By QINA LIU
qliu@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1613

Lillie Wiley-Upshaw said she does not believe the desire to be a lawyer is disappearing, despite seeing fewer law school applicants.

The vice dean for admissions and financial aid at University at Buffalo Law School said that in the past three years, she has seen an 18.5 percent decrease. For this fall, there are 1,629 applicants, compared to 1,900 in 2010-11 and about 2,000 applicants in 2009-10. She said the 10 percent decline in UB applicants between 2010-11 and 2011-12 mirrors the national trend.

Meanwhile, David Singer, Albany Law School director of communications and marketing, said although the numbers for fall 2011 are not finalized, the school expects about 2,500 applicants - same as last year. For fall 2009, 2,220 applications were received.

"Given the environment, we consider this good," Singer said.

The American Bar Association, meanwhile, reports that the numbers are down nationally, as well.

Wendy Margolis, director of communications for the Law School Admission Council, said as of June 3, there were 76,315 applicants nationwide for this fall. That's a 10.4 percent decrease from the previous year of 87,900 applicants and the lowest volume in a decade. While the numbers are not finalized, Margolis said by this time in 2010, the association had received 97 percent of the final count.  

According to LSAC data, there was a 9.6 percent decrease in the number of LSATs administered between 2009-10 and 2010-11. That's 16,464 fewer people taking the test this past year between June and February.

However, with 155,050 tests administered, it still represents an increase from the 151,398 taken between June 2009 and February 2010. There was a 13.3 percent jump in administered tests between 2008-09 and 2009-10, with 171,514 test-takers in 2009-10.

Despite the increase in tests administered nationwide in recent years, UB saw a descrease in applicants - 6 percent between 2009-10 and 2010-11 and 10 percent for the upcoming year.

Test-takers can take the LSATs multiple times, however, and Wiley-Upshaw said even an increased number of test-takers in the past three years does not mean there will be more applicants.

"That could be the competitiveness, too, because people take it and don't apply," she said. "That doesn't necessarily translate to applicants."

It is difficult to predict future trends because the numbers continue to fluctuate, according to Margolis. Nationally, in the past decade the number of applicants reached an all-time high of 100,600 in fall 2004. Then there was a decline until fall 2009, which saw a 3.8 percent increase in applicants from the previous year.

With 76,315 applicants nationally so far for 2011, this year will show the lowest volume of applicants in a decade.

"This is as low as it's been in a while, but the high was also unusual," Margolis said.

She attributed the decrease to people's reluctance to take on debt without job certainty. She also pointed out that the lag time for the applicant decrease may be because many students applied before news of the recession hit, or many may have applied because they couldn't find a job and thought the economy would be in better shape after graduation.

"A lot depends on the job market and if the jobs go," Margolis said. "It's been cyclical as long as I know."

Wiley-Upshaw agreed, saying, "I think it mirrors what's happening in our economy. We're a very affordable choice, but there are a lot (of reports) about how expensive law school is."

Singer, meanwhile, said negative media reports might also be a factor in the national decline.

"There's a lot in the media about the job market shrinking in the public and private sector and the cost of going to law school," he said.

Robert Zahm, an LSAT tutor at the Princeton Review, is attending Washington and Lee Law School. He pointed to another factor that may be discouraging his peers from pursuing law school: It is difficult to find work between semesters because there are fewer paid-internship opportunities and fewer jobs.

"A lot of people, before attending law school, perceive it as a guaranteed way to get a job - which is not a guarantee," Zahm said. "It's not like they hand you a diploma and a job. Once you get there, they realize it's as hard to get a job as a lawyer as everyone else."  

Annual tuition at Albany Law School is $41,570, while UB Law's tuition is $17,450 in New York state and $29,110 for those out-of-state.

For Albany Law to remain steady when most of the nation is seeing a decline in applicants is a major accomplishment, according to Singer.

Even before the recession hit, he said, the Albany school had become more selective since 2003, when it had more than 800 students.

By 2006, it had 670 students. Within four years, administrators had cut enrollment numbers by more than half. Last year, Albany Law had 250 students; it plans to enroll 240 students this fall.

According to Singer, the school plans to level off enrollment at 230 students the year after next.

"We've been shrinking before the market tanked with the vision of becoming smaller," he said.

Despite a decrease in the number of enrollees, the number of faculty has remained constant. The faculty-to-student ratio now rests at 13-to-1.

Wiley-Upshaw said she sees UB Law's pool of applicants becoming more competitive. Applicants have higher academic credentials, such as LSAT scores, she added.

"They are exciting and enthusiastic, and it's certainly very exciting to me as an admissions director," she said.  "We have become more competitive, so I think that message has come out."

The school holds flexible enrollment numbers so it can adjust to the number of applicants, she said.

While the fall 2011 enrollment numbers are not finalized, she said UB Law admitted 223 students for 2010-11, 208 students for 2009-10 and 222 students for 2008-09.

"I don't think the desire to choose this as a career is waning," Wiley-Upshaw said.

In fact, representatives of UB Law continue to visit schools to discuss the program. Also, it launched an email campaign last year to reach out to students active in social networking sites.

"I don't think we're doing more but we're adapting to where students are," Wiley-Upshaw said.

Margolis, of the American Bar Association's Law School Admission Council, said that for many people, completing a legal education gives them a valuable degree.

Students must take the time to evaluate their career goals, she added.

"We are hoping that the people partaking in law school are the ones who really want to be attorneys," Margolis said.