Law school 1L JD enrollment falls slightly as non-JD enrollment reaches all-time highs
The 2019 law school enrollment figures have been released. They show a slightly worse first-year JD enrollment and continued soaring growth in non-JD enrollment. About 15% of law school enrollees, 1 in 7, are not enrolled in a JD program.
While this is the first year of decline in 1L enrollment in five years, it remains mostly flat. (The 2010 peak was 52,488 1Ls.) In 2018, 1L enrollment was 38,390; it fell to 38,283 this year. It’s the sixth straight year of enrollment between 37,000 and 39,000.
Despite much hyped promises of a “Trump bump” in law school enrollment, law school enrollment has been mostly flat for some time. The small improvements in the last few cycles simply never materialized this year—of course, several schools have closed in the last few years, too, and schools may be improving quality of students rather than increasing quantity.
Total JD enrollment also increased slightly to 112,882 (still well off the peak of 2010-2011 with 147,525).
Non-JD enrollment continues to climb. The ABA changed its definitions a few years ago, which resulted in a spike in reported non-JD enrollment, but the steady climb continues. (It’s also worth noting that those enrolled in both JD and non-JD programs simultaneously are counted in each set, so this slightly overstates, to an unknown degree, non-JD enrollment.) 19,819 were enrolled in non-JD programs, a 1,400-student jump over last year. It’s now about 15% of all law school enrollment.
Growth in non-JD online enrollment as a part of overall non-JD enrollment continues, too, with much faster growth in recent years—up from 5588 last year to 7378 this year. This is a bit of good news for law schools. I continue to wonder about the sustainability and value proposition of non-JD legal education, but perhaps my concerns are overblown. There is clearly a demand for such programs.
That said, more information about the kinds of degrees and the outcomes of those who secure these degrees would be welcome information, if the kind that is unavailable at this time. (I recently looked at debt and earnings of graduates of such programs from the Department of Education.)
Last year, I wondered if we’d see law school enrollment creep past 40,000. That didn’t happen. For law schools, a robust and valuable JD program is essential, and that would be a good step toward restoring some of the losses suffered after the recession. But we’re far from that point.
Below I highlight a handful of schools with the highest non-JD enrollment as a percentage of total law school enrollment.