Keeping Up to Data: April 2024

Welcome to the Keeping Up to Data^SM podcast, a space in which we discuss, analyze, and contextualize trends and perspectives in the current law school admission cycle by taking a deeper dive into the most up-to-date data and making sense of the complicated world of legal education.

SUSAN KRINSKY: Welcome back to Keeping Up to Data. I’m Susan Krinsky, LSAC’s executive vice president for operations and chief of staff, with my regular update on the 2024 application cycle and an interview with Laura Fonseca, LSAC’s director of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and initiatives, who will talk with us about the evolution of our Plus programs. But back to the numbers. Based on last year’s experience, we’re at the point where we are just about 90% of the way through the admission cycle. As of today, applicants are 4.8% ahead of last year, with the largest percentage increases in applicants from the Far West and Great Lakes regions, as well as those with international addresses.

Applicants who identify as Asian are up 6.5%, those identifying as Black/African-American are up 6.7%, and Hispanic/Latinx-identifying applicants are up 8.7%. In all, over 45% of this year’s applicants identify as persons of color. Over 57% identify as female, 1.3% as gender diverse, and almost 28% as first-generation college students. As for application volume, applicants have submitted almost 392,000 applications, 1.8% over last year’s total at this time. The largest increases in applications are going to schools in the Great Lakes, Northwest, and South Central regions. Over half of law schools, 112, are showing increases in applications today, 76 are seeing decreases, and nine are showing no change from last year.

As of the first week of April, new applications are still coming in strong. As I record this podcast, we are just a few days ahead of the April LSAT administration, and registrants are 28% ahead of last year. That’s over 5,000 additional registrants. The deadline to register for the June LSAT administration is about two weeks away, and registrations are running 19% ahead of last year. As always, you can find the latest applicant trends and numbers on our website, which is updated daily, 365 days a year.

Now, I am very happy to welcome Laura Fonseca, director of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and initiatives at LSAC. I’ve asked Laura to join us today to talk about LSAC’s Plus program, and especially about its evolution to what we are calling Plus, Guided Journey. Laura, welcome to Keeping Up to Data.

LAURA FONSECA: Thank you so much, Susan. I’m really excited to have this opportunity to share a little bit more about what we’ve been working on and building with our listeners.

SUSAN: And we are excited to hear about it. LSAC has for many years offered the Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars program, known as Plus, all caps. Can you give me a brief history of that program?

LAURA: I’d love to, and it’s really important for us to start there, because we’ve been committed to increasing access to legal education for a very long time, and the Plus program is one of the many ways that LSAC has done this. The traditional Plus program, all caps, started about 22 years ago, and the program is really aimed at increasing an understanding of legal education and exposure to legal education for undergraduate students who thought that they might have an interest in this.

So, 22 years ago, a number of schools got together with LSAC to host students at their schools for the summer and get them exposed to what it would be like to study law and what it would mean for them and for the legal community. Over these last 22 years, we’ve had about 3,500 scholars move through the Plus program. These programs were hosted at some of our member schools. All in all, 34 of our member schools have hosted Plus scholars on their campus, and that has been through 141 different programs. That doesn’t count this year. So, we’ve had a number of programs through the years.

Schools would invite participants to come to their campus and spend approximately six weeks, so there’s some variance there, but approximately six weeks learning about legal education, figuring out what it meant for them to pursue this, getting exposed to resources and opportunities that they didn’t otherwise have, and making connections, because those are really important, too, that community that you build through a program like Plus. At the beginning of those 22 years, you saw a lot more exploratory programs, and towards the end, you saw more and more, like, “Here’s how you apply”-type programs and “Here’s how you prepare for legal education,” even for those that had already been admitted.

And so you see a wide range of these programs throughout that time. Most of these were in-person and residential, so students would actually move to the campus for those six weeks, although with the increased number of resources and availability to provide services to those that can’t necessarily go and move to a law school campus for six weeks, and then also the needs that arose from the pandemic, more opportunities became available for students to participate virtually. So, we have in the last few years had programs that have run entirely virtually.

SUSAN: Thank you. Recently, LSAC announced an evolution of the program to Plus, Guided Journey. Can you tell me what spurred the change?

LAURA: One thing to note is that there are many changes, but those changes really are rooted in that deep commitment and history that we have with the Plus program. For the entirety of those 22 years, we’ve had ongoing conversations with Plus scholars, with Plus participants and applicants, with the law schools that host the programs, as well as with law schools that want to be involved. We have paired that information up with what we know about the legal application journey, about where we can have increased impact on access to legal education, and thought long and hard of: How are we positioning ourselves to increase the impact that we have, increase the scope that we have, be able to scale it so that we can provide services and support to more students? Because we know that there is a need.

There’s a need both for law and for the legal industry, to continue to see more and more individuals pursue the field. And there’s also a need to provide those individuals that have an interest in legal education to overcome maybe some of the barriers that exist to access, then also provide them with the support and structures so that they can pursue their own goals and their own ambitions. That’s really what spurred some of this, is we have all this information telling us how to do this better.

