Black Student Enrollments in U.S. Law Schools Down From a Year Ago

In the 2007-08 academic year there were 9,493 black students attending the 194 U.S. law schools accredited by the American Bar Association. Total black law school enrollments decreased by four-tenths of one percent in the 2007-08 academic year from the 2006-07 academic year. Blacks now make up 6.3 percent of all law school enrollments. In the year 2000 blacks were 7.1 percent of all law school enrollments.

Of the 30 highest-ranked law schools in academic standing, the largest percentage of black students occurs at Harvard. Blacks are 11.5 percent of the student body at Harvard Law School. The only other high-ranking law school at which blacks make up more than 10 percent of the student body is the William and Mary College of Law. Blacks make up at least 9 percent of the student bodies at the law schools at Emory University, Georgetown University, and the University of Southern California.

Three high-ranking law schools have student bodies that are less than 4 percent black. They are UCLA, Boston University, and the University of Minnesota.

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