Experts are debating the reasons behind a significant increase in applications to U.S. law schools, which were up almost 33% as of December 8, 2024, compared to the same time last year. The number of U.S.-based law school applicants also jumped 25% compared to 2023. The data is compiled by the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC).
Law school applicants from Illinois grew to 1,237 as of December 8, an increase of 27% from the same time last year. In addition, 13,318 applications have been submitted to Illinois law schools in 2024, up more than 33% from 2023.
But the long-term spike may not be as significant as these early numbers indicate, experts say, and there may be reasons for the spike other than increased interest.
An increase in interest?
Susan Krinsky, interim president and CEO of LSAC, noted in the ABA Journal that law schools delayed their 2023 application cycles based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down race-conscious admissions. This has likely played a role in the increase in 2024 applicants at this point in the cycle, she said.
“Last year’s slow start means that year-to-year comparisons at this early stage may overstate the growth in applicants,” she said.
Changes to the format of the LSAT — which removed the deductive reasoning section and swapped in logical reasoning or a second reading comprehension section in August — and the addition of an extra day during the June administration may have also played a role in the increase to date, according to the ABA Journal and Mike Spivey of Spivey Consulting. Spivey expects the increase in applicants to be closer to 15% when the cycle ends, he told the ABA Journal.
However, Maya Russell, chair of the Pre-Law Advisor National Council, told the ABA Journal that election years can increase interest in legal careers.
“In any election, we see people thinking about policy shifts they’d like to see in ways that they can make an impact,” she said.
Who is applying to law school in 2024?
As of December 8, law school applicants from traditionally underrepresented groups had seen the biggest increase, though applicants across ethnicities grew.
Black or African American applicants jumped 38% from the same time last year (3,914 in 2024 vs. 2,833 in 2023), Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander applicants had increased 34% (158 in 2024 vs. 118 in 2023), and American Indian or Alaska Native applicants had increased 32% (590 in 2024 vs. 447 in 2023).
Caucasian/white people remain the highest number of applicants, with 19,706 as of December 8, 2024, up 23% from the same time in 2023.
When it comes to gender, there had been 18,596 women applicants as of December 8, 2024 (up 26% from 2023), 13,023 male applicants (up 24% from 2023), and 373 gender-diverse applicants (up 6% from 2023). This continues the trend of women accounting for a greater number of law students than men.
Finally, the number of applicants who are first-generation college students has increased by 24% since the same time last year (7,893 in 2024 vs. 6,367 in 2023).
Where are applicants applying?
The majority of law school applications are being submitted to institutions in the Northeast region — which the LSAC designates as New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey (39,622); in the Midsouth region — which includes Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee (39,203); and in the Great Lakes region — which includes Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota (32,442).
The South Central region — which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana — has had the biggest increase in applications, up 50% from 2023. The Great Lakes region has seen a 37% increase in applications compared to the same time last year.
The applicants who have already submitted applications to law schools are notching higher scores, with 15,869 applicants scoring 160 or higher for the 2025 year, up from 12,426 for the 2024 cycle.
For a daily update on law school application trends, visit LSAC’s website.
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