Kaplan Survey: Law Schools Cut Sizes of Their Entering Classes, But Increase Financial Aid

We know.  Law schools have gotten a bit of a bad rap in recent months, accused of pretending to be ignorant to the economic realities surrounding them.  Well, as you are about to read, nothing could be further from the truth.

We recently released our 2012 survey of law school admissions officers* finds that JD programs are responding to the reality that the toughest job market for new lawyers in 20 years may be the new normal for the foreseeable future.  Over half of the 123 law schools (51%) we surveyed 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 survey also found 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.

Our take on what law schools are telling us: With the supply of new lawyers outpacing the available number of positions for new lawyers, this is the most critical time for legal education in decades.  Schools are taking much-needed action to better prepare new lawyers for the changing job landscape, while at the same time accepting fewer students, as they know jobs will not be easy to come by.  This seems like a responsible approach for the time being.

Another key topic for aspiring attorneys: You can’t think about going to law school without thinking about how to pay for it.  The good news is that law schools still understand how important financial aid is for prospective students.  Compared to the 2011-2012 cycle, 47% of law schools have actually increased the amount of financial aid they have been able to provide students for the 2012-2013 cycle; 41% say they kept their level of financial aid at last year’s levels. This means that despite the decline in applicants, the competition for fewer numbers of coveted seats with financial aid awards attached may actually increase.

It’s important to keep in mind that financial aid from law schools is almost always merit-based, not needs-based, so assembling a stellar application that includes a high LSAT score, strong GPA, well-written personal statement and compelling letters of recommendation is incredibly important.  Now more than ever, being a highly competitive applicant may earn you great rewards.
This is an issue that Kaplan plans to track in the coming years – are these cuts a trend or a flash in the pan?  The recent report by the American Bar Association that shows at 9 percent drop in first year law school enrollment this year compared to 2011 implies that this may be a trend.   But time will tell and conditions will influence.
Just some background on our survey:

To ensure that students are receiving accurate and up-to-date information on trends in the law school admissions process, since 2006 Kaplan Test Prep has annually surveyed admissions officers from the ABA-accredited law schools across the United States.  The data collected helps guide the tens of thousands of prospective applicants Kaplan works with each year.  In the coming weeks, we’ll share a PDF with you with more complete results that you can share with your students.  You can find past survey results here: http://press.kaptest.com.
* For the 2012 survey, admissions officers from 123 of the 200+ American Bar Association-accredited law schools – including most of the nation’s top 25 programs, as designated by U.S. News & World Report – were polled by telephone between August and September 2012.