The State LSAC Applicant Pool and Excess Whiteness

 

EW OverviewOne way to measure the effectiveness of legal education is to ascertain how well the law schools are enrolling students from diverse racial backgrounds. The total percentage of White students in law school was assessed against the state LSAC applicant pool.

The expectation is that law school will be no Whiter than the available state pool. Clearly, many applicants from a state do not want to attend law school in that state. However, the percentage of applicants from a state is a relevant pool for diversity assessment 

State Whiteness was calculated by dividing the total number of White applicants from a state by its total number of applicants. The table identifies the Whiteness in the state applicant pool. Maine had the Whitest student applicant pool (90%) and Puerto Rico had the least White applicant pool (2%). Seventy-six schools (38%) had no Excess Whiteness based on the state LSAC application pool. Of the 124 schools with Excess Whiteness, the average Excess Whiteness was 6 points; the median Excess Whiteness was 3 points; the minimum Excess Whiteness was 0 and the maximum Excess Whiteness was 32 points.

 

State of Law School State Applicant Pool Percentage White State of Law School State Applicant Pool Percentage White
Alabama 71 Nebraska 81
Arizona 61 Nevada 55
Arkansas 76 New Hampshire 87
California 46 New Jersey 60
Colorado 75 New Mexico 46
Connecticut 73 New York 60
Delaware 56 North Carolina 60
District of Columbia 62 North Dakota 87
Florida 46 Ohio 78
Georgia 49 Oklahoma 63
Hawaii 23 Oregon 76
Idaho 82 Pennsylvania 77
Illinois 65 Puerto Rico 2
Indiana 77 Rhode Island 75
Iowa 85 South Carolina 67
Kansas 79 South Dakota 88
Kentucky 84 Tennessee 72
Louisiana 62 Texas 47
Maine 90 Utah 81
Maryland 49 Vermont 89
Massachusetts 72 Virginia 62
Michigan 74 Washington 67
Minnesota 80 West Virginia 89
Mississippi 62 Wisconsin 81
Missouri 78 Wyoming 85
Montana 88

 


 

 

Correlations

 

 

  • Historically White Law Schools. The difference in the mean between historically White law schools (7 points)  and non-historically White law schools (1 point)  was statistically significant (p=.034).

  • Public vs. Private. Private schools had the same mean difference in Excess Whiteness points (6) as public law schools (6). 

  • Tiers. There was a difference in mean points based on tiers. The second-tier had the highest mean (8 points) and the fourth tier had the lowest (4 points), The difference was statistically significant (p=.029).
     
  • States. There was a difference in mean among states. Georgia had the highest mean difference (22.4 points ), and Montana had the lowest (.111 points). The difference among states was statistically significant (p=.000).

  • Region. There was a difference in mean among regions, The Southeast region had the highest mean Excess Whiteness points (15.8), and the Mountain West had the lowest (3.7). The difference among states was statistically significant (p=.000)


 


 

 

Charts and Tables

 

 

 

 EW StateLSAC

 


 

 

The State LSAC Applicant Pool
and Excess Whiteness Database

 

This database includes all 200 schools. It can be sorted by columns and searched.  Click on a row for additional information.

 Legend: TWLS The Whitest Law School; EW Excess Whiteness; TW Total Whiteness; FY First Year;  LSAC Law School Admission Council; Pop Population.