The dropout rate is a very important factor that you should check before choosing a subject to study. Because Dropout rate indicates how many students fail to cope with the challenge presented by the particular subject as well as the prospect and demand of that subject in the job market. Today, I will discuss the dropout rate of law schools in the USA and the common reasons why students are leaving law schools.
In the USA, the dropout rate of the low school is high compared to other disciplines. Law schools with median LSAT scores of 155 to 159 have a dropout rate of 2.0 percent. On the other hand, law schools with median LSAT scores of 150 to 154 have a dropout rate of 4.7 percent. Law schools with median LSAT scores of 150 to 145 have a dropout rate of 14.3 percent. Other Law schools with a median LSAT score of 145 or lower have an average dropout rate of 25.3 percent.
List Of Law Schools With Dropout Rate In The USA
| Law School | Dropout Rate |
| Arizona Summit | 65.31% |
| Florida Coastal School of Law | 38.86 |
| North Carolina Central University School of Law | 28.92 |
| Thomas Jefferson School of Law | 26.51 |
| University of San Francisco | 23.78 |
| Capital University Law School | 23.27 |
| Widener University | 21.09 |
| Liberty University School of Law | 20.55 |
| Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School | 19.44 |
| Elon University School of Law | 18.84 |
| St. Thomas (Florida) | 17.84 |
| Florida A&M University College of Law | 17.57 |
| California Western School of Law | 17.49 |
| Ohio Northern University (Pettit) | 17.31 |
| Southwestern Law School | 17.27 |
| University of Dayton | 17.20 |
| Faulkner University | 16.90 |
| Nova Southeastern University–Shepard Broad College of Law | 16.37 |
| University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth | 16.25 |
| Florida International University | 16.11 |
| University of Memphis (Humphreys) | 15.89 |
| Western State College of Law at Argosy | 15.85 |
| Ave Maria School of Law | 15.46 |
| Howard University | 15.17 |
| Golden Gate University School of Law | 15.05 |
| Touro College–Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center | 14.69 |
| UNT Dallas | 14.42 |
| St. Mary’s University | 14.09 |
| Western Michigan University (Cooley) | 13.97% |
| South Texas College of Law | 13.85% |
| Appalachian School of Law | 13.70% |
| New York Law School | 13.26% |
| University of the Pacific (McGeorge) | 13.16% |
| Texas Tech University | 12.95% |
| Regent University School of Law | 12.90% |
| University of Arkansas—Little Rock (Bowen) | 12.86% |
| Northern Kentucky University | 12.84% |
| New England Law— Boston | 12.43% |
| University of the District of Columbia | 11.83% |
| Campbell University | 11.80% |
| Suffolk University | 11.76% |
| Syracuse University | 11.05% |
| Georgia State University | 10.87% |
| University of Missouri | 10.81% |
| Duquesne University | 10.66% |
| Mercer University (George) | 10.55% |
| Texas Southern University–Thurgood Marshall | 10.50% |
| University of South Dakota | 10.42% |
| Southern University Law Center | 10.29% |
| Southern University Law Center | 10.20% |
| Concordia University School of Law | 10.19% |
| Barry University | 9.91% |
| Northern Illinois University | 9.82% |
| Widener University Delaware | 9.82% |
| University of Idaho | 9.78% |
| Belmont University College of Law | 9.42% |
| Oklahoma City University | 9.28% |
| University of Toledo | 9.14% |
| Texas A&M University | 8.81% |
| Inter American University School of Law | 8.77% |
| Seattle University | 8.77% |
| University of Akron | 8.76% |
| Southern Illinois University Carbondale | 8.60% |
| Washburn University | 8.40% |
| Charleston School of Law | 8.33% |
| CUNY | 8.33% |
| University of Arkansas—Fayetteville | 8.28% |
| Mississippi College School of Law | 8.21% |
| Cleveland State University | 8.12% |
| University of San Diego | 8.11% |
| Pepperdine University | 8.00% |
| Case Western Reserve University | 7.95% |
| Seton Hall University | 7.66% |
| University of New Hampshire | 7.56% |
| Lincoln Memorial University | 7.54% |
| University of La Verne College of Law | 7.53% |
| University of Denver (Sturm) | 7.45% |
| Gonzaga University | 6.85% |
