Which law schools have grown and shrunk the most since 2015?
Law school 1L enrollment bottomed out in 2015, and it has seen a fairly steady (if not always consistent) improvement ever since. 1L enrollment in 2015-2016 was 37,071, the lowest since 1973-1974 (when there were about 50 fewer ABA-accredited law schools). Enrollment has risen to 41,710, up 12.5% from that low.
What schools have grown the most since then? And which have shrunk? A few schools have closed, of course, or have given up ABA accreditation.
27 schools have classes at least 50% larger than 2015, with 6 law school growing more than 100%. It’s a mix of newer schools growing, reorganized schools rebounding, strategic shrinking in 2015 now rebounding, new capital for schools to grow, capitalizing on other regional law school closures, and other assorted reasons, I’d say. (There’s also year-to-year fluctuation, and there’s no guarantee these schools were at their lowest ebb in 2015.)
| 1Ls 2015 | 1Ls 2021 | Delta | |
| Charleston | 85 | 270 | 217.6% |
| New Hampshire | 76 | 219 | 188.2% |
| Liberty | 51 | 133 | 160.8% |
| Lincoln Memorial | 50 | 125 | 150.0% |
| Seton Hall | 151 | 354 | 134.4% |
| Toledo | 70 | 159 | 127.1% |
| New England Law | Boston | 198 | 392 | 98.0% |
| Widener-Commonwealth | 66 | 125 | 89.4% |
| Appalachian | 33 | 62 | 87.9% |
| Loyola-Chicago | 206 | 381 | 85.0% |
| UMass-Darmouth | 71 | 126 | 77.5% |
| Northeastern | 140 | 239 | 70.7% |
| Albany | 126 | 215 | 70.6% |
| Widener-Delaware | 154 | 261 | 69.5% |
| George Mason | 157 | 262 | 66.9% |
| Baylor | 131 | 213 | 62.6% |
| Southern | 210 | 340 | 61.9% |
| Belmont | 89 | 144 | 61.8% |
| Tulsa | 86 | 139 | 61.6% |
| Connecticut | 96 | 153 | 59.4% |
| Nebraska | 102 | 161 | 57.8% |
| Pace | 198 | 312 | 57.6% |
| Texas | 265 | 417 | 57.4% |
| St. Thomas (Minnesota) | 103 | 162 | 57.3% |
| Gonzaga | 127 | 193 | 52.0% |
| Boston College | 234 | 353 | 50.9% |
| Penn State-Dickinson | 64 | 96 | 50.0% |
Schools that shrank were less common and did so less dramatically. 13 schools saw 1L enrollment declines of at least 15% between 2015 and 2021, and only one exceeding 50%. (Again, there’s year-to-year fluctuation, or temporary decisions to reduce class size to offset a recent larger class, among other reasons.)
| 1Ls 2015 | 1Ls 2021 | Delta | |
| Western Michigan University | 448 | 188 | -58.0% |
| Atlanta's John Marshall | 239 | 130 | -45.6% |
| Puerto Rico | 198 | 124 | -37.4% |
| San Francisco | 205 | 148 | -27.8% |
| Southern Illinois | 121 | 89 | -26.4% |
| Florida | 310 | 241 | -22.3% |
| District of Columbia | 93 | 74 | -20.4% |
| Florida A&M | 159 | 130 | -18.2% |
| Richmond | 175 | 145 | -17.1% |
| Michigan State | 280 | 234 | -16.4% |
| Western State College of Law | 131 | 110 | -16.0% |
| Colorado | 204 | 172 | -15.7% |
| Northern Kentucky | 169 | 143 | -15.4% |