Whitest Public Law Schools (State Population)
School | State | Excess Whiteness | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Texas Tech University | TX | 38.32 |
2 | University of Houston | TX | 33.52 |
3 | University of Texas (Austin) | TX | 31.72 |
4 | University of Mississippi | MS | 31.56 |
5 | University of California (Los Angeles) | CA | 30.49 |
6 | University of South Carolina | SC | 28.67 |
7 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | IL | 27.86 |
8 | University of California (Hastings) | CA | 26.39 |
9 | University at Buffalo | NY | 26.36 |
10 | Georgia State University | GA | 25.86 |
This listing ranks the public law schools on whether they are serving white citizens better than the rest of their state population.
Specifically, excess whiteness in law school was calculated using two different base populations.
First, using the population of the state 21-39 years old. This population group was used because for most schools this age group accounts for most of the law students. Second, using the law school applications.
This page report is based on state population. Specifically, excess whiteness was calculated by taking the based population, such as "% state population 21 to 39 year old: White only" and subtracting it from "%whiteness in the law school". The data sets from the census bureau were used to calculate total population between 21-39 and white population between 21-39. Specifically, Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data set, detailed tables.
td>So, for example, Texas Tech has 85.7% white students while the state of Texas only has 47.38% Whites between the age 21 to 39 years old. The disparity (excess whiteness) between whiteness in the student body and in the state is 38.32 percentage points. That is, based on the population of the state, only 47.38% of Texas Tech Student body should be white.
The greater the disparity the higher the rank. Ranking is based on excess whiteness not actual percentage of white students. That is the disparity between the percentage of whites in the law school from the percentage of whites in the state between 21-39 years old. |
While there are a number of reasons why the disparity exist the difference is so significant, a state has to be concern whether its public institutions are preparing lawyers to match the racial diversity of its population.
Descriptive Statistics (Historically White Law Schools):
For the seventy-four public law schools, the average excess whiteness based on state population is 11.80 percentage points; half of the schools have excess whiteness below 8.61 percentage points. In fact, 11 (14.9%) have no excess whiteness and another 11 (14.9%) have less than 5.00 percentage points excess whiteness. For example, if a state population between 21-39 is 50% white, the average law school would have whiteness 61.8 % (11.8 Excess Whiteness Percentage Points)
27 (37.5%) have significant excess whiteness with excesses over 15.00 percentage points. (See Table) For 19 schools, the disparity between the whiteness of the state and the whiteness of the law school is over 20 percentage points. | |
Five schools have excess whiteness percentage points over 30.0. Those schools were Texas Tech University, University of Houston, University of Texas (Austin), University of Mississippi and University of California (Los Angeles). |
Based on percentage of whites in the law school, some schools in the Top Ten have a low percentage of whites in the student body. | |
For instance, the University of New Mexico has 65.2% whiteness and the University of California Davis has 65.2% whiteness). | |
However, when compared to the percentage of whites between ages 21-39 in their respective states, these schools still have a high percentage of whiteness in the law school. For instance, New Mexico's white population between 21-39 years old is only 39.54% and California is 40.81%. |
There are a number of factors that can affect why such disparities exist , i.e. interest in law school, preparedness for law school, etc., however as state schools such large disparities may also represent a failure of the law school to adequately serve the needs of the state by assuring access to legal education to all citizens of their state. |
Descriptive Statistics (Top Ten):
The Top Ten Whitest Public Law School all have excess whiteness of 25 percentage points or more. For example, if a state population between 21-39 is 50% white, the law school would have whiteness over 75% (25 percentage points Excess Whiteness) |
Half The Top Ten Whitest Public Law School have excesses over 29.58 percentage points and the average is 30.08 percentage points ; the minimum is 25.86 and the maximum is 38.32. |
