The U.S. Supreme Court’s June ban on affirmative action in college admissions so far has not led to a decline in minority law school applicants, as some legal academics feared.
The current national law school applicant pool includes more than 43% people of color — the highest percentage on record, according to the latest data from the Law School Admission Council. The number of minority applicants has also grown, increasing nearly 7% compared with this time last year, the data show.
Halfway through the fall 2024 admissions cycle, the total number of applicants nationwide is up 4% over this time last year. A nearly 15% increase in the number of people registered to take the Law School Admission Test later this month suggests that pool may expand further.
Meanwhile, the increased diversity of the applicant pool could help to temper concerns that the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling would discourage minority candidates.
“Law schools and [the Law School Admission Council] have done a really good job of saying, ‘Schools still want you,’” said Susan Krinsky, the council’s executive vice president of operations, describing recent efforts to encourage minority candidates to apply.
The high court's June decision prohibits colleges and universities from considering race in admissions decisions, though essays and personal statements in which candidates discuss their race and background are still allowed. Many law schools have expanded or honed their essay prompts in response, Krinsky noted.
The number of Hispanic applicants is up nearly 9% compared with this time last year, council data show. Black applicants increased more than 7%, while the number of Asian applicants is up more than 6%. White applicants are up 1% year-over-year.
It remains to be seen whether a historically diverse applicant pool yields a more racially diverse class this fall, said Aaron Taylor, executive director of the AccessLex Center for Legal Education Excellence, which advocates for affordability and access to law school.
"If we see higher denial rates among applicants of color after the current admission cycle, we may then see future declines in applications from members of those groups," he said, noting research that the negative impacts of affirmative action bans intensify over time.
The current crop of first-year law students is the most diverse on record, comprising 40% people of color — up from 39% in 2022. This year’s first-year law students were the final class admitted before the affirmative action ruling.
Read more:
Affirmative action ban shook up law school admissions in 2023
Final law class admitted before affirmative action ban is most diverse on record
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