Law school 1L JD hits six-year low, non-JD enrollment trends down
The 2023 law school enrollment figures have been released. They show the a drop in JD enrollment and a drop in non-JD enrollment. About 16% of law school enrollees are not enrolled in a JD program.
For nine of the last 10 years, 1L JD enrollment has been between 37,000 and 38,500, remarkable consistency. In 2021, it hit a recent high of 42,718, but it trended down last year, and again this year, down to 37,886 the lowest since 2017’s 37,398.
Total JD enrollment sits at 116,851, well off the peak of 2010-2011 with 147,525.
Non-JD enrollment has been more fickle in recent years. It ballooned to more than 24,000 students last year, good for more than 17% of all law school enrollees, but settled down to 21,966, 15.8% of all law school enrollees, and still consistent with recent highs.
Ten schools have at least 40% of their total overall law school enrollment made up of non-JD students in 2023.
