Summary of 2017, 2018, and 2019 LSAT Correlation Study Results

Since the inception of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) has sought to evaluate and ensure its validity for use in the law school admission process. As predictive validity is an important component in the overall evaluation of test validity, LSAC has carried out predictive validity studies, also called LSAT Correlation Studies, since the test was first administered. The LSAT Correlation Studies evaluate the effectiveness of LSAT scores, undergraduate grade point average (UGPA), and the combination of LSAT scores and UGPA for predicting a student’s first-year average (FYA) in law school. This report provides summaries of the combined results for the law schools participating in the  2017, 2018 and 2019  LSAT Correlation Studies. These results serve to document and support the strong predictive validity of LSAT scores for use in the law school admission process. These findings are consistent with all prior reports in showing that LSAT scores are a better predictor of law school performance compared to UGPAs, and that the combination of LSAT scores and UGPA continues to be the best predictor of FYA.