September 2026 / Season 8, Episode 1 / Under 30 minutes
Welcome to Keeping Up to DataSM, a space in which we discuss, analyze, and contextualize trends and perspectives in the current law school admission cycle.
SUSAN KRINSKY: Welcome back to Keeping Up to Data. I’m Susan Krinsky, executive vice president at LSAC®, with a final update on the 2026 application cycle — and a discussion with two members of our Access and Opportunity team, who are going to talk with us about several of the very successful initiatives that team has created and manages. But first, the numbers.
Looking first at applications, the 2026 admission cycle closed up 10.8% over the 2025 admission cycle and up 35.5% over the 2024 admission cycle. We saw 579,839 applications.
Now looking at applicants, the individuals who submitted those applications, 82,487 individuals applied to law school during the 2026 cycle, a 7.9% increase over 2025 and a 27.4% increase over 2024. For the first time ever, more than half of the applicant pool — 50.2%, to be exact — was comprised of applicants from racially or ethnically minoritized backgrounds. The number of applicants of color increased this year by 8.4%, as compared to the overall increase in applicants of 7.9%.
To provide even more detail, Black/African American applicants were up 9.7%. Asian applicants were up 9.9%. Hispanic/Latinx applicants were up 7.7%. American Indian/Alaska Native applicants were down very slightly, by just under 1%. And Caucasian applicants were up 7.9%.
Applicants identifying as women represented 57.3% of the applicant pool; women applicants increased by 9% over the prior year. Male applicants represented 40% of the applicant pool, and their numbers increased by 6.7% over 2025. Applicants identifying as gender diverse decreased 3.1% year over year, by 23 individuals, and applicants who chose not to identify themselves by gender increased 3.9%, or about 60 individuals.
The number of first-generation applicants increased by 5.4%, or about 1,200 more first-generation applicants than last year, ultimately representing just over 28% of the applicant pool. Applicants from all regions of the U.S. were up, and applications to schools in all regions of the U.S. were up, too. Applicants from Canada increased 13.5% over last year and 29% over the year before. Applications to member schools in Canada were up 15.3% over 2025 and 31.9% over 2024.
And now, a quick summary of the 2025-26 LSAT® testing cycle. The total number of tests taken was up 13.3% over the previous year, and the number of individuals taking the LSAT during the testing year was up 11.1%. The 2026-2027 testing cycle began last month with the August LSAT; the number of tests administered was up about 7% over the prior August. As I record this podcast, registration for September has closed, but the test has not started yet. Registrations for September are up about 5% over last September, and October registrations appear to be up about 3%. So, while it’s still quite early in the next cycle, it so far looks like strong interest in law school is continuing.
That’s our report on the current data. Remember that you can stay on top of our volume data by going to our website, LSAC.org, where you’ll find a link on the homepage to the latest volume data, which is updated every night.
As many of you already know, LSAC’s mission is to advance law and justice by promoting access, equity, and fairness in law school admission; to broaden the pathway into legal education; and to support law schools, law students, and the legal education community. Although that mission has evolved over time, our work here has always been centered around access to legal education.
Over the last several years, LSAC has expanded its work in this area through a growing portfolio of access and opportunity initiatives. Some of these efforts support individuals directly, through programs like Plus, Guided Journey. Others focus on strengthening networks and collaborations, such as the Pathway Collective. And still others address the needs of specific populations, including new resources being developed for military veterans as they navigate the transition into legal education.
While these initiatives may look different on the surface, they are all rooted in the same philosophy: understanding barriers to opportunity and creating solutions that help talented individuals achieve their goals.
Today, we’re joined by LSAC Vice President and Chief Impact Officer Angela Winfield and by LSAC’s manager of pathway and education programs, Aminta Moses Sharps, to discuss the strategy behind this work, what we’ve learned from implementing these programs, and the impact they’re having on future law students.
Angela and Aminta, welcome back to Keeping Up to Data.
ANGELA WINFIELD: So happy to be back with you, Susan.
AMINTA MOSES SHARPS: Thanks for having us, Susan.
SUSAN: Angela, let me start with you. And before we talk about programs and strategy, I’d like to start with impact, because that is such a critical part of how we measure success. Plus, Guided Journey is only in its third cohort, but it’s already reached thousands of aspiring law students and produced some remarkable outcomes, which we’ll get into in a minute. But when you look at the results so far, what stands out to you most?
