The size of this year’s entering class at Texas law schools rose by 4 percent this year compared to last, but total enrollment numbers for 2017 still dropped by 0.3 percent.

Legal educators closely watch the size of the first-year class, since it has financial implications for a law school for the next three years. There were 2,199 first-year law students at the 10 Texas law schools in the Fall of 2017, which is 89 students more than the Fall of 2016.

Compared to national figures, the 4 percent jump in Texas 1L students is significant. The 203 accredited law schools across the country counted 37,398 1L students, which is just 0.8 percent more than last year, according to data from the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

However, not all of the Texas law schools increased the size of their entering class equally. Only seven schools saw an increase ranging from 4 to 20 percent, and three schools actually decreased the size of their 1L class.

The three schools with the largest increases in their 1L classes were: St. Mary’s University School of Law, with a 20 percent jump compared to last year; Baylor University School of Law, which had a 19 percent increase; and Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law, with a 13 percent increase.

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