Applications to BU LAW are up almost 30 percent over last year, as uncertain economic and political environments send prospective students in search of stability—and a way to uphold their values.

Business & Law

Law School Applications Surge amid Economic, Political Uncertainty

Across the US, law schools, including BU School of Law, see rising interest from prospective students seeking stability—and a way to uphold firmly held values

Amid an uncertain job market, an unstable economy, and an unpredictable political arena, law schools across the United States are seeing a surge in applications from would-be students seeking stability—and in some cases, a path to living firmly held values. 

Applications to the country’s nearly 200 law schools are up about 20 percent over last year, according to the Law School Admission Council. In Massachusetts, home to a number of high-profile law schools, that figure is up 26 percent over last year, the Boston Globe reports. And for the Boston University School of Law, the figure is almost 30 percent over last year.

“It’s a really important moment for law schools, for our nation, for the world,” says Angela Onwuachi-Willig, dean of the School of Law and Ryan Roth Gallo Professor of Law. 

“The large increase in applications suggests that the current generation of applicants are people who want to have an impact on society. They see and appreciate how legal issues are at the heart of every societal problem—whether it’s climate change, whether it’s racism, whether it’s health disparities. They recognize law as one of the tools that can be used to help resolve those problems and make our society better,” Onwuachi-Willig says. 

The crush of applicants rivals what law school officials saw after other recent periods of disruption, including COVID-19 and the 2016 election, says Anne Taylor, LAW interim assistant dean of admissions and financial aid. BU officials extended the deadline for law school applications by a month this year; two days before the new deadline, the forms were still pouring in, Taylor says. 

And it’s likely that we may see this trend continue into the next application cycle, she says. As laid-off federal employees begin to consider their next options, law school will almost certainly be among them. A few of the applications this year have already indicated as much, she notes. 

“I think anytime there’s disruption in everyday life, whether it’s political, whether it’s economic, people take a look at the systems that are important to them, and law is one of them,” Taylor says. “I think this is a time when the rule of law—and the importance of the rule of law—is really front of mind for a lot of people.” 

Broadly, people have three reasons for applying to law school, she says: academic reasons, professional reasons, and personal reasons. The first group might include people who are interested in the heady subject from a purely intellectual standpoint. 

The second group typically includes people who pursue a JD to help them advance in their career or perhaps switch to a new one. Law degrees are applicable to a wide swath of careers and disciplines. 

“It’s a very transferable degree,” Taylor says. “It’s the kind of degree one can use working in a large law firm or that one could use with a nonprofit organization. One could use it in a government agency. There are a lot of different ways that the JD can be applied professionally.” 

“If you look at so many of the leaders in our world,” Onwuachi-Willig adds, “whether it’s the leaders of corporations or leaders in government or in social movements, a lot of them are lawyers. There’s something about understanding the way the system works, about understanding what your rights are, that’s a powerful thing.” 

The final group, people who apply for personal reasons, are generally people who’ve come into contact with the justice system in some form or another. And officials at BU have seen a marked increase in people applying for this reason. 

In application essays, Taylor says, she’s seen a lot more applicants describe “Main Street” issues instead of “Wall Street” issues. 

“I’m hearing a lot more about the things that are impacting people’s communities, things that are impacting people’s families. In essays this year, students are writing about how shocked they are that things they used to read about on the news are now happening in their neighborhoods. I think something that is really interesting to see in these applications is that this generation is really connecting the throughlines between what’s happening globally and what’s happening here. That’s impactful for them.” 

A prime example is in immigration: where the issue was maybe once considered for some more of an academic interest, the effects of the Trump administration policies are now apparent in people’s lives. 

“People are seeing the impact that immigration law can have on their neighborhoods, their communities. Being afraid of deportation is something that students are actually living with now,” Taylor says. 

To that end, BU is perhaps especially appealing to future law school students because of its robust faculty and expertise in some of the most pressing current issues, including immigration law, health law, criminal law, civil rights, and intellectual property law. The BU School of Law is also widely known for its “practice-ready curriculum,” Taylor says—that is, programs designed to give students the tools they really need to get out into the workforce and immediately have an impact. Indeed, more than 96 percent of BU LAW graduates have jobs within 10 months of graduation.

The school’s long and fruitful history is also certainly in mind for prospective students, Onwuachi-Willig says. 

“I think they are drawn to BU LAW in particular because, since it opened its doors, BU LAW has been a model for access and has been a model for training lawyers who are prepared to make our society more just and to respect our democracy,” she says, listing a long roster of trailblazing alumni whose work to promote racial justice, social justice, civil rights, LGBTQIA+ equality, and more, lives on to this day. 

“The city of Boston is also a great place to be a student, but I also believe people are drawn to BU LAW because they see our faculty and our students engaged in legal practice and scholarship and media interviews in ways that are helping to shape society,” Onwuachi-Willig says.