University of St. Thomas law professor Jerry Organ writes at The Legal Whiteboard on the effect of the ongoing decline in law school enrollment on the LSAT of the law student classes. He reports that the entering first-year class average LSAT profile fell roughly two points between 2010 and 2013, and another point for the latest entering class. Although the declines are uneven, they appear throughout the rankings. Five schools each in the top 50 and 51-100 had a 3 point decline in their median LSAT; three schools ranked 100-144 saw a three point decline; and two of the unranked schools had declines of 5 and 6 points. Organ concludes that in the face of the ongoing application decline, many schools are in a "pick your poison" bind:
A number of schools have picked profile and made an effort to hold profile or come close to holding profile by absorbing significant declines in first-year enrollment (and the corresponding loss of revenue). By contrast, a number of schools have picked enrollment and made an effort to hold enrollment or come close to holding enrollment (and maintaining revenue) but at the expense of absorbing a significant decline in LSAT profile. Some schools, however, haven’t even been able to pick their poison. For these schools, the last three years have presented something of a double whammy, as the schools have experienced both significant declines in first-year enrollment (and the corresponding loss of revenue) and significant declines in profile.
