After years of steady decline, a law school professor has predicted that the total number of applications to ABA-accredit law schools in the US may actually see some growth by the time the next academic year rolls around in September. University of St Thomas School of Law professor Jerome Organ has been monitoring early law school applications and predicting total volumes since 2013, and has each year predicted the annual total applicant total within a 5 per cent margin of error.
Growth projected
Based on application numbers to March, Professor Organ has predicted that the total number of applications to ABA-accredited law schools will hit 57,000 this admissions cycle, translating into a growth of 5.5 per cent or 3,000 applicants year-on-year. According to Professor Organ, an extra 3,000 applicants this cycle will translate into roughly 2,100 extra law students on campus by the beginning of the new academic year.
'Larger and stronger'
It's not just the size of the applicant pool that seems to be growing, but also the quality of the applications themselves. At April 15, the number of current applicants with Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) scores above 165 was up by 500 applications year-on-year, representing the first growth in as many as five years. The bump in top-tier applicants may see higher-ranking law schools receive a healthy boost in application numbers.
Source: National Law Journal
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