Law schools try to adapt as job market sours

The Washington Post reports:

Law schools across the country are facing their lowest enrollment numbers in years, causing some to slash their budgets and revamp their programs in an effort to attract students worried about finding a job in a diminished legal industry.

Just over 41,000 people applied to go to an accredited U.S. law school in the most recent admissions cycle, compared with 77,000 in 2010 and 90,000 in 2004, according to the Law School Admission Council. Even top-ranked Harvard Law School witnessed a drop in applications before rebounding in the last two years.

Poor enrollment is hurting the bottom line at some schools. Washington and Lee’s School of Law said it plans to cut 12 positions in the fall, while Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School delivered pink slips to more than half of its faculty and staff members last summer.

It's probably not a good idea for federal taxpayers to "encourage/subsidize" people to go to law school which creates an excess supply of lawyers.