Indiana law schools see slight drop in enrollment, increased diversity to start new year

Indiana’s law schools saw a decrease in enrollment across the board to start the 2022-23 school year, but the legal institutions also saw some increases in other areas, including diversity and grade point averages.

Although it has roughly 40 fewer new 1L students than last year’s incoming class, Indiana University Maurer School of Law saw an increase in the percentage of women and persons of color in the class of 2025 by 5% and 8%, respectively.

Notre Dame Law School surpassed its 2021 record of having the most diverse incoming class in the institution’s history with a slight increase to 36% for the Class of 2025. Similar to IU Maurer, however, Notre Dame saw a drop in enrollment this fall, with 17 fewer students than in 2021.

For its part, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law surpassed its counterparts in enrollment with 229 new 1L students, but that too is a drop from the previous year’s 243 students. The Indianapolis law school has the highest percentage of women among its new 1L class, but the lowest percentage of minorities at 20% – though an increase from 16.8% in 2021.

While IU Maurer and Notre Dame saw an increase in their new students’ median GPAs at 3.81, IU McKinney’s median GPA for the Class of 2025 was 3.58.

Classes at IU McKinney began on Aug. 15 while IU Maurer classes began on Aug. 16. Notre Dame Law School classes began on Aug. 22.

The preliminary profile of the new 1L classes at each of Indiana’s law schools is as follows:

IU Maurer
Number of enrolled 1L students: 155
Median LSAT: 164
Median GPA: 3.81
Percentage of women: 54%
Percentage of minorities: 32%

IU McKinney
Number of enrolled 1L students: 229
Median LSAT: 154
Median GPA: 3.58
Percentage of women: 59%
Percentage of minorities: 20%

Notre Dame Law School
Number of enrolled 1L students: 166
Median LSAT: 168
Median GPA: 3.81
Percentage of women: 49%
Percentage of minorities: 36%