Big Drop in Minority Law Students, Columbia Site Says
Nationwide enrollment of African-American and Mexican-American students in U.S. law schools is down significantly since 1992 and could drop further.
According to statistics reviewed by individuals at Columbia Law School and the Society of American Law Teachers and discussed on their website, law school enrollment by members of these racial minority groups has dropped by 8.6 percent over the past 15 years. And that has occurred despite a constant number of minority applications and an increasing number of law students overall during the same period, reports the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. It apparently got the scoop from an upcoming article in the National Law Journal.
The statistics, which were compiled by the nonprofit Law School Admission Council, show a disturbing trend away from making law school admissions process more inclusive of minority applicants, experts say.
And “it’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better,” predicts Vernellia Randall. A professor at the University of Dayton School of Law in Ohio, she has put together a report on “America’s Whitest Law Schools.”
