You can see the full data here.
LSAT median changes for the fall 2018 entering class:
| No Change | 1 point increase | 2 point increase | 3+ point increase | Decrease | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 14 Ranked Schools | 8 (57%) | 6 (42%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Top 20 Ranked Schools | 10 (50%) | 10 (50%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Top 100 Ranked Schools | 39 (39%) | 50 (50%) | 5 (5%) | 0 (0%) | 6 (6%) |
| Top 150 Ranked Schools | 63 (41%) | 68 (45%) | 6 (4%) | 3 (2%) | 9 (7%) |
| All ABA Accredited Law Schools | 82 (40%) | 84 (41%) | 15 (7%) | 6 (3%) | 11 (6%) |
Overall, just over half of all ABA-accredited law schools were able to increase their LSAT median, and 66 schools had increases in all three of their LSAT ranges: 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile.
78 schools increased their GPA median by greater than 0.03. 50 schools increased by greater than .05. 26 schools increased by greater than .075. 17 schools increased by greater than 0.1. 62 schools had a decrease in GPA median.
Overall, 121 schools had an increase in GPA median of any amount — that's roughly sixty percent of schools. 73 schools were able to increase GPA in all ranges: 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile.
117 schools increased class size by any amount. 81 schools increased class size by at least 5%. Median class size change was an increase of 4 students; the mean was an increase of 5.2. Schools in the T14 added 125 seats total, and schools in the T20 added 280 seats total. Overall, there was an addition of 1,072 seats across the cycle, and over a quarter of the overall class size increase came from the T20. UMich and UT had particularly large increases, 12.81% and 22.4%, respectively. Only 4 of the T20 had decreases in class size, and none of them decreased by more than 2 students (yes, 2).
59 schools were able to increase their LSAT score (by any amount) while also increasing their class size (by any amount). 40 schools were able to increase their LSAT median (by any amount) while also increasing class size at least 5%. 25 were able to increase their LSAT median while also increasing class size by at least 10%.
31 schools were able to increase their median LSAT score (by any amount) and increase their median GPA by at least 0.05. 9 schools were able to accomplish a fairly remarkable feat, increasing class size by at least 10% while also increasing their LSAT median (by any amount) AND increasing their GPA median by at least 0.05. They are: Concordia Law School, John Marshall Law School, Seton Hall University, Suffolk University, University of Hawaii, University of Nevada—Las Vegas, University of the Pacific (McGeorge), University of Wyoming, and UNT Dallas College Of Law.
T14 acceptance rates went down an average of 2.99%. Coincidentally, that's also the median acceptance rate decrease. In the T20, acceptance rates went down an average of 3.48%, and the median acceptance rate decrease was 3.56%. Overall, median acceptance rate decreased by 2.16% across all schools, and 139 schools total decreased their acceptance rate by any amount. 45 schools decreased their acceptance rate by at least 5%.
Median yield increased 0.98% across all schools. Median yield increased 1.61% across the T14 and 1.71% across the T20. Overall, 127 schools were able to increase their yield by any amount. The school with the biggest increase in acceptance rate was Case Western, with an increase of 11.41%. The biggest decrease was Thomas Jefferson, with a decrease of 22.73% in acceptance rate.
The largest class size increase by raw number was George Washington, with an increase of 157 students. The biggest class size decrease by number was Thomas Jefferson, with a decrease of 156 students. This likely contributed to Thomas Jefferson's median LSAT increasing by 3 points. Arizona Summit had the best increase in yield, at an increase of 37.75%. UNT Dallas had the worst change in yield, at -16.85% from last year.
Other fun data:
Thirteen schools were able to increase their stats in all six categories of L25, L50, L75, G25, G50, G75. They were Baylor University, Charleston School of Law, Columbia University, Florida Coastal School of Law, Loyola Marymount University—Los Angeles, Pennsylvania State University–University Park, Seton Hall University, Suffolk University, University of Colorado—Boulder, University of Hawaii, University of Nevada—Las Vegas, University of Wyoming, and UNT Dallas College Of Law.
51 schools had a class size increase of at least 10%. 33 of those were able to increase median LSAT by at least 1 point. This was a law school friendly cycle.
UWisconsin popped out as having a class size increase of 82.12%, 124 students. They had the largest class size increase this year and still managed to increase LSAT scores across the board, but GPA took a hit.
Among the T14, UVA has the largest difference between its L25 and L75, a difference of 8 points. Duke has the smallest difference at 3 points. Among all schools WashU has the largest difference between its L25 and L75, a difference of 10 points. There's a five way tie for smallest L25 to L75 difference, at 3 LSAT points. The schools are Duke, Boston College, Wake Forest, Texas A&M, and Widener.
Liberty University has the largest percent of students receiving half to full tuition, at 74% of students. The lowest portion of students on scholarship goes to Inter American University of Puerto Rico, with 4% of students on scholarship of any kind.
The average is 32.53% of students on half to full scholarships across all schools. The median is 31.5% across all schools. Out of all schools, 11 have more than half of their students on scholarships of at least 50%. Penn State Law has the most students on full rides, at 48%. 31 schools do not offer full tuition scholarships.
Scholarships are incredibly pervasive. The average (mean) is 72.75% of students on scholarship across all schools. The median is 75%. When you weight it for the number of students per school etc then you get a total of 26,270 students on scholarship of some kind. That's 70.39%. Fully 70.39% of law students are on a scholarship of some kind. The data doesn't differentiate between need based and merit based.
**Correction note: an earlier version of this blog post incorrectly excluded Pennsylvania State University–University Park from the list of schools that had increased their numbers in all six categories of L25, L50, L75, G25, G50, and G75.
***Correction note: last year's spreadsheet data was incorrect for the University of Baltimore and has been amended. This was also inaccurately reflected as an LSAT median decrease in our data, while in actuality the LSAT median stayed the same.