A hike in law school applications that’s been dubbed the “Trump Bump” is growing around the country, new data shows.
According to Kaplan Test Prep’s 2018 survey of law school admissions officers, 87 percent say the current political climate was a significant factor in the increase in applications over the past year.
And in a separate survey of pre-law students, 45 percent say politics impacted their decision to apply — up from 32 percent who said the same a year ago.
“Throughout 2017 and into 2018, there were significant increases in both LSAT® takers and law school applications over the previous admissions cycle, which has fueled speculation about how much impact the political climate had on the law school admissions landscape,” Jeff Thomas, head of admissions programs at the test prep company, said in a statement.
“We now have an answer,” he declared: “Politics is good for business.”
But “politics changes quickly,” Thomas cautioned. “We continue to advise pre-law students to be introspective about their reasons for applying and future-looking about what they plan to do with a JD in the long term.”
Or as Kathryn Rubino of the Above The Law blog cautioned, President Donald Trump may be in office only for eight years, “but law school debt is forever.”
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