Women Continue To Make History When It Comes To Law School Enrollment

// Women are continuing to break barriers in the legal profession each day, and law school enrollment is no different.

In 2016, women outnumbered men in law school classrooms for the first time on record. Every year since, even more women have enrolled in law school, with 2023 data revealing that women’s enrollment as law students once again outpaced that of their male colleagues. For the eighth year in a row, there are more women learning the law than ever before — which is amazing.

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According to 2023 data, 65,757 women (56.25%), 50,097 men (42.85%), and 416 people who identified as another gender identity (0.36%) were enrolled in law school. On top of that data, 632 people (0.54%) declined to report their gender. Last year, the majority of law schools (86.29%) had more female attendees than male attendees. But how many women were enrolled at the best law schools in the nation? Check out this table, courtesy of Enjuris, an independent legal resource (law schools where the majority of those enrolled identify as women are highlighted in orange):

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(Please note that Washington University in St. Louis, which is tied at No. 20 in the U.S. News rankings, is another school where women represent the majority of students, at 51.4%.)

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Now that is a sight to behold. Nineteen of the top 20 (technically 21) law schools as ranked by U.S. News at the time had more women enrolled than men in 2023. Just a few years ago, this could only be said for nine of the top 20 law schools. Women are making amazing progress at the best law schools in the country.

Per Enjuris, these are the top 10 law schools by women’s enrollment, regardless of U.S. News ranking:

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Increased enrollment for women in law school is just the first step in achieving gender equity within the law, not to mention justice for women in a country where there’s a war on reproductive rights following the Supreme Court’s dismantling of the protections offered under Roe. Congratulations to all women enrolled in law school. We need you now more than ever before.

Law School Rankings by Female Enrollment (2023) [Enjuris]

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Enjuris, Law Schools, Rankings, Women's Issues