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Students applying to law school after graduation may face fewer competitors as law schools nationwide have seen a decline in applicants over the past year.

According to the Law School Admissions Council, the total number of law school applicants in the nation decreased by 4.6 percent between 2004 and 2005, the first time in seven years law schools did not see an increase in applicants.

The UCLA School of Law has seen a similar decline. The numbers went from 7,260 applicants in 2004 to 6,319 in 2005 – a decrease of about 13 percent.

Private schools also saw decreases in applicants. The law school at the University of Pennsylvania has reportedly seen a 12 percent drop in its number of applicants in the past year, while the Stanford University law program experienced a decline from 5,004 applicants in 2004 to 4,863 in 2005.

The trend extends to other law schools in the University of California system as well.

The UC Office of the President published a set of findings online that states that the total number of applicants for law schools in the UC system decreased in 2005, breaking away from a pattern of increase since 1997.

Michael Schill, dean of the UCLA School of Law, believes that this year’s application pool has declined due to a steady increase in the strength of the nation’s economy.

“From an economic standpoint, many prospective law school applicants may decide to hold off on applying for a few years in favor of getting more promising and immediate jobs that the stronger economy offers them,” Schill said.

With a decrease in the number of applicants, the proportion of those admitted has increased. UCLA experienced a 5 percent increase in its law school admittance rate last year.

Steven Marietti, director of the Pre-Law Program at Kaplan, which helps prepare prospective law students for the LSAT examination, believes that with a smaller number of applicants, those who plan to apply to law programs across the nation in the upcoming year have a better chance of being admitted to the schools of their choice.

“With less competition, the odds are in favor of students planning to apply for admission for the fall of 2007. We believe that this is a great opportunity for those interested in pursuing a career in law,” Marietti said.

According to data compiled by the LSAC, law schools saw a great boom in the number of applicants in 1991, at the height of the nation’s economic recession.

The subsequent improvement in the economy caused the number of applicants to steadily decrease until 1998, when the nation once again went into a recession and the number of applicants increased. The fall of 2002 also saw an unprecedented increase of 17.6 percent in law school applications across the nation.

“There was an increase in the number of applicants and more students expressing an interest in pursuing a career in international law directly following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,” said Derek Meeker, the dean of admissions and financial aid at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

“There have always been peaks and troughs in this cyclical trend, so it isn’t a worrisome issue,” he said.

“There is a self-selection process happening. Fewer people may be applying because they perceive the application process to be too competitive,” Meeker added.

Financial issues may also be a factor in the decline in law school applications.

“Law schools are less of a bargain these days,” Schill said. “While the UCLA law school tuition fees are about $13,000 less than a private school, such as USC, they have basically doubled in the past five years.”

There has also been speculation that the declining number of law school applicants may also be attributed to the rising number of applications in other professional programs, such as medical and business schools. But Schill said he didn’t think that was the case.

“The kind of student who plans to apply to medical school is typically of a different pool than one who applies to law school,” Schill said.

“There are different prerequisite requirements for the two focuses, and while there are some pre-law students with a strong background in science and mathematics, students generally decide on their major path well in advance before applying to a professional school.”