Santa Clara University School of Law has received a total of 5,289 applications for the Fall 2004 entering class. This is the largest number of applications ever received by the law school and the first time the 5,000 barrier has been reached. This represents a 104% increase over the last three years:
2003 — 4,538 applications
2002 — 3,228 applications
2001 — 2,597 applications
Of the 5,289 total applicants, 1,549 have been admitted so far. Of these applicants roughly 51% are women and 49% are men. Continuing its long commitment to diversity, 51% of these admitted students are from traditionally underrepresented groups in the legal profession, including but not limited to ethnic minorities. These statistics, including the fact that 48% of our current first year class are minority students is a big reason why Santa Clara University School of Law has been consistently ranked in the top ten most diverse law schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
Santa Clara University is not alone in terms of the increase in applicants to law school. Across the country many law schools have seen similar increases. Final numbers for 2004 have not been posted by the Law School Admission Council, although preliminary numbers indicate a slight .3% decrease in law school applications from last year. From 2001 to 2003 there was about a 35% increase in applications across the country, compared to 74% for Santa Clara University law school for that same period.
2004 – 147,617 (preliminary)
2003 – 148,014
2002 – 134,251
2001 – 109,030
