Affirmative Action and Law Schools

Here is my synopsis of a very interesting and methodologically strong article on affirmative action and law school admissions.

From Stanford Law Review, November 2004.
Richard H Sander
“A Systemic Analysis of Affirmative Action in American Law Schools”

Key Points and Effects of Racial Preferences
1. Michigan law school system gave greater weight to race than Undergraduate “points” system (O’Connor differentiates between the two, saying the former system is permissible while the latter is not). Both have the same effect as segregating applications by race and selecting top candidates by race in quota system for admission.


2. Using preferences to admit blacks has a cascade effect: other top tier law schools follow the racial preferences norm to maintain public image; second and third tier law schools are forced to lower academic credentials for minorities or enroll very few blacks.

3. LSAT scores correlate very well with grades in law school, even for blacks.

4. Black grades in law school suffer at all tiers of schools – 51% of blacks rank in the lowest 10% of first year law students in GPA. Historically minority colleges are the lone exception.

5. There is a higher dropout and failure to graduate rate among blacks in law school, especially outside the most prestigious (top 10) schools.

6. A higher proportion of black law school graduates fail the bar on the 1st attempt.

7. Going to a higher tier law school does not result in better jobs or higher wages as theorized by affirmative action proponents – law school GPA has a greater impact on wages than does the prestige of the law school. Thus most blacks earn lower wages than if they had attended a lower tier law school but earned better grades.

8. Preliminary: local instances of bans on racial preferences cannot be used as model of what would happen in race neutral admissions were instituted everywhere. If a student could get admitted to a school with race blind admission criteria on academic credentials alone, they could get into a higher tier law school using racial preferences and are highly likely to go to the more prestigious school, hence drastically reducing minority enrollment in schools with race blind admissions policies.

8. However, if race blind admissions were instituted nationally, and blacks were admitted at equivalent levels to whites with the same academic credentials there would be: a decrease in the number of blacks admitted to law school (about 14% fewer), enrolling in law school, graduating law school (8%), taking the bar (6%), but more passing the bar (8% more) and far more passing the bar on the first attempt (a 20% increase).

9. A race neutral system may encourage an increase in Black applicants and enrollment in law schools, particularly in lower tier law schools, knowing they are more likely to be successful in law school and in the job market.

Conclusion: Affirmative action at law schools hurts those it intends to serve, by reducing the overall number of black lawyers and limiting their success. “Blacks are the victims of law school programs of affirmative action, not the beneficiaries.”