For the past few years, I have written a post listing the bottom 10 least selective ABA-accredited law schools. (See, 2017 , 2018 , 2019 columns)
The point of these columns was to try to draw attention to the exploitative admission practices of some ABA schools. This public shaming, along with more aggressive enforcement of ABA Standard 316 by the ABA and other measures, such as tightening the bar pass standard, has resulted in the gradual decrease of the once widespread practice of admitting large numbers of poorly qualified students at many ABA-approved law schools.
Things had improved enough with the entering class of 2019 that in last year’s column I raised the question: “Is the era of exploitative admissions in law schools over?” My conclusion? Not quite. But we're getting there. This year, I am pleased to report again that even fewer law schools are admitting significant numbers of dubiously qualified students. In fact, the numbers have improved so much that I am abandoning the Bottom 10 List this year altogether (reserving, of course, the right to bring it back again in future years, if needed). Indeed, after reviewing the admissions numbers in the ABA’s Standard 509 Information Reports for academic year 2020-2021, there is only one law school which I consider to be currently engaging in admission practices that are clearly problematic -- Southern University.
America's Least Selective Law School - Southern University
Southern has been a perennial fixture on my bottom ten 10 list, and has been in second place for the last two years. But while last year’s least selective law school, WMU Thomas Cooley, continued its strong upward trend in admissions with a substantially improved entering class, raising its bottom quartile from 141 to 146 (a huge leap), Southern dropped its LSAT numbers from 147/145/142 in 2019 to 146/144/143 in 2020. What this means is that at least three quarters of Southern’s entering class are in the very high to extremely high-risk categories using my LSAT Score Risk Bands. (See chart below)
David Frakt’s LSAT Score Risk Bands
156-180 Minimal Risk
153-155 Low Risk
150-152 Modest Risk
147-149 High Risk
145-146 Very High Risk
120-144 Extreme Risk
This is very troubling and should not go unnoticed by the ABA. In fact, I have been urging the ABA to take action against Southern for years, but somehow Southern has evaded ABA sanctions while schools with similar admissions practices (including other HBCUs) have repeatedly been found out of compliance. It is time for Southern’s free pass to end.
What is particularly troubling about Southern’s declining admission standards is that Southern had an opportunity to raise standards this year, and chose not to. What do I mean? Applications to Southern increased significantly this year, up from 822 in 2019 to 962 in 2020. With 17% more applicants, Southern could have been a bit more selective in its admissions and likely maintained its class size. Instead, Southern decided to go big. Instead of tightening standards, Southern lowered them, admitting a slightly higher percentage rate of applicants in 2020 (61.64%) than in 2019 (60.71%), resulting in an increase in entering class size from 241 (148 full-time and 93 part-time) in 2019 to 336 in 2020 (210 full time and 136 part-time), an increase of 40%. This suggests that finances may be driving Southern’s admission practices, which is a no-no.
I am hopeful that being the least selective law school in the country will not sit well with Southern's alumni and Southern University's leadership, and they will make a correction this spring. A University with such a proud history should not be America's least selective law school.
UDC & Florida Coastal were found back in compliance in August 2020.
Posted by: Anon | March 03, 2021 at 09:16 AM
Thank you. I will update the post.
Posted by: David | March 03, 2021 at 10:46 AM