ANGELA: Yeah, the outcomes that we’ve seen and the numbers really are phenomenal, but what stands out to me is that it reinforces something that we have believed for a long time, and that’s when talented people have access to the right support, the right information, and the right community, they can thrive. We’re really proud of the numbers because they’re pretty fantastic, I will admit that, but what really matters is what those numbers represent. They represent people that are moving from intent to action, from aspiration to application, and ultimately toward legal education and legal careers. It’s really confirmation that thoughtful, data-informed, research-backed interventions work, and it’s helping people to reach their education goals.
SUSAN: Aminta, the results from Plus, Guided Journey have been impressive. Including the newest cohort, the program has served or is currently serving a total of close to 2,500 scholars in just three years, and outcomes have been what we hoped to see — perhaps even better than what we hoped to see. Can you share some of those outcomes?
AMINTA: I would love to, Susan. Now, our first cohort, which ran from 2024 to 2025, served more than 450 scholars, and their outcomes in this inaugural year were very strong: 87% of scholars from that cohort went on to take the LSAT, and more than 95% of them improved their score, with a median gain of 12 points. Now, approximately two-thirds of this cohort applied to at least three law schools by the program deadline, and overall, the admission rate was 65%, which is well above the admission rate for first-gen college students or Pell Grant recipients who aren’t part of the Plus program.
The second cohort is entering law school right now, so in fall of 2026, and we’ve had some really exciting reports from orientation the past couple of weeks, some really nice pictures of some of our scholars together, even. The second cohort included about 1,000 scholars, more than 35% of whom began their undergraduate studies at a community college.
Now, this cohort also worked incredibly hard and experienced very strong gains and outcomes, with 85% taking the LSAT; 93% improving their scores, with a median score gain of 10 points; and more than half of the scholars applying to at least three law schools by the program deadline. Now, the second cohort preliminary admission rate is 63%, so again, well above the preliminary admission rate for first-gen college students or Pell Grant recipients who aren’t part of the program.
And our newest cohort just took the August LSAT. This is cohort three. They will enter law school next year, so in fall of 2027. This cohort includes another approximately 1,000 scholars, more than 99% of whom are first-generation college graduates. 40% of them are coming to us from small towns, from rural areas, or from remote communities, and 6% are military veterans or are currently serving in the military.
Now, this is a group that we’re supporting this year with a dedicated module in the Plus program, and this module is really built around the very particular and specific challenges of moving from military service into law school, and we’re addressing their needs in these challenges, whether they transitioned out 20 years ago, whether they’re leaving the service now, or whether they’re planning to do so in the future. So, in all, very strong and very exciting outcomes.
SUSAN: Those are indeed exciting and impressive results, and those results, I think, do not happen by accident. Angela, what do you think explains the incredible success this program is having?
ANGELA: You are right, Susan, as you often are. This was not accidental, and I think one of the reasons for the success that we’ve seen with this program is because there’s been a simple shift in perspective. Rather than asking, “How do we get more people into a program?” we ask, “What is preventing talented people from reaching their goals, and what would it mean to build a program that specifically addresses that goal and that barrier that they are facing on the way to their goal?”
When we started focusing on barriers, you begin designing solutions very differently. Our work is grounded in understanding people, understanding where they are in their journey, and understanding what support is needed at the moment they need it on that journey. And then we build that program, and that’s what Plus, Guided Journey is and was. It’s all very targeted and very intentional, and I believe that’s part of the reason why we’re seeing such strong outcomes.
SUSAN: Thank you, Angela. Aminta, from a program design perspective, what does that philosophy look like in practice?
AMINTA: That is a great question, Susan. In practice, this philosophy really starts with listening, and it starts with understanding. We spend a good amount of time listening to our scholars, to, now, the alums in the program. We take time to learn from law schools, to learn from our community partners. We really want to understand where in this journey people are getting stuck. We want to understand what resources they have access to, what support might be missing.
We also look very carefully at the data and at the research to understand these barriers and possible ways that we can address them. For example, when we reimagined legacy PLUS, the Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars Program, as, now, Plus, Guided Journey, we heard that students needed support throughout the entire law school application process, and not just during the summer that the program was occurring. And it was really that insight that led us to design a program that lasts for 14 months, all the way through the cycle, and provides guidance and provides resources and provides community through those key milestones of the admissions journey.
