JD Enrollment Sees Modest Uptick, Yet 1L Numbers Dip, According to Latest ABA Report

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In the most recent release of data by the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the fall of 2023 witnessed a marginal increase in Juris Doctor (JD) enrollment. However, this positive trend was accompanied by a slight decline in first-year students compared to the previous academic year.

JD Enrollment Trends

During the academic year 2023, 116,851 JD students were enrolled across the 196 ABA-accredited law schools. This represents a marginal uptick of 0.11% from the preceding year. Despite this overall growth, the number of first-year students experienced a modest decrease, with 37,886 enrolled—reflecting a 0.46% decline from the 2022 figures.

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Diversification in Non-JD Programs

Alongside JD programs, 21,966 students opted for non-JD offerings, including LLM, master’s, and certificate programs. This diversity in program selection contributed to a comprehensive law school enrollment of 138,817 for 2023. However, it’s worth noting that this figure signifies a marginal decrease of nearly 1.5% compared to the total law school enrollment from the preceding year.

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School-Specific Enrollment Patterns

The comprehensive data, derived from the Standard 509 Information Reports submitted by ABA-accredited law schools, reveals intriguing trends at the institutional level. Notably, 105 schools either maintained or increased their first-year enrollment compared to the previous year. On the flip side, 91 schools experienced a decrease in first-year enrollment during the same period, as highlighted in the information posted on the Section’s official website.

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