Seventy percent of law school applicants received admissions offers in 2022 and men continue to be admitted at a higher rate than women, according to a report from the AccessLex Institute.
The report, titled Legal Education Data Deck: Key Trends on Access, Affordability, and Value, claims that 2022 will see the first increase in admissions rates in seven years. The Law School Admission Council, the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the National Association for Law Placement, the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the United States Department of Education, and the United States Department of Labor provided data for the report.
In 2022, 56% of applicants were women, while 42% were men. In addition, 2% of the group identified as having a different gender, according to the report.
In terms of law school acceptance rates, women had a 68% rate while had a 71% rate. The report does not include an admissions rate for people who identify as another gender.
The report also examined admission rates by race and ethnicity. According to the report, 78% of white applicants were accepted to at least one law school. This was also true for 70% of Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islander applicants, 67% of multiracial applicants, and 67% of Asian applicants.
Meanwhile, 58% of Hispanic, Latino, or Puerto Rican applicants were accepted to law school, as were 52% of American Indian or Alaska Native applicants and 48% of Black or African American applicants.
The report also looked at finances, including law school grants given to students. According to the report, the median grant award given to full-time students who received aid in 2013 was $13,500, rising to $23,000 in 2021.
Data on student loans from 2004 to 2016 was also detailed in the report. In 2004, 87% of all law school graduates used loans to fund their education; by 2016, that figure had dropped to 71%. However, the average cumulative graduate debt in 2004 was $101,400, compared to $141,400 in 2016. According to the report, the average debt amount decreased from $152,400 to $141,400 between 2012 and 2016.
The full report can be found on the AccessLex Institute’s website.