As our scholars move through the application cycle, we introduce resources, we introduce activities, we introduce professionals that they can interact with, opportunities for peer engagement. All of these are aligned to the decisions that they are making at that particular moment or the decisions that are coming up. The goal isn’t just to provide information, it’s not just to make it available, but it’s also to help the scholars act on that information. And because we have the opportunity to stay engaged with them over this 14-month program, we’re really able to build trust and help our scholars navigate challenges as they arise, because throughout 14 months, challenges do arise. But it’s the same approach that informs newer initiatives. We look at the journey of a specific population, and then we design support that’s responsive to those barriers that can arise on that journey.
SUSAN: I can see why this program is so successful.
Angela, the topic of barriers has now been mentioned a few times as a theme. Tell me again, why is that such an important lens for LSAC’s work?
ANGELA: Well, barriers are important to focus on because what we know is that talent and ambition is widely distributed across the communities that we serve and across aspiring law students and aspiring attorneys, but what is not equally distributed is access to opportunity. And this misalignment of talent and ambition with access to opportunity is where barriers exist, and they can take shape in all different forms: not having the right information at the right time, not knowing how to act on information that you have. Barriers show up in all different sorts of ways, depending on your particular journey or the path that you’re walking.
And so, that’s why we focus on barriers, because when someone isn’t progressing on their goal or progressing toward their goal, the question isn’t “What’s wrong with that person?” The question for us is “What in the pathway isn’t working? What’s happening along that pathway? Is there a lack of information? Is there a lack of support, a lack of connection? Is the timing just wrong? Is the process too difficult to navigate or confusing?” When we understand the barrier, we can then build a solution. And that’s the common thread that really connects all of our access and opportunity. We’re not focused solely on programs for programs’ sake. We’re really focused on creating pathways that enable people to reach their legal education goals.
And to me, that is really what access and opportunity is all about. It’s making sure that talent and ambition aren’t limited by obstacles that could be overcome with the right tools and the right interventions. That’s the lens that we bring to this work, and Plus, Guided Journey happens to be one of our largest programs, and it is a very good example of how we do this work, but it’s an example of a broader strategy. We are connecting people to opportunity, and we are doing that by helping them to have the right information, the right connections, the right network, all at the right time.
SUSAN: It strikes me that this is really a universal principle. Aminta, what does that look like from a program management perspective?
AMINTA: We’ve talked a little bit about this in regard to Plus, but I’m going to follow Angela’s lead and talk about another great example of how our philosophy translates from theory into action. When we look across the access-to-law-school landscape, we see so many organizations that are doing deeply, deeply important work. There are programs that support students in middle school, high school, college, through the application process, law school, and even beyond. And so, the challenge isn’t necessarily a lack of resources, and it’s not a lack of commitment. The challenge is that these efforts often operate independently, which can make the pathway difficult for students to navigate. So, for example, a student may benefit from one program at a particular point in their journey, but they’re not necessarily sure what comes next: What is the next step? Where can I find support on my next step?
So, for example, “I finished this program in high school; where do I go when I get to college, or after college, or if I’m taking some time off before going to law school?” As a result, these talented and very ambitious individuals can fall through the cracks, not because that support doesn’t exist for them, but because those supports aren’t connected, and that is the barrier that the Pathway Collective is designed to address.
So, instead of creating just another stand-alone program, what we’re doing is we’re bringing organizations who are already doing the work, and doing it well, together now to think about pathways as a shared responsibility. So, the goal here is to create a system that is coordinated, where partners understand how their work fits into the larger continuum of support, so students can move really seamlessly from one opportunity to the next.
So, thinking about this from a project management perspective, in practical terms, that means building stronger relationships among organizations. It means sharing knowledge, sharing best practices, identifying gaps in the pathway, and creating really intentional strong connections between these programs. We’re talking about moving from these isolated touchpoints into coordinated pathways with the warm handoffs that help the students who are moving forward to continue progressing toward their goals with support. But another exciting thing is that it recognizes that no single organization can remove every barrier on its own, but when we work together, as a collective, we can create a more connected experience for aspiring law students, and we can just make it easier for them to access this information, to access the support and the opportunities that they need.
Ultimately, we believe that’s what success looks like: not just great individual programs, but really an ecosystem that works together to make sure that individuals with this talent and with this ambition can move forward with confidence.
