ABA: Law School Enrollment Down 11% This Year, 24% Since 2010

ABA Section of Legal Education Reports 2013 Law School Enrollment Data:

The ABA today released national enrollment figures for first-year law students and non-J.D. students for the fall of 2013.

The 202 ABA-approved J.D. programs reported that 39,675 full-time and part-time students began their law school studies in the fall of 2013. This is a decrease of 4,806 students (11 percent) from the fall of 2012 and a 24 percent decrease from the historic high 1L enrollment of 52,488 in the fall of 2010.

Approximately two-thirds of ABA-law schools (135) experienced declines in first-year enrollment from last year. At 81 law schools, 1L declines exceeded 10 percent. At 63 schools, 1L enrollment increased from 2012. At 27 of those schools, enrollment increased 10 percent or more. At 34 schools, the number of 1L students stayed within five students above or below last year’s figures.

School reports also show that total non-J.D. enrollment for the fall of 2013 was 11,139, compared with 11,067 for the fall of 2012.

Derek Muller (Pepperdine) has updated his very helpful chart on 2004-2014 data:

Update: 

• ABA Journal, Law School Enrollment Down 11 Percent This Year Over Last Year, 24 Percent Over 3 Years, Data Shows
• Paul Campos (Colorado), There Would be Enough Legal Jobs for Law Graduates if Law Schools Hadn’t Slashed Admissions Standards
• National Law Journal, Nation's Law Schools See Lowest Enrollment Since 1975
• TaxProf Blog, ILs Per Law School Drops to 45-Year Low
• Wall Street Journal, U.S. Law School Enrollments Fall Lack of Jobs Has Students Steering Away From Legal Career
• Wall Street Journal Law Blog, First-Year Law School Enrollment at 1977 Levels