51% of Law Schools Cut 1L Enrollment

Kaplan Press Release (Nov. 19, 2012):

Responding to the reality that the toughest job market for new lawyers in 20 years may be the new normal for the foreseeable future, law schools are taking unprecedented steps to course correct.  According to Kaplan Test Prep’s 2012 survey of [123] law school admissions officers, 51% of law schools have cut the size of the entering class; 63% said the reason was the contraction of the job market in the legal industry.  And more cuts may be on the way; of the law schools that have not cut the size of their entering classes, 28% say they will likely do so for the current application cycle.

The Kaplan survey also finds that 68% of law schools have already revamped their curriculum to make their students more “practice ready”; 5% say they’ve decided to so, but haven’t implemented the changes yet; 9% say they are considering making curriculum changes; and 18% say they have no plans to make curriculum changes.  Among the curriculum changes some schools have made or are considering making: more clinical work opportunities and giving students more opportunities to specialize in a specific field, which can give them a competitive edge in a field that values specialization.

• ABA Journal, About Half of Law Schools Surveyed Have Cut First-Year Enrollment
• Above the Law, Law School Class Sizes Continue To Shrink. Are We Close to a Crash?
• National Law Journal, Survey Reveals Smaller Law School Class Sizes This Year
• WSJ Law Blog, More Law Schools Cut Class Sizes

Dan Filler (Drexel) has compiled this spreadsheet of 2011 and 2012 entering class sizes and 25%/median/75% GPAs and LSATs.