SUSAN: Well, tell me about Plus, Guided Journey. What’s the same, and what’s different?

LAURA: The Plus, Guided Journey program is, at heart, the same. What I mean by that is, our commitment to the student journey, our commitment to increasing access, is the same. Our belief in community is the same, which means that it’s your legal journey. While it’s your own and yours to carry, you don’t do it on your own. There’s people around you, whether those be other scholars that are going with you, the people that are immediately surrounding you, people within the legal community, they’re all part of this and should be involved in someone’s education. So, how do we maximize that impact?

The other things that haven’t changed are our commitment to continue to learn about the program and to continue to shift it and make sure that it is dynamic, and to work alongside our law schools that ultimately are the ones that are going to educate these students and turn them into lawyers. We’re committed to all of those aspects of Plus and all the things that we have learned. Now, what we have shifted is, we’ve really decided that while there is work to be done to increase access at all parts of the legal pursuit journey, if you would, so from first exposure to what a lawyer is through practice and into practice, we are really well positioned to support directly that last year of a candidate’s legal application journey: when they’re getting ready to apply, when they’re learning about that application process.

Why? Because we’ve already been doing this in different ways and we’ve got really strong tools and resources, but also because we know that this is a major impact area. We know that there’s a lot of questions about the legal application journey, especially for those that don’t immediately have trusted support around them, people that know the path, that they already trust in terms of getting them that information. The other thing is, we listen really carefully to our law schools, who are so committed to increasing access. It’s actually really, really exciting to have these conversations with law schools who are like, “How do we do more? How do we open up more doors to legal education?” but that also have limited resources to actually hosting students for six weeks. It’s a lot of work when they’re already really tight. We wanted to make sure that we had their involvement, and that we have a lot of their involvement, but with less time commitment on their behalf. What we’ve done is we’ve said, OK, law school applicants’ journey over this last year has so many different stages. What if we walked through it with them? Not just LSAC, but what if we involved all these other individuals at law schools, or as many of them as we can, to help walk with a student as they take the steps that are necessary as they prepare to enter legal education?

We’ve created a one-year-long, so it grew from six weeks to a full year, a one-year-long program that says, “You’re going on this journey that is incredibly exciting and brave, and a big deal that you’ve already made that decision.” We’re going with the students. We’re saying, “If we can help you figure out what the steps are, and if we can provide you with resources and tools to pursue those steps, then you can actively dedicate your time and energy to becoming the best legal applicant and the best lawyer, eventually, that you can be during this time.”

And so, we’re going through that process with them from their initial, like, “This is why I want to go to law school; I’m actually going to put some words into it, so that when my family or friends ask me about it over break, I can share this information with them,” through LSAT preparation, writing those application letters, asking for references, deciding where you want to apply, making decisions about where you want to go, your financial aid journey and what that means. How do you make this something that you can financially pursue, and then how do you prepare to make the most of that?

Those are all things that happen in that last year. We’re walking with applicants throughout that entire year, so that they have a community of support, both from us and from other scholars, and from professionals in legal education. That’s the major shift with the program. It’s a massive shift, but it really is rooted in the same things that the original Plus program was rooted in.

SUSAN: Is the new Plus, Guided Journey program entirely virtual?

LAURA: For most of our scholars, the program is entirely virtual. It’ll have both synchronous and asynchronous content that they will engage with throughout the whole year, and everything is going to be available in those ways. We are experimenting and piloting a regional hub focus this year that’s going to take place in D.C., and we’re really excited about that, too. For those scholars that reside within the Washington, D.C., area, all six of our D.C.-based law schools are coming together to host the students three times during their Guided Journey program to provide in-person programming and support that’ll help expose them to law schools, to law school ideas, to the law school application journey and build that community in person.

We’re really excited about that. We think that this is a model that might grow, and we’ve already heard from law schools in other regions that they would be interested in pursuing a hub in other cities. We’re going to take that slow because we want to make sure that we do this right. We’re ecstatic to have this opportunity to bring students together alongside these law schools that are working really, really hard to make this a positive experience for students and an impactful experience for scholars. I also think it’s important for our scholars that aren’t in the D.C. area to know that we’re also working really, really hard to ensure that they have access to that same content, regardless of whether or not they’re in that region.

SUSAN: How did prospective students find out about the program this year?

LAURA: We relied really heavily on the communities that already support individuals. We made sure that we got information out to really important constituents. The law schools themselves were hearing about this program: prelaw advisors, pathway programs. These are more like the indirect approaches that we had to getting information out. We know that trusted sources of information are the best way to get information out to people, so we leveraged those connections that we had. And then we did a lot of direct outreach. We obviously updated our website. We made sure that information was there. Then we also sent direct emails and hosted a number of different webinars to invite people to come learn about the program.

SUSAN: How many applications did the program receive?

