Exam (elaborations)
ANALYZING PATHWAYS TO THE J.D. WITH NATIONAL STUDENT CLEARINGHOUSE DATA
- Course
- JD NEXT
- Institution
- Loyola University New Orleans
ANALYZING PATHWAYS TO THE J.D. WITH NATIONAL STUDENT CLEARINGHOUSE DATA
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ANALYZING Authors:Tiffane Cochran
PATHWAYS TO THE J.D. and Lauren Walker
WITH NATIONAL STUDENT CLEARINGHOUSE DATA
AccessLex.org
JANUARY 2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 1
Part I: Demographics and Pathways of 2017-2018 Law Students and Graduates............................... 2
Part II: Law School Destinations by Student and Pathway Characteristics......................................... 7
Part III: Recommendations...................................................................................................... 16
Appendix............................................................................................................................ 18
, Observing these pathways and where they lead can help
ANALYZING PATHWAYS us better understand how students of all backgrounds
TO THE J.D. WITH come to access legal education, and how we might
NATIONAL STUDENT improve these paths to advance diversity and equity
CLEARINGHOUSE DATA in law school admission and enrollment. At a time
when our nation is embroiled in social unrest, racial
injustice, and political discord, ensuring that law school
Authors: Tiffane Cochran and Lauren Walker graduating classes reflect the diversity of society is even
more paramount.
Utilizing data from the National Student Clearinghouse
INTRODUCTION (“Clearinghouse”) and the American Bar Association
(ABA), this paper describes undergraduate pathways
The lack of diversity in legal education and the profession to the J.D. and how those pathways lead to different
is a well-established fact. Data and rich commentary law school destinations. We use Clearinghouse data
from law school scholars clearly illustrate barriers to to conduct a retrospective analysis of the 2017-2018
entry for historically underrepresented groups.1 Yet, we cohort of law students and graduates to examine their
continue to see persistent gaps in law school and bar demographics, undergraduate majors, undergraduate
admission among ethnic minorities—particularly, Black institution types, and educational experiences before and
and Latinx students.2 And although information on first- during law school. To examine law school destinations,
generation and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups we utilize ABA data to categorize law schools based on
is harder to obtain, we also find inequitable access for first-time bar passage rates, scholarship generosity, law
these students where data are available.3 job placement, and student retention.4 Each school is
scored based on its combined performance on these
Although discussions of law school diversity necessitate
metrics, then grouped according to its relationship to
examination of students’ racial and socioeconomic
the mean score. Hereafter, these law school groupings
backgrounds, they also require an analysis of the
are described as follows: Above Average, Just Above
pathways students must navigate to obtain law school
Average, Just Below Average, and Below Average. Law
admission. Conceptually, the law school admission
schools that have since closed are grouped separately.5
process is depicted as a single, linear and uniform path
for all students; in reality, it is a series of paths that can Part I of the report disaggregates and summarizes the
lead to disparate outcomes depending on the student cohort by student demographics, pathways to law school,
and the route taken. and law school destination. Part II examines law school
destinations by student demographics and pathways.
Finally, Part III discusses the results and their implications,
offering suggestions for broadening pathways to law
school and improving outcomes for underserved groups
who successfully enroll.
1 See, e.g., Diane Curtis, The LSAT and the Reproduction of Hierarchy, 41 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 307 (2019); Aaron N. Taylor, The
Marginalization of Black Aspiring Lawyers, 13 FIU L. Rev. 489 (2019); Alisa Cunningham & Patricia Steele, Diversity Pipeline Programs in Legal
Education: Context, Research, and a Path Forward (AccessLex Inst. Research Paper No. 15-02, 2015), https://ssrn.com/abstract=2618777.
2 AccessLex Inst., Legal Education Data Deck 7 (2020), https://www.accesslex.org/legal-education-data-deck.
3 See L aw Sch. Survey of Student Engagement, Looking Ahead: Assessment in Legal Education 10–11 (2014), https://lssse.indiana.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2016/01/LSSSE_2014_AnnualReport.pdf; Julie R. Posselt & Eric Grodsky, Graduate Education and Social Stratification,
43 Ann. Rev. Soc. 353 (2017); Richard H. Sander, Class in American Legal Education, 88 Denv. U. L. Rev. 631 (2011); Caroline Kitchener,
How the LSAT Destroys Socioeconomic Diversity, Atlantic (Oct. 18, 2016), https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/10/the-
lsat-is-rigged-against-the-poor/504530/.
4 See infra Appendix for the description of the methodology and the complete list of law schools.
5 Closed law schools captured in the data for this report are Arizona Summit Law School, Charlotte School of Law,
and Valparaiso University.
1
, Overall, this report makes the PART I: DEMOGR APHICS AND
following observations: PATHWAYS OF 2017-2018 LAW
• American Indian/Alaskan Native, Black,
STUDENTS AND GR ADUATES
Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
law students were more likely to attend
Just Below Average and Below Average law
Cohort Demographics
schools than other racial and ethnic groups. Our analysis is based on a total cohort of 98,283 J.D.
graduates and law students from 187 law schools during
• Students who began their postsecondary
education at a community college were the 2017-2018 academic year. Due to limitations of the
overrepresented in Just Below Average Clearinghouse data, student demographic information
and Below Average law schools. is incomplete. Data on gender was available for nearly
the entire cohort (97 percent), but race/ethnicity data
• Law students who earned a bachelor’s degree
was only available for about 78 percent. 6 As a result,
from a historically black college or university
(HBCU) were disproportionately enrolled in analyses by gender and race/ethnicity only include those
Below Average law schools. Similarly, law for whom these characteristics were reported.
students who earned a bachelor’s degree
from a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) The gender composition of the entire cohort was
were more likely to attend Just Below fairly even, with female students (51 percent) slightly
Average and Below Average law schools. outnumbering male students (49 percent). White,
non-Hispanic students made up nearly 70 percent of
• Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American
Indian/Alaskan Native, Black and Asian those in the cohort whose race/ethnicity was reported.
students were more likely to take four or Hispanic students were the largest minority group
more years between college and law school (10 percent), followed by Black, non-Hispanic students
than other racial and ethnic groups. (9 percent). This distribution differs somewhat from
actual 2017-18 J.D. enrollment reported in the American
• American Indian/Alaskan Native students
and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Bar Association data, where White students made up
students withdrew from law school at 61 percent of enrollment and Hispanic students comprised
higher rates than other racial groups. 13 percent. Other reported racial and ethnic groups are
fairly representative.
• Law students whose undergraduate majors
were in law or law-related fields, such
as criminal justice and legal studies, are
highly concentrated in Just Below Average
and Below Average law schools compared
to those who majored in other areas.
6 The Clearinghouse data included race/ethnicity for 78 percent of the cohort (75,055 of 98,283) and gender for 97 percent of the
cohort (95,214 of 98,283). Demographic information is limited because some law schools do not provide race/ethnicity and gender data
to the Clearinghouse when reporting enrollment and degree information.
2
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