With the attack on affirmative action it is probably of no surprise that Texas with Hopwood has three schools on the Top Ten Whitest Public Law School list and California with Proposition 209 has two schools. |
However, the disparities is striking and one wonders if the difference can all be accounted for by demise of affirmative action. |
The regions are based on Law school admission council (LSAC) designation. They include: Northeast, New England, South Central, South East, MidSouth, Midwest, Great Lakes, Mountain West, Northwest, and Far West. |
Great Lakes has the lowest minimum excess percentage points (-9.61); South Central has the highest (38.32); Southeast has the highest mean (24.15) and Midwest has the lowest mean (3.27); Southeast also has the highest median (25.56) and Great Lakes has the lowest median (3.56). |
Six (6) of The Top Ten Whitest Public Law School are from the south. |
Of the 13 public law schools with disparities in percentage points greater than 25, 60% are in the south. |
None of the schools in the southeast have excess whiteness below 15.00 points; all of the schools in New England have excess whiteness points below 15.00 points. |
Of the 11 schools with no excess whiteness, 72.7% are in the Midwest/Great Lakes region |
The difference among region is statistically significant (p=.000). That is, there is less than a .00 probability that the difference occurred by chance alone. Given that the highest medians occurred in three regions (Southcentral, Southeast and Far west) provides some indication that attacks on affirmative action is making our power base (lawyers) more white. |
Tier :
3 of Top Ten Whitest Public Law Schools are 1st tier schools and 5 are 2nd tier |
68.9% (51) Historically White Public Law School are 1st tier or 2nd tier 2. In fact, only 9.5% (7) are 4th tier law schools. |
The 1st tier have lowest minimum excess whiteness percentage points (-9.61); 4th tier have the highest maximum excess whiteness percentage points (38.32); 3rd Tier have the lowest mean (6.84) and 4th tier have the highest mean (13.49); 4th tier have the lowest median (6.82) and 1st tier have the highest median (15.09) |
2nd tier law schools have highest percentage of schools (26.9%) with excess white percentage points over 25.00. In fact, 53.8% of all schools with excess percentage points over 25 points were 2nd tier school. |
The difference among tiers is not statistically significant. |
Excess Whiteness in Public Law Schools (Ranking) Based on State Population Age 21 to 39 years old | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
School | State | %Whiteness of School | % Whiteness in State Population 21-39 | Excess Whiteness | |
1 | Texas Tech University | TX | 85.7 | 47.38 | 38.32 |
2 | University of Houston | TX | 80.9 | 47.38 | 33.52 |
3 | University of Texas (Austin) | TX | 79.1 | 47.38 | 31.72 |
4 | University of Mississippi | MS | 90.4 | 58.84 | 31.56 |
5 | University of California (Los Angeles) | CA | 71.3 | 40.81 | 30.49 |
6 | University of South Carolina | SC | 93 | 64.33 | 28.67 |
7 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | IL | 91.2 | 63.34 | 27.86 |
8 | University of California (Hastings) | CA | 67.2 | 40.81 | 26.39 |
9 | University at Buffalo | NY | 82.9 | 56.54 | 26.36 |
10 | Georgia State University | GA | 84.5 | 58.64 | 25.86 |
11 | University of New Mexico | NM | 65.2 | 39.54 | 25.66 |
12 | University of Georgia | GA | 84.2 | 58.64 | 25.56 |
13 | Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge | LA | 86.3 | 61.29 | 25.01 |
14 | University of California (Davis) | CA | 65.7 | 40.81 | 24.89 |
15 | University of California (Berkeley) | CA | 65.2 | 40.81 | 24.39 |
16 | University of Alabama | AL | 91.1 | 68.42 | 22.68 |
17 | Rutgers State University–Camden | NJ | 81.5 | 59.2 | 22.3 |
18 | University of Baltimore | MD | 79.3 | 57.39 | 21.91 |
19 | University of Nevada | NV | 80.2 | 59.02 | 21.18 |
20 | University of Maryland | MD | 77 | 57.39 | 19.61 |
21 | Florida State University | FL | 77.7 | 58.31 | 19.39 |
22 | George Mason University | VA | 85.3 | 66.74 | 18.56 |
23 | University of Virginia | VA | 83.4 | 66.74 | 16.66 |
24 | William and Mary Law School | VA | 83.1 | 66.74 | 16.36 |
25 | University of Oklahoma | OK | 86.6 | 71 | 15.6 |
26 | University of Arizona (Rogers) | AZ | 72.9 | 57.73 | 15.17 |
27 | University of Florida (Levin) | FL | 73.4 | 58.31 | 15.09 |
28 | Northern Illinois University | IL | 77.4 | 63.34 | 14.06 |
29 | University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill | NC | 80.3 | 66.81 | 13.49 |
30 | University of Connecticut | CT | 85.1 | 71.97 | 13.13 |
31 | Arizona State University | AZ | 69.3 | 57.73 | 11.57 |
32 | University of Arkansas (Little Rock) (Bowen) | AR | 87.3 | 76.05 | 11.25 |
33 | University of Colorado (Boulder) | CO | 81.8 | 71.04 | 10.76 |
