Legal Education Data Deck

AccessLex prepares the Legal Education Data Deck for the use of the legal education community, policymakers, and others interested in the latest law student trends organized around our three driving principles: access, affordability, and value. The Data Deck is a living document that is updated periodically, and we are happy to announce the most recent version is now available. The updated deck illustrates snapshots and trends on the undergraduate debt, scholarship aid, bar passage rates, starting salaries, and more for today’s law students. Notable updates include the following:

• The overall law school admission rate rose two percentage points between 2021 and 2022, with 70 percent of applicants receiving offers of admission in 2022. This marks the first increase in admission rates in the last seven years.  
• The admission rates for men and women increased by one percentage point, with men continuing to be admitted at a higher rate than women.    
• Admissions rates differ markedly by applicants’ race and ethnicity. Seventy-eight percent of White applicants received at least one law school admission offer compared to 48 percent of Black applicants and 58 percent of Hispanic/Latine applicants.   
• In 2021-2022, students of color comprised 35 percent of first-year enrollment and 34 percent of withdrawals after the 1L year — a significant improvement over 2020-2021 when students of color comprised 47 percent of students who attritted after the first year but only 33 percent of first-year enrollment.  
• When adjusted for inflation, average tuition and fees for full-time students appear to have decreased from 2020 to 2022. Although nominal tuition and fees have increased steadily over the last seven years, they have lagged inflation in the last two. 

The data contained herein exists thanks to the work of the Law School Admission Council, the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the National Association for Law Placement, the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Department of Labor. We thank these and other organizations for making such data available.

AccessLex Institute uses these data as the basis for the presentation, analysis, and commentary contained herein, and takes sole responsibility for the quality and accuracy of such presentation, analysis, and commentary.