The State LSAC Applicant Pool and Excess Whiteness
One 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 |