Select Comparisons:Charleston School of Law versusInfilaw Schools

September 27, 2013

CHARLESTONSCHOOL OF LAW

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

PRO BONO POPULIfor the good of the people

i

Select Comparisons Between Charleston School of Law and Infilaw Schools Prepared by: Charleston School of Law Alumni Association Last Updated: September 27, 2013

Methodology: All of the information presented in this report was derived from the self-reported data submitted to the ABA by each school, respectively. This was the best way to compare and contrast the schools’ respective statistics. Unless otherwise specified, the years referenced in the data refer to the year of publication of the data, not the year of collection of the data. Thus, data tagged “2014” may actually have been collected by each school in 2011. This detracts from the usefulness to student consumers of reviewing a single year’s ABA report; but by comparing the data over a period of years, useful trends, patterns, and conclusions emerge. In some cases, for the benefit of visual clarity, data from the Charleston School of Law has been compared to an average of the data collected from the Infilaw Schools. All data compiled for each school is appended to the end of this report.

Sources: Current ABA school reports are available at http://officialguide.lsac.org. Prior ABA school reports are archived online at http://www.lsac.org/lsacresources/publications/official-guide-archives. NALP reports are available only for the current year at http://www.nalplawschoolsonline.org. While the NALP data did not form the basis of any of the charts contained herein, because they present a nearly real-time snapshot of enrollment data for each school, they are a helpful resource for anyone wishing to learn more. ABA employment data is available at http://employmentsummary.abaquestionnaire.org

1

1L Enrollment:

Each of the Infilaw schools is significantly bigger than the Charleston School of Law in terms of enrollment. While both Phoenix School of Law and Charlotte School of Law opened their doors after CSOL did, both schools have 1L enrollments that are roughly double that of the Charleston School of Law.

This size differential raises important questions:

What are appropriate enrollment numbers for the Charleston School of Law?

What factors should trigger increases in enrollment?

If the Charleston School of Law were to significantly increase its enrollment, how would it address the space issues within the relatively small footprint of the Charleston peninsula?

How would pressure to increase enrollments at Charleston School of Law affect the school’s admissions criteria and selectivity?

2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008  Florida   580  671  808  722  643  620  638  

Phoenix   447  450  392  272  200  91  0  

Charlo9e   626  529  468  276  138  0  0  

Charleston   174  224  237  241  220  205  196  

580  

671  

808  

722  

643  620  

638  

174  

224  237  241  220  205  196  

0  

100  

200  

300  

400  

500  

600  

700  

800  

2

1L Academic Attrition:

Students leave law school for a variety of reasons—they transfer to other schools, determine they do not wish to practice law, have medical or family emergencies, or decide law school is simply no longer their desired path. But leaving law school due to academic attrition— that is, leaving school for failing to meet academic standards—can have some of the most devastating personal and economic consequences: student loans must begin to be repaid as soon as students are no longer in school, and re-admission is often difficult, if not impossible, leaving students with little to show for their efforts other than debt. In recent years, due to decreased enrollments, law schools around the country have been reporting downward pressure on admissions standards like the LSAT and undergraduate GPA. So it is not surprising that academic attrition might begin to increase. But the contrast between the academic attrition at Infilaw schools versus the Charleston School of Law over the last few years shows, CSOL’s rate of attrition remaining low, while Infilaw’s has continued to creep up to alarming levels. At 10% attrition, with average 1L enrollments around 500 students, that means an average of 50 students per school per year fails out of law school in the first year.

2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008  Infilaw  Average   10%  8%  8%  6%  8%  7%  12%  

Charleston   1.8%  1.3%  1.7%  1.3%  1.8%  1.0%  0.0%  

0%  

2%  

4%  

6%  

8%  

10%  

12%  

14%  

Infilaw  Average   Charleston  

3

1L Median LSAT:

As noted in the previous section, schools around the country have faced considerable downward pressure on admissions standards as applications to law schools have dropped off over the last few years. Clearly both the Charleston School of Law and Infilaw schools have experienced this drop off, but the Infilaw drop-off appears to have been steeper. These numbers raise important questions, some of which will not be able to be answered for several more years, given the lag between data reporting regarding admission to law school and the bar examination:

How will a school’s decrease in admissions standards correlate to the bar passage rates of its graduates?

