Organ’s work, based on annual disclosures law schools make to the ABA, shows that 136 law schools had a median LSAT score of 155 or higher in 2010. So the vast majority of law schools are not only shrinking in size but also admitting less-qualified students. does this mean, like, students who didn't get in, or? i'm not 100% clear on what this means SG The students still trying to get to law school also have lower test scores than in the recent past. “But this year they did and last year they did, and in some cases they are even offering students with that profile scholarships or tuition reductions.”Įnrollment at ABA-accredited law schools is the lowest it has been since 1973, even though there are 53 more law schools open now, according to Moody's Investors Service.
“Certain schools never would have admitted a student with a 145 LSAT score several years ago,” said SULC's vice chancellor, John K. Still, it is running into competition for students. Southern University Law Center – part of the historically black Southern University and A&M College System – is one of those seven schools. "At one level, we’re in uncharted territory,” Organ said. The LSAT has a margin of error, but 145 is considered a symbolic line by legal education experts and school administrators. That means at least half the first-year students at seven law schools scored a 144 on the LSAT or lower. Thomas School of Law who studies the legal market. Now, seven law schools do, according to Jerome M.
Equally concerning is that law schools are admitting and then graduating students who might not be able to pass the bar exam.įive years ago, no American Bar Association-accredited law school had an entering class with a median LSAT score of less than 145. Professors who study legal education worry that schools are enrolling more and more students who have not proved they can graduate law school. Last fall, seven law schools had entering classes with lower median LSAT scores than Cooley’s. The reputation is increasingly inaccurate. Cooley Law School – the largest law school in the country – is known for admitting students other law schools would not touch. As the number of students going to law school drops dramatically, law schools are increasingly competing for students with lower undergraduate grades and LSAT scores.