LAURA: This is where it gets really exciting, Susan, because we knew that we were on to something. We knew that we were making decisions based off of what candidates have been telling us that they need support and help with. We thought, “This is the first year of the program; we’re going to start small, and then we’re going to keep building it up,” because, again, it’s designed to increase in volume over time. This year, we ended up receiving over 800 applicants for the Plus, Guided Journey program, which is more than we anticipated, and I have a feeling that the number will just grow over the next few years.

SUSAN: How many do you anticipate will be accepted and enter the program?

LAURA: We had a really great system for reviewing applications. We were really amazed by the quality of all applications, and I think that that’s something that is important to share: Our applicants put in a lot of time and energy into applying, and they shared a lot of information with us. After a very, very thorough review process, we ended up sending out invitations to approximately 500 of those applicants. From that, they’re actually currently undergoing the registration process. We anticipate we’re going to have around 450 or so Plus scholars this year. We’re thrilled.

SUSAN: Terrific. When does the program actually start? And, although I know you’ve described this somewhat, what will it look like?

LAURA: Sure. The program actually starts April 17, so the program’s getting ready to launch. We have individuals that are still in undergrad that are participating in the program, and we have people who this is their second or third career choice, and they are later in life, and they are participating in the Plus program. We have a couple of weeks built in early on to make sure that they have access to the different systems that we’re going to be using, to make sure that they have access to resources, that they have time to start settling into the community that we’re creating. That’s happening over the next couple of weeks, shortly after registration ends.

At that point, we’ll pivot into what we’re calling our terms. I think that that’s probably the best way to describe this. We have four different terms for the program. The first one runs through August. While there’s a lot of different things that are built into the program, I’m just going to highlight the key parts of the term. The first term that really kicks off in May is focused on preparing students for the LSAT, because all of our Plus scholars are going to be taking the LSAT in August. And so, while there is a lot more that takes place during that first term, we’re spending a lot of time helping them maximize the tools and resources available to them through things like LawHub and giving them supportive structures so that they can do the best that they’re prepared to do on that August LSAT, really build that skill set over that first term, and then be ready to take advantage of other resources and pivot to applications in the next term.

Every single scholar that’s part of the Plus journey has said, “I’m ready to apply to law school.” It’s when you write your essays, it’s when you make decisions about where you’re going to apply, you get to attend LSAC forums and talk to schools that already know what the value of the Plus program is. They’re really working on those applications, ideally, submitting applications by the end of November. Again, as a community, we’re doing this together, not in isolation from one another.

At that point, we pivot into that third term, which is increasing your understanding of what it means to make these decisions, making informed decisions that work for you. How do you use all this information that’s available to you? How do you understand the financial process? Not just what financial aid means, but how do you budget for law school, and how does that work for you, and how does that work for your community? Because we all have different relationships within our communities that impact how we think about our finances, especially while going to law school. That part is that third term.

After that term ends, ideally, some of our scholars are actually starting to make decisions about where they’re going to law school, and they’re going to start preparing. And so, we’re relying on much of our network within the law schools for all of this. So, what can they do in those last few months, both to read some books for fun, but then also to prepare for that first year? That is a difficult year, but they can do it, because they can do difficult things, and they’ve been doing difficult things.

SUSAN: Is there anything else you’d like our audience to know about Plus, Guided Journey, Laura?

LAURA: I’m so excited to continue to share about Guided Journey, so hopefully, once we kick things off with our scholars, we’ll get an opportunity to talk to everybody again. There’s a couple of things. One is, if you are listening to this podcast and you are a law school member and you’re like, “How can I get involved?” Well, we want you to reach out, so please, please contact LSAC. We have so many different ways for you to engage in the program, to be speakers for the program. There’s so many opportunities throughout the year, and that’s really important. We want you to be involved and included. That’s for current law schools.

For scholars that might be listening to this, we want you to know you’re already doing big things. So, the Plus program is set up to be a celebration, in a lot of ways, of what you’re already committed to doing. Going to law school is a big deal, and it’s a hard thing, but it’s also an incredible thing. When we read essays about why they wanted to attend law school, it was really an empowering thing. It is a humbling thing to be able to read those essays and find out about all these different things that make our scholars tick and that are going to impact our justice system moving forward. And so, Plus is set up for that. Yes, it’s a supportive structure, but it’s also a celebration of that. We need to build community around our scholars. We need to help with that. But at the end of the day, it’s about them and their journey and supporting them and celebrating them, and we’re just happy to be a part of it.

SUSAN: Thank you, Laura, for an incredibly rich conversation. Your enthusiasm for this program is infectious. To our listeners, thank you for joining us at Keeping Up to Data. We look forward to your joining our next episode, when we will continue to take a close look at the data from the current admission cycle. Until next time, stay well.

Thank you for joining us. Keeping Up to Data^SM is a production of LSAC. If you want to learn more about the current law school admission cycle and the latest trends and news, visit us at LSAC.org.

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