As its enrollment continues to drop, the University of Minnesota’s Law School is set to receive more money to fight financial woes.
President Eric Kaler’s proposed budget for next year includes a $2.2 million allocation to help the Law School cover a loss in tuition revenue, an issue plaguing law schools nationwide.
The University’s Law School has had relatively consistent enrollment over the past few years, but Dean David Wippman said the applications to the school and the number of first-year students are sharply declining.
In fall 2014, he said, about 180 students will enroll, compared to about 220 first-year students in 2013.
“That’s a pretty significant drop,” Wippman said.
Nationally, the number of applicants to American Bar Association-approved schools has dropped by more than 10 percent in each of the past three years, while first-year enrollment has dropped by more than 7 percent each year.