Why the Large Decline in Black Enrollments at the Chapel Hill Law School?

According to a recent study by JBHE, 18 of the nation’s 30 leading law schools saw a decline in black enrollments in the 1998 to 2007 period. One of the largest declines has been at the law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Data from the American Bar Association shows that in 1999 there were 91 black students at the law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2007 there were 51 black students enrolled. This is a decline of more than 40 percent.

Charles E. Daye, Henry Brandis Professor of Law and deputy director of the Center for Civil Rights at the law school, tells JBHE, “Clearly, we have lost some ground. Other schools have ‘raided’ our admitted students with higher offers of scholarships and financial aid than has been the case in the past. We have made offers, gotten a fair yield and deposits paid, and then suffered attrition in our enrollment rate.”

Professor Daye reports that the law school is taking steps to reverse the decline. “I know of no one here who is proud of the decline. And we are working to reverse it. We are working to improve the attractiveness of our financial aid package.”

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.