Which Law Schools Are Shedding Full-Time Faculty? (2016 Edition)

Facing shrinking enrollments, many law schools have responded by cutting their faculties. The phenomenon is worth measuring because faculty reductions aren’t always announced publicly, often appearing in the guises of retirements and quiet buy-outs. Consequently, the ABA’s 509 information reports can shed light on changes in law-school faculties. Here’s the cumulative distribution through 2016.

As with previous years, I will estimate the decline in fall full-time law-school faculties among the 201 law schools that aren’t in Puerto Rico. Note, however, that it’s unclear whether the term “full-time faculty” used in the 509 information reports includes full-time employees of a law school (as defined by the ABA’s annual questionnaire) who are on leave but have a right to return. Past editions of the Official Guide explicitly excluded full-time faculty who were on leave or sabbatical from their two-page spreads, which now exist as the online 509 information reports. The “Guide to the Data” pdf file accompanying the 509 information reports doesn’t specify either.

I assume the ABA is continuing to exclude faculty on leave or sabbatical and only counts faculty teaching courses in the fall or spring terms, even though it isn’t clear. Consequently, minor fluctuations might mean even less than I thought before, and although I’m obviously aware more faculty teach in the spring, I choose to track fall full-time faculty because the figures represent more recent developments. Additionally, full-time faculty who have shifted to the category “deans, librarians, and others who teach” are excluded as well. This may explain why there are fewer full-time faculty in the fall than spring as full-timers teach most of their courses then.

The peak for fall full timers occurred in 2010 (9,093), but that estimate includes the “other full-time faculty” category (clinicians and legal-writing instructors, if I recall), which the ABA no longer tracks independently. Fall full-time faculty fell by 3.3 percent this year (-261). Last year the decline was 3.4 percent (-242), so things are smoothing out. Since 2010, the cumulative decline has been 16.1 percent.

Here is a table of law schools ranked by net change in full-time faculty since 2010 and smallest faculty size in 2010. Trivial annual changes may not represent staff reductions and might be attributable to other factors, as discussed above. This year I’m choosing not to rank law schools that have merged, split, or didn’t exist in 2010 to prevent distortions.

