Women once again dominated law school classrooms in 2025, leaving men even further behind
Women outnumbered men in law school classrooms across the United States for the tenth year in a row in 2025, according to newly released data from the American Bar Association (ABA).
At Enjuris, we’ve monitored gender enrollment in law schools for a decade, driven by the belief that meaningful representation matters in the legal profession.
At the start of the 20th century, women accounted for fewer than five percent of all law students. By the time Enjuris began tracking these figures in 2016, female enrollment had, for the first time, edged past that of men. Since then, the gender gap has grown 13.07 percentage points.
While we celebrate the gains in women’s representation over the years, the latest data also highlights new and more complex shifts. A dramatic drop in male enrollment, along with a growing share of students who decline to report or identify with a gender, adds additional layers to the ongoing conversation about gender diversity in legal education.
A close look at gender representation in U.S. law schools
The percentage of women enrolled in Juris Doctorate programs moved past 50 percent for the first time in 2016.
Female enrollees proceeded to outnumber male enrollees in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024.
In 2025, women outnumbered men in law school classrooms once again. Specifically, women made up 56.12 percent of all students in ABA-approved law schools.
Women outnumbered men in law school classrooms in the United States for the tenth year in a row in 2025.
The percentage of women attending law school increased just slightly from 2024, when 56.10 percent of all students in ABA-approved law schools were women.
Female enrollment in top-ranked law schools (rankings by U.S. News & World Report)
Women have made enormous gains in top-ranked law schools. Remarkably, 15 of the top 20 law schools in 2025 have more female attendees than male attendees.
For context, only 4 of the top 20 law schools had more female law students than male law students in 2016, the first year women surpassed men in law school enrollment.
15 of the top 20 law schools (as ranked by U.S. News & World Report) in 2025 had more female attendees than male attendees.
Overall law school rankings by female enrollment
The majority of law schools (84.69 percent) in the United States have more female students than male students.
Nevertheless, some law schools are particularly good at attracting women.
In 2025, Charleston School of Law (68.46 percent) edged out Northeastern University School of Law as the top law school for women based on female enrollment.
Should we be worried about men?
The legal profession is increasingly reflecting women's long-term gains in law schools. According to the latest data from the National Association for Law Placement, women made up 51.62 percent of law firm associates in 2024 (up from 50.31 percent in 2023).
Women have also became a majority in another major legal employer: the executive branch of the federal government. The ABA reports that 51.5 percent of federal government "general attorneys" were woman as of December 2023.
Progress is visible in the judiciary as well. The number of female federal judges has increased dramatically since 1980, when there were only 46 women serving on the federal bench. Today, 33.2 percent of all federal judges are women.
Women are faring even better at the state level. As of November 2025, 20 states have female majorities on their supreme court benches, and women make up 43 percent of all high-court justices.
What's more, more women than ever are leading U.S. law schools. In 2000, only 10 percent of law school deans were women. Presently, 40.8 percent of all law school deans are women, according to Rosenblatt’s Deans Database.
On the faculty side, the "majority-female pipeline" is reaching academia. According to the most recent data from the ABA, women now constitute 43 percent of law school faculty members, a significant increase from the 1980s when they made up only 20 percent.
This is not to suggest that women no longer face challenges in the legal profession. Women—particularly women of color—remain underrepresented in many leadership roles. In law firms, for example, women accounted for 28.83 percent of partners in 2024. While this represents an increase from 27.76 percent in 2023, it underscores the slow, incremental pace of change at the partnership level.
Nevertheless, while women have made significant strides in law schools, this progress contrasts sharply with the marked decline in male enrollment.
Male enrollment in U.S. law schools declined every year for the past 15 years, falling from 78,516 students in 2010 to 49,028 in 2024. Although the number of male enrollees rose slightly in 2025 (to 50,915), that increase was driven by overall growth in law school enrollment, which climbed from 115,400 to 120,039 students. As a result, men did not make up a larger share of law school classes in 2025; their percentage of total enrollment declined yet again.
To understand the sharp decline in male law students, it helps to look at the roots of the modern education gap.
According to The New York Times, girls in the United States are 14 percent more likely to be “school ready” than boys at age four. By high school, girls make up roughly two-thirds of the students in the top decile of academic performance, while boys comprise about two-thirds of the students in the lowest decile.
Colleges and universities enroll approximately six women for every four men. The trend isn’t new. Women in the United States have earned more bachelor’s degrees than men each year since the 1980s.
Brookings Institution Scholar Richard Reeves notes that men accounted for 57 percent of college and university students in 1970—shortly before Congress passed Title IX to prohibit sex-based discrimination in federally funded education. Today's gender gap is much larger in the other direction, begging the question: What, if anything, should be done about it?
Law students who do not identify as male or female
In 2016, the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar provided law students with an option to select “other” when asked to identify their gender.
Following this change, the number of law students selecting “other” showed a notable increase over the years.
Law students identifying as “other” (2016-2022)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Total | 40 | 49 | 109 | 149 | 232 | 337 | 682 |
| Percentage | .04% | 0.04% | .10% | 0.13% | 0.20% | 0.31% | 0.58% |
In 2023, the ABA expanded the gender identification categories, replacing “other” with “another gender identity” and “prefer not to report.”
Here’s what the numbers looked like in 2023:
Law students identifying as “another gender identity” or “preferring not to report” in 2023
| Category | Total students | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Another gender identity | 416 | 0.36% |
| Prefer not to report | 632 | 0.54% |
| Combined total | 1,048 | 0.9% |
And here's what the numbers looked like in 2024:
Law students identifying as “another gender identity” or “preferring not to report” in 2024
| Category | Total students | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Another gender identity | 627 | 0.54% |
| Prefer not to report | 1,022 | 0.89% |
| Combined total | 1,649 | 1.43% |
Finally, the newest numbers show yet another increase among these groups:
Law students identifying as “another gender identity” or “preferring not to report” in 2025
| Category | Total students | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Another gender identity | 653 | 0.54% |
| Prefer not to report | 1,100 | 0.92% |
| Combined total | 1,753 | 1.46% |
As you can see, the number of students identifying with a different gender or choosing not to report their gender is increasing.
The 2025 data also revealed the top ten law schools with the highest enrollment percentages in these new categories:
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Enjuris.com is a collection of independent legal resources designed to help people with their biggest questions following an accident or injury. Through instructive articles written by experienced attorneys, printable forms, and a free legal directory, Enjuris provides injury victims with the information and tools they need to take the next step. In keeping with its mission, Enjuris.com also provides promising college and law school students with scholarships and other resources to help them one day become effective lawyers.
Data source: American Bar Association, ABA Required Disclosures (Standard 509 Reports). Any mistakes in data reported to the ABA are the responsibility of the reporting school. Enjuris assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies or for changes in such information that may occur after publication. The figures here are as reported on December 16, 2025. Schools may update their data at any time. Please see the ABA website for up-to-date figures.