As Applicant Numbers Dwindle, Law Schools Entice Students with Generous Scholarships
Would-be law students are enjoying more negotiating power as law schools are seeing smaller pools of applicants.
The number of law school applicants has dropped by 25 percent in the last two years, and schools are getting more aggressive as they seek to attract students, the National Law Journal reports. Many are accepting a greater percentage of applicants, drawing more on wait lists, and beefing up scholarship packages.
Many potential law students, on the other hand, are taking an aggressive stance and negotiating scholarship offers from competing schools, the NLJ says.
The story quotes Jay Shively, the assistant dean for admissions and financial aid at Wake Forest University law school. He spoke in June during a panel discussion at the Pre-Law Advisors National Council. “Although it’s a daunting time for jobs, there has never been a better time to apply to law school,” Shively said. “It’s a buyers’ market right now, and the numbers have never been better.”
It’s not a good time for lower-tier schools, though. As higher-tier schools accept students from wait lists, lower-tier schools are losing admittees, the NLJ says.
