BRITNEY MALONEY
News Assistant

Law schools around the country are seeing a considerable decrease in applicants so far this year.

By early this month, the number of people who applied to law school in the United States was 60,397, down 10 percent from last year, according to Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions.

Pepperdine School of Law is no exception.

The deadline for Pepperdine School of Law applicants hasn’t passed yet, but Admissions Director Shannon Phillips said that so far it is experiencing a decrease in applications.

“We are expecting approximately 3,200 applications this year, down about 10 percent from last year,” Phillips said by e-mail.

Kaplan Director of Pre-Law Programs Steven Marietti said most universities are experiencing the decline.

“University of Pennsylvania’s Law School reported a 12 percent decrease in its overall application rate for the following academic year,” Marietti said. “At New York University School of Law, the number fell to 7,872 from 8,220 and at Stanford the numbers fell to 4,863 from 5,040.”

Marietti said the drop in applications is due to a number of factors, namely the economy, financial factors and perceived reputation and competitiveness.

“In an improving economy, college students may prefer jobs to law school,” Marietti said. “But when people feel like the economy is not doing so well, there is a tendency to go back to school and get an advanced degree.”

First year law student Jesse Steele said he thinks the recent decline is a reflection of the economy.

“I personally think that the only thing that can be accurately ascertained from this data is that our economy is doing well,” Steele said. “If people can live comfortably without a further education degree, then there is no incentive to postpone full-time employment.”

Marietti said rising tuition fees and increasing competitiveness of law schools could dissuade applicants.

“The applications boom a few years ago might have caused its own bust by intimidating students who saw how difficult it was for their friends to get in,” he said.

While decreasing numbers is bad news for schools, it can be good news to applicants.

“Even though I view my fellow law students as teammates pursuing a noble cause, in a sense this means that I will have slightly less cut-throat competition for selective internships and employment upon my distant graduation,” Steele said.

Marietti said that now is an advantageous time to apply to law school.

“What law students need to know is that it’s really the best time in three to four years to consider law school,” Marietti said.

Application declines will force some schools to make decisions, including considering whether to accept less competitive students.”

Because of the decrease, law schools, including Pepperdine, are considering new ways to market to potential students.

“We expanded our recruiting trips and increased our targeted mailings which highlight specific programs and scholarship opportunities to qualified applicants,” Phillips said.

Even though law school applications are down, it won’t last long because the trend is cyclical, Marietti said. He suggested that students understand who the trend means for them and their particular situation so they can best benefit.

“Based on our analysis, we know this is a finite window, not a permanent shift,” Marietti said.

Although law school application numbers are down, the past four to five years have seen high numbers, Marietti said. The number of applicants is still far greater than it was 10 years ago, when about 75,000 people applied. In the 2004-2005 admission cycle, 95,800 people applied.

Business schools are also seeing a drop in numbers. In the past three years, more than half of two-year MBA. programs had declines in applicants, Marietti said.

On the other hand, medical schools are increasing in applications. Medical school applications rose in 2005, to 37,364 from 35,735 the previous year.

Submitted 02-16-2006