ABA 2026 Applicant and Application Counts - Year To Date Through 8/27/2026

Aug 30, 2026

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Year to date American Bar Association 2026 applicant and application counts are summarized through 8/27/2026, using 2026 enrollment data received by that date and 2025 enrollment data received by 8/27/2025. The report provides regional breakdowns with percent change for applicants and applications, including totals, an “Other” category note, and school volume change categories. Additional sections analyze applicants by US ethnicity, law school type, gender identity, and LSAT score ranges, including highest LSAT grouped results and ungrouped high-score details with caution about small cell counts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Year To Date Summary

Applicants by Region

Applications by Region

Law School Count by Volume Change

US Ethnicity, School Type, and Gender Identity

US Ethnicity Breakdown

Law School Type Breakdown

Gender Identity Breakdown

US LSAT Scores

Highest LSAT (Grouped)

High LSAT (Ungrouped)

Year To Date American Bar Association 2026 Applicant and Application Counts Date Range 10/1/2025 􀁎 8/27/2026 􀁎 The following tables are breakdowns ofABA 2026 applicants and applications by region and the percent change from last year. These figures are based on enrollment year 2026 data received through 8/27/2026 and enrollment year 2025 data received through 8/27/2025 . As compared to one year ago, current year applicants are up 7 .9% . As compared to two years ago, current year applicants are up 27 .4 % . Applicants Region Last Year Current Year Percent Change Far West Great Lakes 10 , 108 10 , 946 8 .3% 9 , 162 10 , 041 9 .6% 9 ,211 9 , 824 6 .7 % Mountain West 2 ,291 2 , 508 9 .5% 4 , 064 4 , 547 11 .9% Northeast 3 , 804 4 , 051 6 .5% 12 ,285 13 , 309 8 .3% Northwest 2 , 017 2 ,210 9 .6% Other 2 , 800 2 , 701 -3 .5% South Central Southeast Total 76,474 82,487 7 .9% Midsouth 9 , 339 10 , 172 8 .9% Midwest New England 11 , 393 12 , 178 6 .9% As compared to one year ago, current year applications are up 10 .8% . As compared to two years ago, current year applications are up 35 .5% . Applications Region Last Year Current Year Percent Change Far West 72 , 170 80 350 11 .3% Great Lakes 75 ,211 82 262 9 .4 % Midsouth 89 159 97 , 388 9 .2 % Midwest 14 ,417 16 285 13 .0% Mountain West 16 , 897 18 451 9 .2 % New England 54 273 62 , 054 14 .3% Northeast 96 206 108 842 13 . 1 % Northwest 10 943 11 ,461 4 .7 % South Central 43 861 47 , 869 9 . 1 % Southeast 50 131 54 881 9 .5% Total 523,268 579, 843 10 .8% * The "Other" category includes applicants whose permanent residence is either unknown or outside of the United States. Law School Count by Volume Change Count 1 Increase 100% or more: Increase 50% to 99%: 2 Increase 40% to 49%: 8 Increase 30% to 39%: 13 Increase 20% to 29%: 39 Increase 10% to 19%: 58 Increase 1 % to 9%: 45 No Change: 6 Decrease of 1 % to 9%: 20 Decrease of 10% to 19%: 5 Decrease of 20% to 29%: 0 Decrease of 30% to 39%: 0 Decrease of 40% to 49%: 0 Decrease of 50% or greater: 0 Total 197 Currently there are 166 schools with an application volume increase, while 25 show a volume decrease, and 6 schools show no change in application volumes. Last year at this time, we had 100% of the final applicant count and 100% of the final application count. All contents and materials ©2026 Law School Admission Council, Inc. All rights reserved. US Ethnicity, School Type, and Gender Identity Date Range 10/1/2025 􀁎 8/27/2026 􀁎 The following table is a breakdown of 2026 ABA applicants by racial/ ethnic groups and the percent change from last year. The table can be toggled between a single ethnicity per applicant or all ethnicities selected by each applicant. For more information, please refer to the Ethnicity Notes page. Applicants Maximum Single Ethnicity Last Year Current Year Percent Change 12 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australian 13 8 .3% American Indian or Alaska Native 1 , 630 1 , 615 -0 .9% Black or African American Canadian Aboriginal/ Indigenous Caucasian/White Hispanic/ Latino Middle Eastern/ North African Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 9 , 911 11 , 906 91 40 ,201 13 , 732 4 , 079 420 10 , 868 13 , 037 68 43 , 378 14 , 781 4 , 377 448 9 .7 % 9 .5% -25 .3% 7 .9% 7 .6% 7 .3% 6 .7 % Asian Not Indicated 5 , 545 6 , 103 10 . 1 % Applications Law School Type Last Year Current Year Percent Change Private 344 , 112 382 , 832 11 .3% Total 523,268 579, 843 10 .8% Public 179 , 156 197 , 011 10 .0% The following table is a breakdown of 2026 ABA law school applicants grouped by gender identity. Gender Identity Gender Identity Last Year Current Year Percent Change Man Woman

FAQs

What date range does this year-to-date ABA 2026 counts report cover?

It uses a date range of 10/1/2025 to 8/27/2026 for 2026 counts, and compares against 2025 enrollment data received through 8/27/2025.

How are applicant and application changes presented?

Each table breaks results down by region and shows last year vs current year counts along with percent change relative to the prior year.

Why should ungrouped high LSAT percent changes be used with caution?

The document notes that smaller cell counts can affect the reliability of percentages in the ungrouped LSAT results.

Aug 30, 2026

Upload by Levi