Will an increase in 1L enrollment, i f any, at the Charleston School of Law result in further downward pressure on admissions standards?

2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008  Charleston   151  152  154  153  153  154  154  

Infilaw  Average   146  148  149  151  150  152  151  

144  

146  

148  

150  

152  

154  

4

Diversity—among 1Ls versus graduates:

Among Infilaw’s most powerful arguments for its admissions “algorithm” and strategy is that it opens its doors to historically underserved communities. And when the Charleston School of Law is compared to Infilaw on percentages of minority students1—whether for 1Ls or graduates, Infilaw clearly does come out ahead. But while Infilaw’s minority enrollment is admirable, the comparison made here—between minority enrollment in the 1L year, versus minority percentages among graduates—raises a troubling question:

What accounts for the significant discrepancy between the rates of 1L minority enrollment at Infi law schools, versus the rates of minority graduation?

1 For the purposes of this comparison, “minority” is interpreted in the way the ABA interprets it, to included all people of Hispanic, Native American, Asian, African American, Pacific Islander, or mixed race heritage.

0.0%  

5.0%  

10.0%  

15.0%  

20.0%  

25.0%  

30.0%  

35.0%  

40.0%  

2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  

Infilaw:  minoriFes  as  percentage  of  1Ls  

Infilaw:  minoriFes  as  percentage  of  graduates  

Charleston:  minoriFes  as  percentage  of  1Ls  

Charleston:  minoriFes  as  percentage  of  graduates  

5

How many students really graduate?

Among the alumni’s chief concerns is that for students as consumers. Students want to know that if they start law school, they will finish law school. Because full-time students ordinarily finish law school in three years, absent significant enrollment fluxuations or part-time student populations, we might expect to see graduates numbering roughly one-third of a school’s total enrollment each year. And yet, at the Infilaw schools—which have significantly smaller percentages of their students participating part-time than Charleston—those graduate numbers have hovered between 15 and 23% for the last few years. Charleston, on the other hand has had numbers much more in line with what would be expected for on-time graduation rates. This raises worrisome questions:

Why do so few of Infi law’s students graduate each year? How long does it actually take to graduate from an Infi law school?

36%  

28%  26%  

24%  

28%  

31%  

0%  

22%  

16%  15%  

17%  17%  

23%  22%  

0%  

5%  

10%  

15%  

20%  

25%  

30%  

35%  

40%  

2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008  

Charleston  JDs  awarded  as  percentage  of  total  enrollment  

Infilaw  JDs  awarded  as  percentage  of  total  enrollment  

6

Full-time, permanent employment as lawyers:

By and large, law students go to law schools because they want to be lawyers. So when evaluating the claims of law schools make about their employment statistics, students want to know how many graduates at each school are employed full-time as lawyers within the first year after law school. While the legal job market has been difficult throughout the United States during and since the recession, the job prospects for students at the Charleston School of law were clearly significantly better in 2011 and 2012 than those for students at Infilaw Schools.

Charleston  50.78%  

Charleston  53.71%  

Charlo9e  43.30%  

Charlo9e  37.61%  

Phoenix  36.64%  

Phoenix  43.65%  

Florida  Coastal  36.14%  

Florida  Coastal  35.88%  

0.00%   10.00%   20.00%   30.00%   40.00%   50.00%   60.00%  

2011  Rate  

2012  Rate  

7

SELECTED ENROLLMENT, GRADUATION & EMPLOYMENT DATA

1L Academic Attrition School   2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  Florida   12%   11%   9%   8%   16%   11%   12%  Phoenix   4%   5%   7%   7%   4%   3%   n/a  

