March 1, 2006

Record-breaking February for Cooley Law School

Lansing, Michigan — With applicant numbers finalized, Cooley Law School has recorded the best February in the history of the school. Cooley, which accepts applications year-around, recorded a 29 percent increase for February 2006 over any other February since the school was chartered in 1972. Some 938 applications came in February 2006, compared to 729 in February 2005.

“For the official applicant year, which began in September, applications are up 12.6 percent to date,” stated Cooley’s Assistant Dean of Admissions Stephanie Gregg. “Cooley is in the top 13 percent of law schools across the nation with an increase this high.”

Cooley’s success continues to buck nationwide trends. Application rates at law schools across the United States are primarily down, from 0.9 percent in the Northwest to 13.5 percent in the South Central Region. Lifted in part by Cooley’s continual record-breaking, the Great Lakes area is one of only two regions showing an increase in applications. Although the overall Great Lakes applications increase of 2.4 percent is far less than Cooley’s 12.6 percent, it is still nearly double the 1.4 percent increase recorded in the Mountain West region.

“Cooley applications are up in a variety of categories,” continued Gregg. “It is exciting that Cooley has been able to bring in the most diverse student population of any law school in the country and to see record-breaking enrollment increases, but to also see those increases in nearly all areas of ethnicity.”

Applications from Asian/Pacific Islanders are up 7 percent, African-Americans up 7.3 percent, Hispanic/Latino up 38.5 percent, Puerto Rican up 14.1 percent, Chicano/Mexican-American up 12 percent. Female applicants are up 13.4 percent, while male applicants are up 12.3 percent.

With year-around scheduling; morning, afternoon, evening and weekend courses, and three admitted classes each year, flexibility continues to be a strong attraction at Cooley. Other factors cited as major benefits at Cooley are notes as skills training — including required externships in which senior students work a term in an approved legal setting — as well as the diversity of the student body, the ability to specialize, a practical preparation to practice and diverse faculty members with strong legal experience of their own.

Along with the record number in applications, Cooley is also noting record changes in how those applications are received. Of the 938 applications in February 2006, 806 — 86 percent — came in electronically. Only 14 percent of the applicants for this record month were paper applications.

Founded in 1972, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country. Cooley has three campuses across Michigan: its campus in downtown Lansing, its downtown Grand Rapids campus in west Michigan and its Rochester/Oakland University campus in southeast Michigan. In addition to the juris doctor program, students at Cooley can also pursue a master of laws degree in tax or intellectual property. Find out more about Cooley Law School by visiting the Cooley Web site at www.cooley.edu.