Tight job market leads to rise in law school applicants

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Law school applications are up dramatically in Hawai'i and nationwide — the biggest increase in at least two decades — as more young people are deciding the job market out there is just too rough.

With business schools and other graduate programs also reporting a surge in applications, it's a big difference from late 1990s, when students skipped graduate school for high-paying jobs and big signing bonuses at dot-coms.

Law school applications are up 17.9 percent for 2002-03, the biggest spike in more than 20 years, according to the Law School Admission Council. As of July 5, the council counted 88,418 applications nationwide, compared with 74,994 at the same time last year.

Laurie Tochiki, assistant dean at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai'i, said law school applications have increased 50 percent from a year ago.

"It's to boost credentials so that people are more ready for the job market, more competitive in the job market," said Tochiki, who is responsible for student services including admissions for law school.

Tochiki said the school received 750 applications compared with 500 last year. She said UH normally has been receiving 500 applications for the past five or six years.

The 750 applications this year is close to the peak year in 1994 when UH received nearly 800 applications, she said.

Tochiki said the current spike in applications has to do with 9/11 and the economy, and actually a little more.

"There's an interest in international law and human rights because of 9/11," Tochiki said. International law deals with treaties, war crimes, and business transactions between nations, Tochiki said.

Tochiki said UH has about 250 students in law school. The entering class is about 75 or 80 students, she said.

Peter Garrod, assistant graduate dean at UH, said he did not immediately have the numbers of applications, but said university's graduate enrollment will increase this fall from 4,000 to 4,200.

"If you can't find a job, you go to school," Garrod said. "It's a socially acceptable alternative. It's better than being unemployed."

In a spring survey of 415 members by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies estimated they would hire 36.4 percent fewer graduating seniors this year than last.

"There might be a little bit of a dot-com backlash," said Tom Kecskemethy, associate dean of the education school at the University of Pennsylvania. "Graduate education tends to be a haven for students when you're choosing between a lousy job market and the prospect of increasing your education, even if there is a price tag attached."

Some 1,700 applied to the University of Pennsylvania's graduate school of education, a 38 percent increase.

Columbia University's business school received 7,400 applications this year, up about 26 percent.

Starting salaries also are down. Computer science graduates saw their offers drop 5.9 percent to $49,957, sliding under $50,000 for the first time since the fall of 2000. Undergraduate psychology majors saw their offers fall 12.8 percent to $26,456, according to the association.

Medical school applications have been falling since 1996, and interest remains low. Experts said those numbers may take longer to rebound in a slow economy. Most students cannot decide on the spur of the moment to go to medical school; they need a premed education as undergraduates.

Staff writer Brandon Masuoka contributed to this report.