Charlotte   13.5%   9.6%   7.6%   4.3%   4.8%   n/a   n/a  Infilaw  Average   10%   8%   8%   6%   8%   7%   12%  

Charleston   1.8%   1.3%   1.7%   1.3%   1.8%   1.0%   0.0%  

1L Median LSAT

School   2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  Florida   146   147   149   150   150   151   151  Phoenix   145   148   150   151   151   153   n/a  

Charlotte   146   148   149   151   150   n/a   n/a  Infilaw  Average   146   148   149   151   150   152   151  

Charleston   151   152   154   153   153   154   154  

Diversity: minorities as percentage of graduates School   2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  Florida   27.1%   25.4%   23.3%   20.3%   12.2%   12.1%   12.2%  Phoenix   19.9%   24.4%   20.3%   20.3%   11.8%   n/a   n/a  

Charlotte   18.4%   11.2%   12.3%   14.1%   n/a   n/a   n/a  Infilaw:  minorities  as  

percentage  of  graduates   21.8%   20.3%   18.7%   18.2%   12.0%   12.1%   12.2%  Charleston:  minorities  as  percentage  of  graduates   8.7%   10.7%   4.9%   3.8%   4.7%   5.9%   n/a  

Diversity: minorities as percentage of 1Ls School   2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  Florida   37%   33.7%   32.3%   31.1%   26.2%   24.1%   23.7%  Phoenix   43.1%   33.5%   21.9%   19.8%   22.4%   22.0%   n/a  

Charlotte   39.9%   33.2%   23.8%   19.6%   16.7%   n/a   n/a  Infilaw:  minorities  as  

percentage  of  1Ls   40.0%   33.5%   26.0%   23.5%   21.7%   23.1%   23.7%  Charleston:  minorities  as  

percentage  of  1Ls   10.9%   13.0%   11.4%   7.5%   10.1%   8.7%   6.6%  

8

JDs Awarded as percentage of total enrollment School   2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  Florida   32%   26%   25%   26%   23%   23%   22%  Phoenix   17%   13.5%   10%   11%   10%   n/a   n/a  

Charlotte   17%   8.5%   10%   13%   n/a   n/a   n/a  

Infilaw  JDs  awarded  as  percentage  of  total  enrollment   22%   16%   15%   17%   17%   23%   22%  

Charleston  JDs  awarded  as  percentage  of  total  enrollment   36%   28%   26%   24%   28%   31%   n/a  

Percentage of students enrolled "full-time" School   2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  Florida   86.0%   97.1%   96.6%   95.9%   89.0%   88.2%   83.4%  Phoenix   68.2%   71.9%   71.0%   65.5%   58.3%   53.1%   n/a  

Charlotte   83.9%   82.8%   82.4%   79.0%   78.3%   n/a   n/a  

Infilaw  percentage  of  students  enrolled  full-­‐time   79.4%   83.9%   83.3%   80.1%   75.2%   70.7%   83.4%  

Charleston  percentage  of  students  enrolled  full-­‐time   70.0%   73.1%   74.1%   69.7%   70.0%   66.7%   56.2%  

Entering class size School   2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  Florida   580   671   808   722   643   620   638  Phoenix   447   450   392   272   200   91   0  

Charlotte   626   529   468   276   138   0   0  Charleston   174   224   237   241   220   205   196  

9

Tuition School   2014   2013   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008  

Florida  Coastal   39370   36968   34712   32662   30816   28870   27088  Phoenix   39,533   37,764   36,036   34,396   31,562   28,640  

 Charlotte   38,606   36,916   34,990   33,166   29,968      Charleston   37,874   36,774   35,606   34,618   32,970   30,598   28,680  

Full-time employment as lawyers

School   2011   2012  Charleston   50.78%   53.71%  Charlotte   43.30%   37.61%  Phoenix   36.64%   43.65%  

Florida  Coastal   36.14%   35.88%