, the first decline since 2018.

Nov 30, 2021 12:36 PM CST

Are remote learning and burnout to blame for declining bar pass rates?

Bar exam pass rates dropped in July 2021, and some fear another decrease for 2022 graduates nationally because most candidates will have experienced at least half their legal education during the pandemic. Related problems mentioned by academics include getting used to online learning, isolation, anxiety and exhaustion.

Nov 16, 2021 3:37 PM CST

More law school applicants with high LSAT scores are getting rejected, admissions officers say

Law school admissions officers are becoming choosier amid a surge in law school applicants. In a survey by educational services company Kaplan, 72% of law school admissions officers said they rejected more applicants with what they consider to be high scores on the Law School Admission Test than they did in the previous cycle.

Nov 8, 2021 3:08 PM CST

Some law schools report ‘eye-popping increases’ in median LSAT scores for incoming 1Ls

At least six law schools have reported three-point increases in their median LSAT scores for incoming first-year classes, while another 42 schools have reported two-point increases. And one law school reported a four-point increase.

Oct 27, 2021 4:20 PM CDT

New findings published on law school debt

A survey released Tuesday asked young attorneys if their legal education was worth the cost, and fewer than half said yes. However, 60.9% of respondents said that if they had to do it over, they would still attend law school.

Sep 21, 2021 1:00 PM CDT

These 10 law schools are the choosiest

If you applied to your favorite law school last year only to face rejection, you are in good company.

Aug 16, 2021 4:35 PM CDT

This law school had the widest gap between student debt and graduate earnings

Students at many higher-education schools are facing an unhappy truth: Their student debt dwarfs their salaries two years after graduation.

Aug 4, 2021 11:59 AM CDT

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, some law schools see increases in jobs for new graduates

When the pandemic started, law schools feared 2020 would be a year like 2009—which was during the Great Recession and saw significantly fewer job opportunities for new graduates, along with many attorney layoffs. But those fears don’t seem to have come to fruition for ABA-accredited law schools, based on employment data for the classes of 2019 and 2020.

May 5, 2021 1:30 PM CDT

US News releases its 2022 law school rankings; which schools had lowest student debt?

Five law schools repeated last year’s results when they snagged the top spots in rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report. The same schools took the top spots in the 2021 rankings, but there were some small changes in the top 14 list.

Mar 30, 2021 12:01 AM CDT

Compared with 2016, there are now half as many for-profit law schools

In 2010, there were six for-profit law schools; as of March 2021, however, only three with that tax status remain—and two of the three hope to eventually convert to nonprofit status.

Mar 29, 2021 10:36 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Judge allows DNA collected from suspect via fake survey; judge resigns amid probe of texts

Judge allows DNA collected in fake police survey A judge in Wisconsin has ruled that prosecutors can use DNA collected from a licked envelope in the prosecution of Raymand Vannieuwenhoven for a 1976 double murder. Judge James Morrison of Marinette County, Wisconsin, said the DNA could be used, even though…

Mar 22, 2021 4:00 PM CDT

More people are applying to law schools, and those with top LSAT scores are also increasing

Securing a spot at a top law school could become more difficult this year, as more people with high scores on the Law School Admission Test are submitting applications.

Mar 8, 2021 9:03 AM CST

4 more law schools found to be in compliance with ABA’s new bar passage standard

Of the 10 law schools that did not meet an accreditation standard in the summer of 2020 requiring a 75% bar passage rate, six have now demonstrated that they are in compliance.

Mar 1, 2021 3:25 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Law deans want to delay employment reporting; Edelson parody videos tout untraditional mold

Law school deans want more time for reporting employment outcomes Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, law school deans have asked the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to push back its law graduate employment data deadline from March to June. The data, which comprises the ABA’s annual…

Feb 12, 2021 4:27 PM CST

Did bar candidates who had a choice do better on in-person or remote exams?

Most jurisdictions saw bar exam pass rates increase in 2020, regardless of whether they had in-person or online exams. However, in three states that offered both types of exams, online test-takers didn’t do as well.

Feb 9, 2021 9:58 AM CST