FULL-TIME FACULTY (FALL)
RANK	SCHOOL	’10	’15	’16	ANNUAL CHANGE	NET CHANGE
1.	WMU Cooley	101	44	41	-3	-60
N/A	Rutgers-Camden	54	36		-36	-54
2.	American	104	91	52	-39	-52
3.	John Marshall (Chicago)	75	45	27	-18	-48
4.	Florida Coastal	69	37	24	-13	-45
N/A	Rutgers-Newark	40	37		-37	-40
N/A	Penn State (Dickinson Law)	57	19	18	-1	-39
5.	George Washington	106	70	69	-1	-37
N/A	Hamline	34	10		-10	-34
N/A	William Mitchell	34	22		-22	-34
6.	St. Louis	65	45	34	-11	-31
7.	Catholic	56	32	27	-5	-29
8.	Seton Hall	59	37	32	-5	-27
8.	Vermont	55	27	28	1	-27
8.	Seattle	66	47	39	-8	-27
11.	Widener (Delaware)	50	31	24	-7	-26
11.	New York Law School	71	48	45	-3	-26
13.	Pacific, McGeorge	63	34	39	5	-24
14.	Pace	47	30	25	-5	-22
14.	Cleveland State	39	19	17	-2	-22
16.	Santa Clara	65	45	44	-1	-21
16.	DePaul	56	32	35	3	-21
16.	Hofstra	60	34	39	5	-21
19.	Nova Southeastern	60	48	40	-8	-20
19.	New England	40	26	20	-6	-20
21.	Golden Gate	42	25	23	-2	-19
21.	Texas	103	80	84	4	-19
23.	California-Berkeley	90	68	72	4	-18
23.	Stetson	59	45	41	-4	-18
23.	Valparaiso	35	30	17	-13	-18
23.	Suffolk	80	61	62	1	-18
23.	Western New England	36	18	18	0	-18
23.	Capital	35	23	17	-6	-18
23.	Wisconsin	65	55	47	-8	-18
30.	California Western	45	35	28	-7	-17
30.	Boston University	67	50	50	0	-17
30.	Detroit Mercy	42	25	25	0	-17
30.	Syracuse	60	37	43	6	-17
30.	Charleston	31	16	14	-2	-17
35.	Chapman	51	40	35	-5	-16
35.	Atlanta’s John Marshall	35	22	19	-3	-16
35.	Albany	46	28	30	2	-16
35.	Lewis and Clark	53	40	37	-3	-16
35.	Villanova	49	31	33	2	-16
35.	Houston	76	61	60	-1	-16
41.	Arizona Summit [Phoenix]	32	7	17	10	-15
41.	Hawaii	35	30	20	-10	-15
41.	Fordham	81	65	66	1	-15
44.	Louisiana State	41	30	27	-3	-14
44.	Maryland	63	49	49	0	-14
44.	St. John’s	50	37	36	-1	-14
44.	Oklahoma City	34	22	20	-2	-14
48.	Arizona	44	32	31	-1	-13
48.	Arkansas (Little Rock)	30	21	17	-4	-13
48.	Loyola (CA)	66	57	53	-4	-13
48.	Thomas Jefferson	42	35	29	-6	-13
48.	Whittier	31	31	18	-13	-13
48.	Dayton	27	16	14	-2	-13
48.	Regent	25	10	12	2	-13
55.	Miami	82	72	70	-2	-12
55.	SUNY Buffalo	54	27	42	15	-12
55.	Touro	42	31	30	-1	-12
55.	North Carolina Central	42	31	30	-1	-12
55.	Akron	33	22	21	-1	-12
55.	Widener (Commonwealth)	25	14	13	-1	-12
55.	Marquette	39	27	27	0	-12
62.	Faulkner	23	12	12	0	-11
62.	Georgia	51	40	40	0	-11
62.	Illinois	49	43	38	-5	-11
62.	Loyola (IL)	60	51	49	-2	-11
62.	Southern University	35	25	24	-1	-11
62.	Tulsa	28	22	17	-5	-11
62.	Roger Williams	27	14	16	2	-11
62.	Gonzaga	29	21	18	-3	-11
70.	La Verne	19	10	9	-1	-10
70.	Connecticut	52	44	42	-2	-10
70.	Quinnipiac	32	20	22	2	-10
70.	Ave Maria	26	20	16	-4	-10
70.	Loyola (LA)	50	42	40	-2	-10
75.	San Diego	66	53	57	4	-9
75.	Florida State	47	39	38	-1	-9
75.	Iowa	46	34	37	3	-9
75.	Kansas	35	30	26	-4	-9
75.	Tulane	53	40	44	4	-9
75.	Mississippi College	26	24	17	-7	-9
75.	Campbell	23	17	14	-3	-9
75.	Temple	63	60	54	-6	-9
75.	Southern Methodist	46	37	37	0	-9
75.	Appalachian	16	7	7	0	-9
85.	Northern Kentucky	28	24	20	-4	-8
85.	New Hampshire	33	28	25	-3	-8
85.	Brooklyn	68	60	60	0	-8
85.	Ohio Northern	22	12	14	2	-8
85.	Oregon	35	29	27	-2	-8
90.	Indiana (Bloomington)	59	52	52	0	-7
90.	Indiana (Indianapolis)	41	34	34	0	-7
90.	Boston College	51	50	44	-6	-7
90.	Case Western Reserve	47	41	40	-1	-7
94.	Alabama	47	40	41	1	-6
94.	California-Hastings	71	59	65	6	-6
94.	Southwestern	57	56	51	-5	-6
94.	Washburn	31	27	25	-2	-6
94.	Baltimore	58	58	52	-6	-6
94.	Pittsburgh	47	43	41	-2	-6
94.	Washington and Lee	35	26	29	3	-6
