Summary: A survey administered by Kaplan finds that law schools expect a boost in enrollment soon.
A survey put out by Kaplan Test Prep, who help JDs past the bar, and so forth, revealed that 46 percent of law school admissions officers believe they will see an increase in applications in the 2015-2016 application cycle. This is an increase from last year’s survey which expressed 34 percent expectancy. But what is this optimism based upon? Perhaps it is the “no way but up” attitude law schools are facing now that this entering class is only at 38,000, the lowest since the class of 1974.
Certainly if we are at a nadir, we can bolster ourselves with a bit of optimism? Why should we though? It’s not as if there are more legal jobs out there, and that, after all, is the bottom line. The Bureau of Labor Statistics declared in October 2013 that the legal sector is 46,000 jobs below 2007. They still haven’t much recovered from the 2008 recession.
This is why Jeff Thomas, the executive director of pre-law programs at Kaplan Tests, said, “Our survey finds that law schools continue to adapt to the challenging environment and are a little more optimistic than they were a year ago, but it’d be premature to celebrate. The tough job market for attorneys remain the primary cause for the continuing decline in law school applicants. Until there’s a significant improvement in the employment outlook, it’s hard to imagine seeing a spike in law school applications and enrollment.”