Yale Daily News, ABA Report Reveals Stable Diversity at Law School Post-Affirmative Action:

While the Yale Law School previously reported a 12 percent decrease in the enrollment of students of color after the fall of affirmative action, the latest American Bar Association report reveals the racial demographics remained relatively stable compared to last year’s class.

The 509 information report released by the ABA counts Black, Hispanic students of any race, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and multiracial students in people of color calculation. However, the ABA does not include multiracial students in individual racial categories, which might account for the discrepancy between the Law School’s and ABA’s reports.

The ABA also modified its reporting this year, now including students who are not U.S. residents in individual race categories instead of reporting them in a separate category. An ABA spokesperson noted that this change in how race categories are defined makes it difficult to know the impact of affirmative action on Law Schools. 

As an overarching trend, the ABA reports that diversity remained steady across law schools after affirmative action fell in SFFA v. Harvard. Black students accounted for 7.7 percent of the JD students in the new incoming class, compared with 7.8 percent last year, while Hispanic students made up 14.2 percent, compared with 14.17 percent in 2023.  …

At Harvard Law School, the New York Times reported a drop of more than a half in Black students’ enrollment. Per the ABA report, 43 Black students were admitted in 2023 compared to 19 Black students in 2024.

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