Another ‘Trump Bump’ Leads To Huge Increase In Law School Applications

Ever since the 2024 election and the legal turmoil that began shortly after President Donald Trump’s reelection (and has continued to this day), thousands of college graduates have been inspired to go to law school. According to LSAC data, the number of law school applicants is up by more than 20% from last year. What could be the cause?

According to college and law school admissions consultant Anna Ivey, the last time we saw such a spike in law school applicants was during Trump’s first term. “We called that the ‘Trump bump,'” she told ABC News. “There were a lot of people who thought it was a good time to flock to law school. Anecdotally, I can say there were certainly some portion of law school applicants who were motivated because of what they were perceiving happening in the administration.” Here are some additional thoughts she shared on the topic:

“I suspect we’re having another ‘Trump bump.’ Now that he’s back in office, I would not be surprised if that’s happening at scale.”

Ivey said the mass layoffs at federal government agencies may have prompted many of the fired workers to go to law school.

“This administration is perhaps contributing more than the previous Trump administration because of all of those mass layoffs in the greater D.C. area — all those mass layoffs of very capable civil servants,” Ivey said.

Unfortunately, thanks to Trump’s decision to dismantle the Department of Education, the loan programs incoming students rely upon could be imperiled, leading to a variety of financial risks. Reuters has the details:

More than three-quarters of law students (76%) take out loans to cover their tuition and living expenses, Education Department data show. Public and private law schools use that tuition money to fund their operations, and students’ financing must be in place when the school year starts in August or September.

Should federal loan disbursements be delayed, law schools would likely have to scramble to extend their financing deadlines, said Utah’s Warner.

Delays could force students to seek out private loans, which tend to come with higher interest rates and may not be available to lower-income students, Warner said. Any disruption in student loans could also push law students toward schools with lower tuition, Warner added, and some may decide not to attend at all if their loan repayment costs are higher than expected.

Policy changes made by the Trump administration have prompted college graduates to consider legal careers, and with about four more years of this presidency to go, we may well see additional application increases in the future. Whether those students will be able to reliably finance their degrees through the federal student loan program remains up in the air at this point.

Students who want positive changes to be made in America are heading to law school. Debt loads aside, there’s no real way to see this as a bad thing. Nice work, everyone! All it took was a perversion of the rule of law to inspire more people to go to law school. Yay…

‘Trump bump,’ iffy economy cited for huge law school application spike: Experts [ABC News]

US Education Department closure imperils law school finances, deans say [Reuters]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.

The post Another ‘Trump Bump’ Leads To Huge Increase In Law School Applications appeared first on Above the Law.