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  • March 30, 2009

    Law school applications up at UW-Madison, down at Marquette for entering class of 2009

    March 30, 2009 – Wisconsin law schools report overall strong interest from applicants. Nationally, applications to law school have reportedly grown by 2 percent.

    Law school applications up at UW-Madison, down at Marquette for entering class of 2009

    March 30, 2009 - Every season has its traditions, and an economic downturn is no exception. When jobs are not readily available, interest in law school picks up.

    Between 1991 and 1998, as the economy improved, the number of people applying to law school fell steadily nationally from 99,327 to 71,726, according to the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). When the dot-com boom ended, the numbers for the entering class of 2001 rose to almost 79,000.

    This current slump is no exception. The ABA Journal reported the number of law school applications has jumped this year 2 percent nationally, with even larger increases at well-known schools.

    Applications for the entering class of 2009 are up 5 ½ percent over last year at University of Wisconsin Law School, according to Michael Hall, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid. According to the school’s data, the number of applicants for the class of 2006 -- 3,037 -- dipped to 2,633 for the class of 2007, but rose to 2,797 for the class of 2008.

    Hall acknowledged the conventional wisdom that a weakening economy leads to a boost in law school enrollments, but he had wondered if this recession might be different given that the collapse began in the credit sector, complicating the means to pay for school. So far, he said, that has not proven to be a deterrent. “Applicants seem to be concluding that additional education is a positive, and a professional degree is worth the investment,” Hall said.

    Applications for this fall might have actually been greater if news of the bad economy had occurred earlier, Hall said. Signs of financial distress did not appear until the fall of last year -- very late in the admissions process -- when time is needed to prepare for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) as well as assembling a compelling application, Hall said. Accordingly, he said there could be a wave of applications forthcoming.

    Evidence suggests that law schools may see a wave of interest carry forward. LSAC admissions data show a 1.6 percent increase from the 140,000 LSAT exams administered in the fall of 2007 to 142,000 in the fall of 2008. This number appears responsive to economic conditions. Between 2004 and 2006, when the economy was relatively healthy, the numbers of LSATs administered shrank.

    Applications to Marquette University Law School present a unique situation. Sean Reilly, an assistant dean for admissions at Marquette, said that applications to date are down about 6 percent versus this time a year ago. However, Reilly noted that the number of applications to Marquette in 2008 represented an extraordinary increase of 21 percent over 2007. According to the school’s admissions data, Maquette received 2,222 applications for the class entering in 2008.

    Reilly said applications this year are running approximately 20 percent ahead of the numbers received by this time in 2007.

    “It is difficult to provide a specific reason that we can point to in order to explain why 2009 applications to date have dropped about 6 percent versus 2008, just as it is difficult to provide a specific reason that we can point to in order to explain why applications rose about 21 percent in 2008 versus 2007,” Reilly said in an email. “While it is true that applications are down this year versus last, this year is still likely to be the law school’s second-highest application volume year in, as far as I have been able to determine, the law school’s history (last year being, as far as I have been able to determine, the largest application volume year in the law school’s history).”

    By Alex De Grand, Legal Writer, State Bar of Wisconsin


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