New Grads Battle Brutal Job Market as Law School Applications Hit Decade High

Recent graduates face the toughest hiring landscape in years—and they're responding by flooding law schools with applications at levels not seen since 2015.

The Great Pivot

Instead of fighting for scarce entry-level positions, thousands of graduates are betting on three more years of education. Law schools report application surges exceeding 30% year-over-year as students seek shelter from economic uncertainty.

Debt Versus Destiny

While law degrees promise higher lifetime earnings, they also come with six-figure debt loads—a gamble that looks increasingly rational when corporate hiring freezes and tech layoffs dominate headlines. Because nothing says 'financial prudence' like taking on $200K in student loans while the Fed keeps playing interest rate whack-a-mole.

The ultimate hedge against a shaky job market? Becoming the person who writes the employment contracts.

Key Takeaways

• With new grads entering a competitive labor market, law school applications have jumped more than 18% during the 2024 and 2025 admissions cycle compared with the year prior.
• Strong hiring rates for law graduates and a positive outlook for the profession might make law school more attractive.
• One expert notes that higher law school enrollment could eventually put pressure on the job market for lawyers.

With college graduates struggling to find work due to a weakening labor market, some may be turning to law school instead.

During the 2024-to-2025 law school admissions cycle, the number of applicants surged to more than 76,600, up 18.3% from 64,749 the previous year, according to data from the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC).

What's Driving The Big Uptick In Law School Applicants?

Experts don't know exactly why more people are applying to law school, but they speculate that it's a combination of a competitive job market for recent college graduates, strong job prospects for lawyers, and increased interest in the legal field.

"Young professionals out of college are struggling to find jobs," said Mike Spivey, founder and CEO of Spivey Consulting, a law school admissions consulting firm. "And so what happens when you don't have a job, you look at the available opportunities and hiring out law school is on a long run of strength."

Currently, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates aged 22 to 27 is 4.8%, which is above the unemployment rate for all workers.

Chris Martin, lead researcher at Glassdoor, told Investopedia in an August interview that the softer labor for new grads was likely due to economic factors like tariffs and higher interest rates, which are causing companies to slow down hiring more broadly.

According to LSAC data, the vast majority (almost 80%) of first-year law school students were age 26 or younger in 2024, suggesting that many of those entering law school tend to be recent grads.

As recent history indicates, law schools have generally experienced an uptick in applicants during recessions. Over the past two decades, law school applicants peaked during the 2009 and 2010 admissions cycle, shortly after the Great Recession.

"The economy, I think, tends to drive the applicant pool the most—not solely—but the most," said Andrew Cornblatt, dean of admissions at Georgetown Law School. "Anytime there's a recession in this country, applications—and I've been doing this a long time—go up."

Cornblatt also thinks that the presidential election had some impact on the people's interest in pursuing careers in the legal field.

"When you have presidential elections, there's a focus on law and policy and on how the government works," said Cornblatt. "These applicants decided this is where I want to be. This is the arena that matters, and I want to be where it matters."

Why People Are Betting On Law School

Spivey notes that some applicants may be drawn to law school due to the strong employment opportunities afterward. Almost nine in 10 (87.1%) of 2024 law school graduates had full-time employment about 10 months after graduation.

"So what I WOULD say is, maybe 5% [of] that bump in the 18% [applicant uptick] was driven by the presidential election, but maybe 13% was driven by, I suspect, by law school economics looking great right now," said Spivey.

Although the number of applicants has increased, it's uncertain whether the number of matriculants has too (the American Bar Association has yet to publish data for the most recent application cycle).

So what could this mean for prospective law school students?

Both experts think it's become more competitive to get into law school, but Spivey also worries that schools could respond by increasing enrollment, crowding the market with too many lawyers in the future.

"The concern would be, 'do law schools admit greater class sizes for back to back years?'" said Spivey. "What happens if AI triggers something, or what happens if a recession triggers something? Employment takes a nosedive."

For now, the employment prospects for lawyers look positive—the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the employment of lawyers will grow 4% from 2024 to 2034.

And with the upcoming admissions cycle underway, there are some signs that many are still setting their sights on being a law school.

Registration for the law school admission test, or LSAT, is up this year. For the October LSAT this year, there were 36,555 people registered, which is a 60% increase from the number of people registered in October 2024.

Fast Fact

While Spivey did mention concerns about what it means for the legal profession's future, the rise in applications indicates that future lawyers aren't deterred by the rise of AI, perhaps recognizing that while automation may handle routine tasks, the profession will continue to require human judgment and the ability to work alongside AI tools, rather than be replaced by them.

The Bottom Line

Law school has become a more appealing option as new college grads face a challenging job market. With law school applicants up 18% during the 2024-to-2025 admission cycle and another uptick expected this year, those applying for law school might find it harder to land an acceptance.

Although it's unclear whether law schools will boost their enrollment to accommodate the larger applicant pool, the employment outlook for lawyers remains strong for now.