| University of Baltimore | 6.82% |
| Western New England University | 6.80% |
| Roger Williams University School of Law | 6.67% |
| Pace University | 6.54% |
| Santa Clara University | 6.54% |
| Hofstra University (Deane) | 6.50% |
| Albany Law School | 6.39% |
| Creighton University | 5.99% |
| University of Detroit Mercy School of Law | 5.98% |
| University of Kansas | 5.96% |
| Brooklyn Law School | 5.88% |
| Michigan State University | 5.83% |
| Chapman University (Fowler) | 5.83% |
| John Marshall Law School | 5.68% |
| Drexel University | 5.60% |
| Pennsylvania State University | 5.59% |
| Catholic University of America | 5.21% |
| Drake University | 5.10% |
| Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent) | 4.86% |
| Quinnipiac University | 4.84% |
| LSU — Baton Rouge (Hebert) | 4.76% |
| Loyola Marymount University | 4.73% |
| Mitchell Hamline | 4.65% |
| University of Oregon | 4.63% |
| Marquette University | 4.55% |
| St. Louis University | 4.52% |
| Samford University (Cumberland) | 4.42% |
| University of South Carolina | 4.26% |
| Arizona State University (O’Connor) | 4.03% |
| University of Nebraska—Lincoln | 4.00% |
| Willamette University (Collins) | 3.99% |
| Loyola University New Orleans | 3.98% |
| University of Puerto Rico | 3.88% |
| University of Tulsa | 3.73% |
| University of Alabama | 3.57% |
| The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, School of Law | 3.54% |
| University of California (Hastings) | 3.53% |
| George Mason University | 3.37% |
| Loyola University Chicago | 3.27% |
| Vermont Law School | 3.26% |
| Valparaiso University Law School | 3.26% |
| University of Mississippi | 3.21% |
| University of Maine | 2.99% |
| Stetson University | 2.97% |
| Southern Methodist University (Dedman) | 2.86% |
| University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign | 2.84% |
| Yeshiva University (Cardozo) | 2.78% |
| Ohio State University (Moritz) | 2.69% |
| DePaul University | 2.67% |
| Baylor University | 2.65% |
| Brigham Young University (Clark) | 2.65% |
| University of Nevada—Las Vegas | 2.65% |
| University of Louisville (Brandeis) | 2.52% |
| SUNY Buffalo Law School | 2.44% |
| Temple University (Beasley) | 2.44% |
| Washington University at St. Louis | 2.38% |
| University of Kentucky | 2.35% |
| University of California—Davis | 2.29% |
| University of Georgia | 2.21% |
| University of Oklahoma | 2.20% |
| University of Tennessee—Knoxville | 2.13% |
| Washington and Lee University | 2.10% |
| University of California—Los Angeles | 2.08% |
| University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill | 2.08% |
| Villanova University | 1.88% |
| George Washington University | 1.86% |
| University of Utah (Quinney) | 1.85% |
| University of Hawaii—Manoa (Richardson) | 1.83% |
| University of Pittsburgh | 1.74% |
| Emory University | 1.73% |
| University of Cincinnati | 1.68% |
| Indiana University—Indianapolis (McKinney) | 1.64% |
| University of Virginia | 1.60% |
| University of Miami | 1.53% |
| Indiana University—Bloomington (Maurer) | 1.53% |
| West Virginia University | 1.44% |
| University of Richmond (Williams) | 1.43% |
| Rutgers—Newark | 1.39% |
| Florida State University | 1.37% |
| University of Missouri—Kansas City | 1.37% |
| University of Southern California (Gould) | 1.37% |
| University of Minnesota—Twin Cities | 1.36% |
| University of Iowa | 1.33% |
| Tulane University | 1.32% |
| Harvard University | 1.32% |
| University of Wyoming | 1.26% |
| Georgetown University | 1.25% |
| Penn State Dickinson | 1.25% |
| University of St. Thomas | 1.22% |
| Wayne State University | 1.20% |
| University of Florida (Levin) | 1.11% |
| University of Wisconsin—Madison | 1.05% |
| University of California—Berkeley | 1.01% |
| University of California — Irvine | 0.97% |
| University of Arizona (Rogers) | 0.94% |
| University of Michigan—Ann Arbor | 0.82% |
| Fordham University | 0.79% |
| St. John’s University | 0.72% |
| Stanford University | 0.69% |
| University of Colorado—Boulder | 0.65% |
| University of Notre Dame | 0.64% |
| University of Maryland (Carey) | 0.60% |
| New York University | 0.59% |
| University of Pennsylvania | 0.54% |
| Boston College | 0.44% |
