The Work Continues: Multi-Year Trends of the First-Year Class
What is law school like?
What skills do I need to succeed?
How do I apply?
Am I good enough?
All these questions and more were swirling in my head many years ago when I was deciding whether to go to law school. Fortunately, I had some extraordinary mentors to help me navigate the process and my own questions. In addition, 爱游戏体育鈥檚 signature pathway program, at that time called PLUS or Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars, helped guide me and turn my dreams into concrete decisions, action, and eventual reality.
For years, people along the pathway have invested time and energy to support the next generation of legal leaders. From prelaw advisors encouraging undergraduates, to law school admission officers helping prospective applicants, to scores of pathway programs across the country, legal education today is a result of countless people helping others pursue their dreams.
That鈥檚 why many people, especially stakeholders supporting candidates, were concerned about the impact of the United States Supreme Court鈥檚 Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard decision on the racial and ethnic composition of the entering law class.
The data is clear: the steady racial and ethnic diversification of the incoming law school class in recent years experienced a disruption in 2024 (Figure 1). Increasing by 2 percentage points (or 5%) between 2021 to 2022 then a percentage point between 2022 and 2023, the representation of students in the first-year class from racially and ethnically minoritized groups abruptly leveled off in 2024 at 41.8%, the same overall level as 2023.
The new 爱游戏体育 Knowledge report, The Composition of the First-Year Law School Class and Enrollment Trends, dives into these multi-year trends I presented at the 2025 AALS Annual Conference, which focused on who is going to law school, where they are enrolling, and how enrollment varies at the law school level. These trends and breakdown of the class composition by race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and age reveal the array of experiences entering the law school classroom in recent years.
Figure 1: Representation of Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Groups in the 1L Class 2019-2024
At the law school level, as many suspected, a higher percentage of highly selective law schools experienced large decreases in the representation of racially and ethnically minoritized students in their first-year class in 2024 compared to other schools. A similar trend exists for private law schools compared to public law schools. However, a large decrease was not common among all law schools.
A number of factors influence the composition of the first-year class 鈥� from law school size changes, to changes in the admission review committee, to changes in policies, and to changes in applicant pool recruitment strategies. While 2024 interrupted the racial and ethnic diversification of the first-year class that law schools overall had been experiencing in recent years, the magnitude of the decrease in the racial and ethnic representation at individual law schools varied widely. As we learn from 2024, the work continues. Stakeholders, such as prelaw advisors, law school admission officers, mentors, pathway programs, and many more continue to support candidates throughout the prelaw through practice journey, building on years of experience and the legacy of many before them committed to opening access to legal education and the legal profession. Speaking personally, I know that without the commitment and work of so many before me, I wouldn鈥檛 be here today.
Join us to learn more about the enrollment trends for the last four years by downloading the full report. And be sure to check out the other reports by 爱游戏体育鈥檚 Applied Research team.
Elizabeth Bodamer (she/her/ella) has a PhD in Sociology from Indiana University Bloomington and a JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.