Following the Supreme Court's ruling, Minory enrollments at law schools exhibited only marginal shifts.
The proportion of first-year enrollment in American law schools by racial and ethnic minority students remained relatively stable, as indicated by figures released by the American Bar Association on December 16.
This group of law students is under close scrutiny due to being the first to join after the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court judgments in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina, which effectively terminated the practice of race-based college admissions.
Data from 196 law schools that completed the American Bar Association's mandatory Standard 509 Information Reports was utilized.
A total of 40,650 entering J.D. students were admitted in 2024, representing a 4.5% increase over the prior year.
- White students accounted for 56.8% of all first-year J.D. students, recording a slight decrease of approximately 1% compared to the previous year.
- Hispanic students made up 14.2% of the class, maintaining a consistent level from the previous year.
- Asian students experienced the greatest growth, increasing from 7.76% in 2023 to 9.76% in 2024.
- The percentage of Black or African American first-year students decreased marginally, falling from 7.84% in 2023 to 7.71% in 2024.
- The numbers of American Indian or Alaska Native students and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders remained virtually unaffected, each accounting for less than 1% of the entering students.
- The number of students who did not specify their race or ethnicity increased from 3.6% in 2023 to 6.2% in 2024.
Leading law schools witness changes in minority enrollment
Concerns were raised that the racial diversity of entering law school cohorts might decrease as a consequence of institutions adjusting their admission procedures in response to the Supreme Court's June 2023 judgement. While this has had little overall impact, some prominent law schools did observe significant shifts in their entering cohorts' composition.
For instance, The Harvard Crimson reported that the proportion of Black J.D. students in Harvard Law's entering class fell by more than 4 percentage points compared to the previous year, resulting in a decrease from 43 students in 2023 to 19 in 2024. The number of Hispanic students also decreased, from 63 to 32, representing a 4.3 percentage point decrease. On the other hand, the number of Asian students in the 1L class increased by over 5 percentage points, rising from 103 to 132 students.
The enrollment trends at other prestigious law schools varied, according to the American Bar Association's data. Northwestern Pritzker School of Law witnessed a decrease in both incoming Black (from 25 to 20) and Hispanic (from 30 to 28) law students. Yale University saw a decrease in entering Hispanic students (from 33 to 27), but a slight increase in Black first-year J.D. students (from 23 to 25). At the University of North Carolina, the number of Black first-year students declined to only 9 this year, from 13 last year, while the number of Hispanic students fell sharply, from 21 in 2023 to 13 in 2024.
However, some law schools observed an increase in entering minority students. For instance, at Stanford University, the number of Black first-year students almost doubled, from 12 in 2023 to 23 in 2024; and the number of Hispanic entering law students also increased, from 26 to 31, year-over-year.
One year of data is insufficient to draw definitive conclusions about the influence of the Supreme Court's decision on the racial composition of law students. Additionally, the American Bar Association altered its reporting categories in 2024, which could contribute to the significant shifts observed at individual schools.
This change, for example, may help explain the large fluctuations in data at Columbia University. In 2023, non-U.S. residents were categorized separately, while in 2024, they were included in the different racial and ethnic categories.
- The Supreme Court's judgments in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina affected J.D. degree programs, as they challenged race-conscious admissions in law schools like Harvard University, which is renowned for its law school.
- In response to the Supreme Court's ruling, diversity within law schools became a topic of discussion. For instance, Harvard Law School, a part of Harvard University, experienced a notable decrease in the enrollment of Black and Hispanic students, while the number of Asian students increased.
- The American Bar Association, a professional organization for lawyers, released data showing changes in racial and ethnic minorities enrollment in law schools across the United States. Harvard Law School, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Yale University, and the University of North Carolina, among others, observed shifts in enrollment.
- After the Supreme Court's judgment, leading law schools like Stanford University experienced an increase in minority student enrollment, such as a nearly doubled number of Black first-year students and an increased number of Hispanic students. However, the long-term impact of the judgment on law school diversity remains uncertain.
