Legal Education and Bar Admission Statistics, 1963-2005

Academic Year

Number of Schools

First Year Enrollment

First Year Women Enrollment

Total J.D. Enrollment

Total J.D. Women Enrollment

Total Overall Enrollment (1)

Total LSAT Administrations

J.D. or LL.B. Awarded

Admissions to the Bar

2004-2005 188 48,239 22,904 140,376 67,438 148,169 145,258 40,023 N/A
2003-2004 187 48,867 23,368 137,676 67,027 145,088 147,617 38,874 N/A
2002-03 186 48,433 23,587 132,885 65,179 140,612 148,014 38,605 N/A
2001-02 184 45,070 22,254 127,610 62,476 135,091 134,251 37,909 N/A
2000-01 183 43,518 21,499 125,173 60,633 132,464 109,030 38,157 51,773

1999 -00

182 

43,152

21,008

125,184

59,362

132,276

107,153

39,071

54,215

1998 - 99

181

42,804

20,319

125,627

57,952

131,833

104,236

39,455

55,481

1997 - 98

178 (2)

42,186

19,409

125,886

56,915

131,801

103,990

40,114

56,184

1996 - 97

179

43,245

19,402

128,623

57,123

134,949

105,313

39,920

56,629

1995 - 96

178

43,676

19,462

129,397

56,961

135,595

114,756

39,271

56,613

1994 - 95

177 (3)

44,298

19,312

128,989

55,808

134,784

128,553

39,710

57,875

1993 - 94

176

43,644

19,059

127,802

55,134

133,339

132,028

40,213

51,152

1992 - 93

176

42,793

18,325

128,212

54,644

133,783

140,054

39,425

57,117

1991 - 92

176

44,050

18,773

129,580

55,110

135,157

145,567

38,800

54,577

1990 - 91

175

44,104

18,592

127,261

54,097

132,433

152,685

36,385

43,286 (5)

1989 - 90

175

43,826

18,722

124,471

53,113

129,698

138,865

35,520

47,174

1988 - 89

174

42,860

18,395

120,694

50,932

125,870

137,088

35,701

46,528

1987 - 88

175

41,055

17,506

117,997

48,920

123,198

115,988

35,478

39,918

1986 - 87

175 (4)

40,195

14,491

117,813

47,920

123,277

101,235

36,121

40,247 (5)

1985 - 86

175 (4)

40,796

16,510

118,700

47,486

124,092

91,848

36,829

42,450 (5)

1984 - 85

174

40,747

16,236

119,847

46,897

125,698

95,563

36,687

42,630

1983 - 84

173

41,159

16,049

121,201

46,361

127,195

105,076

36,389

41,684

1982 - 83

172

42,034

16,136

121,791

45,539

127,828

112,125

34,846

42,905

1981 - 82

172

42,521

15,811

120,879

43,245

127,312

119,291

35,598

42,382

1980 - 81

171

42,296

15,272

119,501

40,834

125,397

108,022

35,059

41,997

1979 - 80

169

40,717

13,490

117,297

37,534

122,860

113,145

34,590

42,756

1978 - 79

167

40,479

13,324

116,150

35,775

121,606

115,284

33,317

39,068

1977 - 78

163

39,676

11,928

113,080

31,650

118,557

127,760

33,640

37,302

1976 - 77

163

39,996

11,354

112,401

29,343

117,451

128,135

32,597

35,741

1975 - 76

163

39,038

10,472

111,047

26,020

116,991

133,316

29,961

34,930

1974 - 75

157

38,074

9,006

105,708

21,283

110,713

133,546

28,729

30,707

1973 - 74

151

37,018

7,464

101,675

16,303

106,102

135,397

27,756

30,879

1972 - 73

149

35,131

5,508

98,042

11,878

101,707

121,262

22,342

25,086

1971 - 72

147

36,171

4,326

91,225

8,567

94,468

119,694

17,006

20,485

1970 - 71

146

34,289

3,542

78,018

6,682

82,041

107,479

17,183

17,922

1969 - 70

144

29,128

2,103

64,416

4,485

68,386

74,092

16,733

19,123

1968 - 69

138

23,652

1,742

59,498

3,554

62,779

59,050

16,077

17,764

1967 - 68

136

24,267

1,179

61,084

2,769

64,406

49,756

14,738

16,007

1966 - 67

135

24,077

1,059

59,236

2,520

62,556

47,110

13,115

14,644

1965 - 66

136

24,167

1,064

56,510

2,374

59,744

44,905

11,507

13,109

1964 - 65

135 (6)

22,753

986

51,079

2,056

54,265

39,406

10,491

12,023

1963 - 64

135

20,776

877

46,666

1,739

49,552

37,598

9,638

10,788

NOTES: Enrollment is in American Bar Association-approved schools as of October 1. The LSAT test year begins in June and ends in February of the following year. J.D. or LL.B. degrees are those awarded by approved schools for the academic year ending in the first year stated. Total new admissions to the bar include those admitted by office study, diploma privilege, and examination and study at an unapproved law school. The great bulk of those admitted were graduated from approved schools.
1 Total overall enrollment includes post-J.D. and other.
2 The District of Columbia School of Law is not included in this figure.
3 Roger Williams not included.
4 This number includes Oral Roberts University, Coburn School of Law, which terminated its program effective June 1, 1986. However, the Council advised it to retain degree-ranting authority for those former students who completed satisfactorily 30 additional hours in ABA-approved law schools by Sept, 1, 1988.
5 Data was not complete for these years, thus figure is lower than prior years.
6 Stanford enrollment not included.