SUSAN: I’m reminded, by what you’ve just said, of the work of one of our colleagues, Liz Bodamer, who, during her research, found that a lot of very talented individuals just don’t have anybody to ask. They don’t have anybody to go to, and the work you’re describing answers that. That brings me to the whole idea of community. Angela, why is community such an important part of the strategy?
ANGELA: Yes, I will answer that, but I do want to just underscore what you said about the research that this reminds you of, because it is so connected. That’s the research we use to build these programs, so that’s why these connections are there. So, it’s great that you’re seeing that and acknowledging that, because that’s what makes programs so impactful.
So, continuing on that theme of community and connection, it’s important because most people in their lives can point to a mentor, an advisor, a peer, a colleague, or someone along their journey that has provided support or insight, reassurance along the pathway, and that is incredibly valuable. The information and the resources that we’re looking to provide are an important part of it, but human relationships and human connection is just as important. So, that’s why we think about community as not just a nice feature of a program; it’s actually an essential component to accessing opportunity and to opportunity itself.
Networks, mentors, peers, and shared experiences — having those makes you better positioned to succeed.
SUSAN: Aminta, from what I’ve been privileged to see, you are a rock star when it comes to community, but would you share how you actually create that sense of community among such a large and wide-ranging group of participants, for instance, with Plus, Guided Journey?
AMINTA: Yeah, Susan, absolutely. I know with a thousand scholars, sometimes you’re like, “Do they know each other? Do you know them? How does that happen?” I will say a major shout-out to Angela here, because we build this community with intention. It is not something that just happens. We know how important community is, and so, we work intentionally to make sure that our scholars have access to that, have the tools to build community, and also can access the Plus community that is there for them.
So, within Plus, the scholars have the opportunity to engage with each other through various cohort experiences — so, workshops they attend, networking opportunities, virtual programming, in-person hubs, LSAC forums, lots of opportunities for peer-to-peer engagement throughout the application cycle. But we’re also very intentional about developing opportunities for them to receive support from the Plus team, from our team, from LSAC as a whole, but also law school professionals around the country who participate in the Plus program and who are also a part of that community.
One of the things that we hear most often from our scholars is that when they’re part of this program, that they realize they’re not navigating this process alone. They build relationships with us, with the professionals who participate in the program, they build relationships with each other. They study together, they celebrate milestones together, they support each other through the challenges that inevitably occur. Some of them are even intentionally going to law school together, which I personally love. The intentional building, though, of a very strong and celebratory community, it means that these connections and the Plus community often becomes one of the most meaningful aspects of the Plus experience.
SUSAN: Angela, I know that you are not somebody who rests on her laurels, so what’s next for LSAC’s access and opportunity work?
ANGELA: Oh, you know me well, Susan. So, what’s next is continuing to evolve the programming and supports that we offer, right? So, whether it is that we’re supporting first-generation college graduates, military veterans and service members, community college students, people from rural communities, or populations that we haven’t even identified yet but need support and are facing barriers, our North Star remains the same. We’re about reducing and eliminating barriers so that that talent and that ambition can have a chance to access opportunity.
And ultimately, this work really, again, is not about programs for programs’ sake. It’s about expanding access to opportunities and allowing people to reach their potential and their goals. So, we are going to continue to understand the evolving needs of folks who are looking to go to law school, and we are going to remain responsive so that we can build initiatives that are scalable and, more importantly, impactful.
We are very focused on evidence and evaluation and results, because that’s what matters, right? The impact is what changes lives, it’s what changes legal education and ultimately who’s entering into the legal profession. So, we’re really focused on that meaningful impact for the people that we serve.
SUSAN: Angela and Aminta, thank you both for joining us and for sharing this very exciting information about LSAC’s access and opportunity initiatives. We all look forward to hearing what’s next.
ANGELA: Thank you so much, Susan. This was absolutely wonderful, and I appreciate your very thoughtful questions and conversation.
AMINTA: I appreciate you as well, Susan. Thank you. It’s always a pleasure to talk with you.
SUSAN: And thanks to all of our listeners for joining us for this episode of Keeping Up to Data. To learn more about Plus, Guided Journey, the Pathway Collective, and other LSAC initiatives, visit LSAC.org and LawHub.org. Until next time, stay well.
Keeping Up to DataSM is a production of LSAC. If you want to learn more about the current law school admission cycle and the latest trends and news, visit us at LSAC.org.