Summary: Applications to the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law have dropped dramatically, following the trend of law schools across the country.
Following along with the national trend, The University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law has seen a decline in law student applications, according to The Courier-Journal.
Applications to Brandeis have dropped by 59 percent over the past three years. The numbers dropped from 1,495 to 618 as enrollment of first-year law students dipped by 30 percent from 132 to 94.
Enrollment in law schools across the country has dropped by 24 percent from 2010.
“The message out there is that it is not a good investment,” said Susan Duncan, interim dean of U of L’s law school. She disagrees with that notion, saying that Brandeis has been routinely named a ‘best value’ by National Jurist.
The law school has been trying new things to increase enrollment. The school has advertised in college papers, recruited foreign students, emailed top undergraduate students and offered programs for human resource professionals.
A partner from Stites & Harbison, John Tate, was named a ‘distinguished alumnus’ of Brandeis in 2011. Tate said, “I submit anyone with the intelligence to consider a legal education will have serious second thoughts about incurring massive debt in an uncertain future.”
Graduates of Brandeis have a job nine months from graduating at an 86 percent clip while 65 percent of them have jobs that require a law degree.
“We have to ride out the wave,” Duncan said.
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Image credit: Brandeis School of Law