| American University (Washington) | 0.42% |
| University of Connecticut | 0.26% |
| University of Texas—Austin | 0.23% |
| Wake Forest University | 0.20% |
| University of Washington | 0.18% |
| Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern) | 0.14% |
| William and Mary | 0.13% |
| University of Houston | 0.11% |
| Boston University | 0.07% |
| Columbia University | 0.04% |
| University of Chicago | 0.00% |
| Cornell University | 0.00% |
| Duke University | 0.00% |
| University of Montana | 0.00% |
| University of New Mexico | 0.00% |
| University of North Dakota | 0.00% |
| Northeastern University | 0.00% |
| Vanderbilt University | 0.00% |
| Yale University | 0.00% |
Reasons Why Students Are Leaving Law Schools
Law school graduates have a bright future and many of them are in leading ranks of politicians, business leaders, etc. So, why do students leave law school before completing graduation? Some common reasons student leaves law school are –
1. Overconfidence
2. Unanticipated hardship
3. Unmet expectations
4. Poor Grades
1. Overconfidence
Usually, law students are ambitious and competitive therefore they fall prey to optimism bias. Here the students tend to exaggerate one’s own capabilities and minimize potential risks. However, optimism bias has depraved consequences like a poor or cramming session or a poor grade. Many students who joined law school assume that it is very easy to acquire a good result and they will have their pick of opportunities. But it is very hard to have a good performance in law school compared to colleges.
2. Unanticipated Hardship
Another key reason law students drop out of school is experiencing an unanticipated life event or hardship. It can be something like the birth of a child, a death in the family, or financial obligations. So, these events make it very difficult for law students to continue their studies for a law degree. This is a common issue for part-time law students who are trying to carry the responsibility of work, family, and law school all at the same time.
3. Unmet Expectations
Many students join the law school with dramatized expectations like the TV-style lawyers and legal work. But when they join the school and experience the reality of pouring over decades-old legal texts and composing their own drafts and briefs they become disappointed. They realize that there is no legal excitement in law school. So, these unmet expectations inspire some students to drop out of law school.
4. Poor Grades
This is another driving factor of students leaving law school. Some students join the law school with overconfident and they remain so sure that they will succeed on top of their class. So, when they don’t achieve the target easily, they might feel dejected to the point of dropping out. Moreover, Law school requires lots of studies and hard work to achieve a good grade. This is why students with average or poor grades drop out of school.
FAQs About Law School Dropout Rate In The USA
Is It Common To Drop Out Of Law School?
Studying law is not easy therefore law school is difficult, and it isn’t for everyone. So, dropout is very common for law schools and many law schools have a dropout rate of up to 38 percent of first-year students!
How Many Lawyers Graduate Each Year In The US?
On average, every year around 30,000 students graduate from law school in the United States. The number of law graduates in the United States has decreased slowly between 2014 to 2021.
What Is The Acceptance Rate For Harvard Law School?
The acceptance rate of Harvard law school is 12.49% in 2021.
What Major Has The Highest Dropout Rate In The USA?
According to the latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, computer science degrees have the highest dropout rate in the USA.
References:
1. https://milern.com/law-school-dropout-rate/
2. https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/articles/common-reasons-students-leave-law-school
Last Updated on February 8, 2022 by
Magalie D. is a Diploma holder in Public Administration & Management from McGill University of Canada. She shares management tips here in MGTBlog when she has nothing to do and gets some free time after working in a multinational company at Toronto.