101.	Southern California	43	39	38	-1	-5
101.	Mercer	27	26	22	-4	-5
101.	Chicago-Kent, IIT	66	65	61	-4	-5
101.	Minnesota	58	57	53	-4	-5
101.	St. Thomas (MN)	29	24	24	0	-5
101.	Mississippi	31	25	26	1	-5
101.	Montana	19	13	14	1	-5
101.	Wake Forest	48	38	43	5	-5
101.	Tennessee	30	28	25	-3	-5
101.	Texas Tech	35	30	30	0	-5
111.	District of Columbia	21	18	17	-1	-4
111.	Barry	33	34	29	-5	-4
111.	Florida International	32	29	28	-1	-4
111.	Louisville	26	21	22	1	-4
111.	Missouri (Kansas City)	34	33	30	-3	-4
111.	Washington University	68	63	64	1	-4
111.	Pennsylvania	75	75	71	-4	-4
111.	Texas A&M [Wesleyan]	30	30	26	-4	-4
119.	Arizona State	53	49	50	1	-3
119.	Arkansas (Fayetteville)	29	29	26	-3	-3
119.	San Francisco	37	33	34	1	-3
119.	Southern Illinois	27	22	24	2	-3
119.	Drake	28	26	25	-1	-3
119.	Wayne State	38	39	35	-4	-3
119.	Toledo	26	20	23	3	-3
119.	Duquesne	26	26	23	-3	-3
119.	South Texas	44	41	41	0	-3
128.	Samford	23	21	21	0	-2
128.	Pepperdine	35	35	33	-2	-2
128.	Florida A&M	35	20	33	13	-2
128.	Kentucky	25	23	23	0	-2
128.	Cincinnati	29	27	27	0	-2
128.	Oklahoma	34	31	32	1	-2
128.	South Dakota	14	11	12	1	-2
128.	Utah	34	32	32	0	-2
128.	George Mason	38	34	36	2	-2
128.	Wyoming	21	22	19	-3	-2
138.	California-Los Angeles	86	86	85	-1	-1
138.	Michigan State	52	50	51	1	-1
138.	New Mexico	28	29	27	-2	-1
138.	Cardozo, Yeshiva	61	69	60	-9	-1
138.	Willamette	28	26	27	1	-1
138.	Vanderbilt	36	38	35	-3	-1
138.	Washington	54	65	53	-12	-1
145.	Creighton	23	25	23	-2	0
145.	Nevada	26	27	26	-1	0
145.	City University	36	37	36	-1	0
145.	South Carolina	36	36	36	0	0
149.	California-Davis	43	43	44	1	1
149.	Western State	16	17	17	0	1
149.	Howard	26	25	27	2	1
149.	St. Thomas (FL)	28	30	29	-1	1
149.	Notre Dame	46	47	47	0	1
149.	Nebraska	26	27	27	0	1
149.	Charlotte	35	48	36	-12	1
149.	Duke	70	76	71	-5	1
149.	North Dakota	12	15	13	-2	1
149.	Baylor	27	25	28	3	1
149.	Liberty	19	20	20	0	1
149.	Virginia	79	80	80	0	1
161.	Georgia State	57	59	59	0	2
161.	Harvard	141	154	143	-11	2
161.	Northeastern	36	41	38	-3	2
161.	Elon	20	22	22	0	2
161.	William and Mary	39	44	41	-3	2
161.	West Virginia	33	34	35	1	2
167.	Colorado	43	48	46	-2	3
167.	Chicago	71	67	74	7	3
167.	Northern Illinois	19	21	22	1	3
167.	Maine	16	19	19	0	3
167.	New York University	151	153	154	1	3
167.	Drexel	27	27	30	3	3
167.	St. Mary’s	36	29	39	10	3
174.	Yale	76	71	80	9	4
174.	Emory	58	68	62	-6	4
174.	Missouri (Columbia)	28	30	32	2	4
174.	North Carolina	42	49	46	-3	4
174.	Memphis	18	22	22	0	4
174.	Richmond	36	35	40	5	4
180.	Idaho	21	25	26	1	5
N/A	Indiana Tech		7	5	-2	5
180.	Michigan	92	90	97	7	5
180.	Texas Southern	30	29	35	6	5
183.	Cornell	51	63	57	-6	6
183.	Ohio State	42	46	48	2	6
N/A	Concordia		10	8	-2	8
N/A	Lincoln Memorial		9	8	-1	8
185.	Brigham Young	19	27	27	0	8
186.	Denver	62	69	71	2	9
187.	Florida	56	68	66	-2	10
188.	Georgetown	129	128	140	12	11
188.	Northwestern	99	104	110	6	11
N/A	Belmont		13	13	0	13
N/A	Belmont		13	13	0	13
N/A	Massachusetts — Dartmouth		15	14	-1	14
190.	Stanford	68	91	88	-3	20
N/A	Penn State (Penn State Law)		35	31	-4	31
N/A	California-Irvine		35	38	3	38
N/A	Mitchell|Hamline			38	38	38
191.	Columbia	107	161	153	-8	46
N/A	Rutgers			76	76	76
10TH PERCENTILE		23	17	17	-7	-22
25TH PERCENTILE		30	25	23	-4	-14
MEDIAN		42	33	32	-1	-6
75TH PERCENTILE		58	48	45	1	1
90TH PERCENTILE		75	68	66	4	5
MEAN		46.4	38.9	38.0	-1.3	-7.1
GROSS GAIN		(^-^)			321	442
GROSS LOSS					-582	-1,902
CUMULATIVE		9,093	7,894	7,633	-261	-1,460

