Over the last 10 years, the number of students applying to accredited law schools has declined from 100,600 to 59,400, according to the Law School Admission Council. The drop represents an astounding 40 percent decline in law school applicants, with double-digit decreases during the last three years. Although the decline may be blamed in part on the recession, we must accept the fact that the decline is also a self-inflicted wound caused by irresponsible law schools and the failure of the American Bar Association to properly regulate legal education. Without changes and a renewed sense of accountability, the decline will continue.
For too long, law schools have held themselves out as noble institutions of higher learning. But it is time to call a spade a spade. Legal education is a very profitable business. In fact, law schools at some universities are so profitable that they transfer up to 30 percent of their revenues to the university to subsidize other fields. Over time, numerous universities jumped on the bandwagon and applied for accreditation. This trend continued through the Great Recession, with seven law schools being accredited or provisionally accredited since 2008. Business must be very good if the industry can incur a 40 percent decline in customers and still expand.
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