LSAC’s Knowledge Report: The 2023 1L Profile

by Anna Russian, MAS, PhD (Applied Research Scientist, LSAC), Debra Langer, MSc, MPA (Applied Research Analyst, LSAC), Elizabeth Bodamer, JD, PhD (Senior Director of Research, LSAC), and Alisha Kirchoff, MA, PhD Candidate (Applied Research Program Manager, LSAC)
 

LSAC’s mission is to advance law and justice by promoting access, equity, and fairness in law school admission and supporting the learning journey from prelaw through practice. In doing so, we collaborate with others in the legal community, including member law schools, DEI professionals, prelaw advisors, and many other mission-aligned groups and individuals. To help advance the collective understanding of what is happening along the prelaw through practice journey, this report focuses on clarifying:  

1. who is enrolling in law school,  
2. where they enrolled, and  
3. how they made their enrollment decision.  

This report focuses on the 2023 first year (1L) class. As such, it establishes a baseline from which to examine the 2024 1L class and future 1L classes admitted after the June 2023 SFFA v. Harvard decision.[1] This report provides several important insights that may help law schools recruit and support future law students along the prelaw through practice journey. The overall 2023 1L class enrollment data and data from the 2023 LSAC Matriculant Survey reveal that the 2023 1L class:

• Was at the time the most diverse entering class in history. 41.8% of the 1L class were from racially and ethnically minoritized[2] groups, 56% were women, 14% were LGBTQ+,[3] 24% were first-generation college graduates, and 75% were the first in their families to go to law school.  
• Enrolled differently based on identity and background. 98% of the 1L class enrolled in a full-time program. Students who enrolled in part-time programs were more racially and ethnically diverse and were more economically under-resourced than their peers in full-time programs. While the class was almost equally distributed across all law schools based on law school selectivity, Black/African American and Hispanic or Latina/é/o/x 1Ls enrolled in access law schools at higher rates than their peers.  
• Were multidimensional enrollment decision-makers. Once the 2023 1Ls were admitted to one or more law schools, the factors that drove their final decision on where to attend — their current law school — were multidimensional and varied based on respondents’ needs and goals. Student level outcomes were the most critical factors 1Ls considered in their decisions. In fact, nearly one in four 1Ls reported that they did not consult rankings at all when deciding where to enroll. Further, among 1Ls who reported that reputation was the top factor they considered when deciding where to enroll, more than 30% said they would not advise the same to candidates now.
• Sought support for law school success. The 2023 1Ls were informed help-seekers. Almost a quarter reported that they participated in 0L/bridge programs.  

The 2023 1L class was not only the most racially and ethnically diverse class in history, but it was also the most diverse based on reported sexual orientation and gender identity. Therefore, it is not surprising that the factors important to this class when deciding where to enroll varied. The 2023 1L class utilized a wide range of information sources, spaces, tools, and opportunities to gather law school information to help them make their individual decisions on where to attend and how to prepare for the first semester of law school.

This report provides reliable data to inform how, as a community, we can confront challenges in a consistent manner, work toward concrete outcomes, and learn from what works and what does not. The insights in this report can further help inform a collective effort from prelaw through admission as we usher in the next generation of diverse legal leaders. Through our ongoing Knowledge Report series, LSAC will continue to collect, analyze, and share data insights in the future to support the legal community. 

If you have any questions related to this project or future work informed by the results, please contact LSAC Applied Research at StrategicResearch@LSAC.org.

[1] At the time of this report’s publication, LSAC is writing and editing reports about trends in the composition of the first-year class over the last four years and about the 2024 1L class.

[2] The term “minoritized” refers to populations that have been treated as less important than the dominant population in terms of access, power, and other aspects of social processes. Minoritized incorporates an understanding of social structures rather than being numerically/statistically smaller/fewer. Minoritized can be used to describe various populations and is not synonymous with or limited to racially/ethnically underrepresented populations. This term is used interchangeably with marginalized in this report.

[3] LGBTQ+ refers to people who identify with any sexual orientation other than heterosexual and/or people with any gender identity other than cisgender man or woman.