America’s top law schools are getting more diverse. In fact, at two of our nation’s most elite law schools, Harvard Law School and Yale Law School, their incoming classes are the most diverse in their storied histories. At both of these institutions, students of color comprise more than 50% of the incoming class (56% at Harvard Law School and 54% of Yale Law School). 54% of the incoming class at Harvard Law is comprised of women, while that same statistic stands at 51% for Yale Law. Things sure have changed since Ruth Bader Ginsberg helped break up the boys’ club at Harvard Law, eh? Oh how RBG would be oh so proud. We picture her smiling down from heaven.

As Karen Sloan reports for Reuters in a piece entitled “Deep applicant pool yields record-breaking diversity at top law schools,” “Just half of the top law schools, the so-called T-14, have publicly disclosed data on their new classes thus far, but diversity increases are a consistent theme among those that have. The University of Virginia said its new class is the most diverse on record, with 36% students of color and 51% women. And 11% of 1Ls self-identify as LGBTQ+. The school saw the number of applications increase 29% last cycle…Greater diversity isn’t the only theme emerging from this year’s enrollment picture. All six of the T-14 schools that have released their new admissions data reported an increase in their median LSAT score.”

And why all the better numbers at our nation’s top law schools? That’s an easy one. In our experience, when the economy tanks — as it did early on in the pandemic — young people so often seek to go back to school. Applications to top business schools, top law schools, and top medical schools are thus all skyrocketing, offering admissions officers the opportunity to be more selective than ever before in their decision-making. It’s a trend we expect to continue through this next admissions cycle, too. You heard it here first!