This year's applicant pool is more racially diverse, figures from Law School Admission Council show
Law school applications in the U.S. saw an increase in 2024, with the number of applicants rising by 5.7 percent compared with the previous year, according to statistics from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC).
The data provided that 64,912 individuals applied for admission to American Bar Association (ABA)-accredited law schools this fall, said an article by Reuters. This marks the second-largest applicant pool in the past five years, with only the pandemic-driven surge in 2021 exceeding it, the article added.
The rise in applications – amounting to 3,478 additional applicants compared with 2023 – allows law schools to be more selective in their admissions processes, according to Reuters. Higher law school admissions test scores and stronger academic credentials among applicants could improve a school’s ranking in the U.S. News & World Report, although these metrics have become less influential over time, noted Reuters.
Despite concerns that a United States Supreme Court decision in 2023 to prohibit race-based considerations in college admissions might deter minority candidates, this year’s applicant pool was more racially diverse – applicants of colour made up nearly 48 percent of this year’s total, up from around 47 percent last year, reported Reuters.
Specifically, compared with last year’s numbers, Black applicants rose by 7.4 percent, Hispanic applicants were up by 9.6 percent, Asian applicants increased by 6.7 percent, and White applicants saw a more modest increase of 3.3 percent, the article said.
Susan Krinsky, the LSAC’s interim president, attributed some of the diversity gains to targeted outreach efforts aimed at historically underrepresented groups, with initiatives including social media campaigns, reported Reuters.
It remains unclear whether the increase in applications will result in bigger or more diverse first-year law school classes, said the Reuters article. While only a few law schools have reported their class sizes, the ABA expects to release comprehensive data on enrollment and racial diversity in December, the article added.
Early indications suggest that the trend of increasing applications may continue into 2025, noted Reuters. The number of individuals who took the LSAT in early August rose by 21 percent compared with last year, and registrations for the September LSAT increased by 14 percent, according to the article.
