An American Bar Foundation Report
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of recent U.S. law school enrollment trends. With two sets of JD enrollment data—one from the American Bar Association (ABA), the other from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC)—we discuss how the demographic composition of law students has changed since the Great Recession of the late 2000s, with particular attention to Asian Americans, who too often remain an invisible minority in contemporary discourse on diversity. We also analyze enrollment demographics by law school rank, grouping schools into six tiers based on nine-year average U.S. News & World Report rankings. Our study provides a fresh and thorough empirical foundation for discussions of diversity in law school and the legal profession.