A law school in Manhattan is bustling with students roaming the halls, packing the library, and participating in a multitude of classes as they prepare to become the next generation of legal leaders.
Indeed, the New York Law School has seen more students than usual in recent years. Applications, in fact, have increased by over 30% since its last admissions cycle in 2023-2024.
Of that number, nearly 40% of applicants year-to-date were given offers to attend the prestigious Tribeca-based institution.
Mae Estrada, associate dean of admissions at the school, said she has noticed a significant increase in students and their eagerness to learn the laws of the land.
“The energy at the law school is very vibrant,” she said, adding that students do not attend classes remotely. They learn on-site at the campus, located in a neighborhood near Manhattan’s epicenter of courts.
New York Law School is not the only university in town buzzing with more potential legal eagles. Brooklyn Law School in Downtown Brooklyn saw a 25% increase over last year in students seeking an education in law.
A growing trend
Law schools outside of NYC are also gaining momentum to educate more future attorneys. They are all part of a growing national trend. More and more students are choosing law as a career path. Across the country, many U.S. law schools report increased enrollment alongside application increases.
According to the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), the number of applicants—individual people applying to schools—is up about 23% nationwide since 2023. The number of submitted applications is also up, around the same amount.
Since 2023 and 2024, applications have increased for schools outside of NYC, including Albany Law in the state’s capital and Florida’s University of Miami School of Law.
“We’re one of those schools that have been increasing since 2020,” said Katrin Schroll, associate dean of enrollment management, integrated marketing, and data analytics at the Miami school. “Miami has been consistently increasing its applicant pool since 2020.”
The number of people who are applying for school right now is increasing, too.
“Our current cycle is also up,” Schroll said.
Why are so many more students applying to U.S. law schools?
Admissions experts say that there are various reasons why students are considering law careers. One prevailing reason is that potential scholars see law as an effective way to make an impact in the world, especially during the current tumultuous political climate in the United States.
“This is a very interesting world we are living in,” said Susan Krinsky, interim president and CEO of the LSAC. “And that seems to be what generates law school applications and what encourages people to apply. They see what’s going on in the world. They know that lawyers can get involved and can change things in either direction.”
Americans are quite familiar with change in recent years.
The United States went through a series of headlining Supreme Court cases since the COVID-19 pandemic, most notable being the historic overturn of Roe vs. Wade on June 24, 2022, which ended the nearly 50-year constitutional right to abortion.
That same year, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision to end a century-old concealed carry gun law. The decision, which lifted restrictions on concealed guns, was embraced by second-amendment advocates but sparked major concern among anti-gun-violence groups.
No matter where Americans fall on the political spectrum, court rulings such as these can significantly impact their lives. For some people, they can be the catalyst for change, Krinsky said.
“I think there have been some fairly high-profile Supreme Court cases over the last few years—and just events in the world—that even if you were remotely thinking about law school at some point in your past, this might be when you actually decide to do something about it,” Krinsky said.
Additionally, there is usually an increase in application volume during presidential election years.
“Typically in an election year, we have many more applicants,” Schroll from Miami said. “That is a recurring trend over the years. Some election years more than others, but generally, we always see an election bump. And that’s fairly predictable in terms of admissions.”
Eulas Boyd, dean of admissions and financial aid at Brooklyn Law School, shared similar observations. He said the increase from 2024 was much larger at his school than a typical election-year bump.
“It’s speculation, but I think you have a combination of an especially high-stakes political environment increasing attention to the rule of law and the importance of lawyers in democracy, policy debates and public affairs,” he said.
Admissions to U.S. law schools and the LSAT
Across the United States, high-scoring LSAT applicants are increasing enough to make law school admissions even more competitive than usual. Students are increasingly scoring 160 and above on the standard law school admissions test, which uses a 120 to 180 scale to grade test takers.
“In the national pool, the folks in the 160 LSAT and north are also up in double digits,” Estrada said. “Not only are applications up, but there are stronger applicants in this cycle.”
Boyd also pointed to an August 2024 change to the LSAT exam that may have led to more people taking the test.
“The change to the LSAT involved removing the logic games section, which may have convinced some prospective students to retake the test and/or encouraged others that had previously been convinced that the exam was too difficult,” he said.
Boyd highlighted his school’s especially competitive law school admissions cycle.
“Our four-year extended program is experiencing an even greater application volume increase,” Boyd said. “We have approximately 35% more applicants to that program than we had at this point last year.”