Editorial observations:

• WMU Cooley retains its crown as number one.
• No. 2, American, appears to have lost 43 percent of its fall full-time faculty this year—half since 2010. This may be a misreporting by the law school.
• The same goes for number three, John Marshall. It’s lost nearly two-thirds of its faculty since 2010.
• I’m less surprised to see Florida Coastal next on the list.
• No. 5, George Washington, raised a stir in 2015 because, as some commenters insisted, the law school reclassified a number of full-time faculty to a designation none could identify. It’s possible that the elimination of the “other full-time faculty” category somehow disserved GWU, but I don’t really see why because similar problems didn’t plague other law schools at the time. As it is, until someone can identify which bucket GWU put those twenty or so persons, it keeps its high place.
• Whittier lost 13 full-time faculty this year, but it had gained 10 last year. Similarly, SUNY Buffalo lost 24 last year but gained 15 this year. Again, probably erratic reporting.
• A bunch of law schools lost more than 10 full-time faculty this year that I haven’t already mentioned: Valparaiso (-13), University of Washington (-12), Charlotte (-12), St. Louis (-11), and Harvard (-11). Of these, Charlotte lost 16 last year, and Harvard gained 15 last year.
• Arizona Summit gained back ten, and it did report part-time faculty this year. Last year it didn’t, which was clearly wrong.
• Finally, five law schools are running with fewer than ten fall full-time faculty, La Verne (9), Lincoln Memorial (8), Concordia (8), Appalachian (7), and the doomed Indiana Tech (5).

Here are prior posts on this topic:

• “Which Law Schools Are Shedding Full-Time Faculty? (2015 Edition)” (January 11, 2016)
• “Which Law Schools Are Shedding Full-Time Faculty? (2014 Edition)” (December 18, 2014)
• “Which Law Schools Are Shedding Full-Time Professors (2013 Edition)?” (April 25, 2014)
• “Stealth Layoffs Revealed?” (November 13, 2013)