34 | University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) | IL | 73.1 | 63.34 | 9.76 |
35 | University of Toledo | OH | 92.3 | 82.64 | 9.66 |
36 | University of Memphis | TN | 86.5 | 76.96 | 9.54 |
37 | University of Tennessee (Knoxville) | TN | 85.7 | 76.96 | 8.74 |
38 | University of Pittsburgh | PA | 89.9 | 81.42 | 8.48 |
39 | University of Idaho | ID | 93.7 | 85.37 | 8.33 |
40 | Penn State University (Dickinson School of Law) | PA | 89.4 | 81.42 | 7.98 |
41 | University of Missouri (Columbia) | MO | 89.6 | 81.78 | 7.82 |
42 | University of Akron | OH | 90.4 | 82.64 | 7.76 |
43 | Wayne State University | MI | 83.7 | 76.04 | 7.66 |
44 | University of Oregon | OR | 86.4 | 78.83 | 7.57 |
45 | University of Nebraska–Lincoln | NE | 91.6 | 84.13 | 7.47 |
46 | University of Montana | MT | 95.6 | 88.26 | 7.34 |
47 | University of Missouri (Kansas City) | MO | 88.6 | 81.78 | 6.82 |
48 | University of Utah (S.J. Quinney) | UT | 89.6 | 82.78 | 6.82 |
49 | Washburn University | KS | 85.8 | 79.42 | 6.38 |
50 | University of Kansas | KS | 85.3 | 79.42 | 5.88 |
51 | University of Arkansas (Fayetteville ) | AR | 81.9 | 76.05 | 5.85 |
52 | Cleveland State University (Marshall) | OH | 88 | 82.64 | 5.36 |
53 | Northern Kentucky University (Chase) | KY | 92.9 | 87.92 | 4.98 |
54 | University of Kentucky | KY | 92.7 | 87.92 | 4.78 |
55 | University of Wyoming | WY | 91.7 | 87.17 | 4.53 |
56 | University of Hawaii | HI | 29.2 | 24.75 | 4.45 |
57 | Rutgers State University–Newark | NJ | 62.8 | 59.2 | 3.6 |
58 | University of Louisville (Brandeis) | KY | 91.4 | 87.92 | 3.48 |
59 | CUNY-Queens College | NY | 59.5 | 56.54 | 2.96 |
60 | University of District of Columbia | DC | 38.5 | 35.64 | 2.86 |
61 | University of South Dakota | SD | 88.4 | 86.59 | 1.81 |
62 | University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) | MI | 77.8 | 76.04 | 1.76 |
63 | University of Washington | WA | 75.4 | 75.24 | 0.16 |
64 | Temple University (Beasley) | PA | 81.4 | 81.42 | -0.02 |
65 | Indiana University–Indianapolis | IN | 83.4 | 83.8 | -0.4 |
66 | University of Maine | ME | 95.3 | 95.89 | -0.59 |
67 | University of Cincinnati | OH | 81.6 | 82.64 | -1.04 |
68 | Ohio State University (Moritz) | OH | 81 | 82.64 | -1.64 |
69 | Indiana University–Bloomington | IN | 82 | 83.8 | -1.8 |
70 | University of North Dakota | ND | 87.2 | 90.21 | -3.01 |
71 | West Virginia University | WV | 91 | 94.1 | -3.1 |
72 | University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) | MN | 81.2 | 85.46 | -4.26 |
73 | University of Iowa | IA | 83.3 | 90.31 | -7.01 |
74 | University of Wisconsin (Madison) | WI | 75.6 | 85.21 | -9.61 |
Excess Whiteness in Public Law Schools (Alphabetical Listing) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
School | State | %Whiteness of School | % Whiteness in State Population 21-39 | Excess Whiteness | |
31 | Arizona State University | AZ | 69.3 | 57.73 | 11.57 |
52 | Cleveland State University (Marshall) | OH | 88 | 82.64 | 5.36 |
59 | CUNY-Queens College | NY | 59.5 | 56.54 | 2.96 |
21 | Florida State University | FL | 77.7 | 58.31 | 19.39 |
22 | George Mason University | VA | 85.3 | 66.74 | 18.56 |
10 | Georgia State University | GA | 84.5 | 58.64 | 25.86 |
69 | Indiana University–Bloomington | IN | 82 | 83.8 | -1.8 |
65 | Indiana University–Indianapolis | IN | 83.4 | 83.8 | -0.4 |
13 | Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge | LA | 86.3 | 61.29 | 25.01 |
28 | Northern Illinois University | IL | 77.4 | 63.34 | 14.06 |
53 | Northern Kentucky University (Chase) | KY | 92.9 | 87.92 | 4.98 |
68 | Ohio State University (Moritz) | OH | 81 | 82.64 | -1.64 |
40 | Penn State University (Dickinson School of Law) | PA | 89.4 | 81.42 | 7.98 |
17 | Rutgers State University–Camden | NJ | 81.5 | 59.2 | 22.3 |
57 | Rutgers State University–Newark | NJ | 62.8 | 59.2 | 3.6 |
7 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | IL | 91.2 | 63.34 | 27.86 |
64 | Temple University (Beasley) | PA | 81.4 | 81.42 | -0.02 |
1 | Texas Tech University | TX | 85.7 | 47.38 | 38.32 |
9 | University at Buffalo | NY | 82.9 | 56.54 | 26.36 |
42 | University of Akron | OH | 90.4 | 82.64 | 7.76 |
16 | University of Alabama | AL | 91.1 | 68.42 | 22.68 |
26 | University of Arizona (Rogers) | AZ | 72.9 | 57.73 | 15.17 |
51 | University of Arkansas (Fayetteville ) | AR | 81.9 | 76.05 | 5.85 |
32 | University of Arkansas (Little Rock) (Bowen) | AR | 87.3 | 76.05 | 11.25 |
18 | University of Baltimore | MD | 79.3 | 57.39 | 21.91 |
15 | University of California (Berkeley) | CA | 65.2 | 40.81 | 24.39 |
14 | University of California (Davis) | CA | 65.7 | 40.81 | 24.89 |
8 | University of California (Hastings) | CA | 67.2 | 40.81 | 26.39 |
5 | University of California (Los Angeles) | CA | 71.3 | 40.81 | 30.49 |
67 | University of Cincinnati | OH | 81.6 | 82.64 | -1.04 |
33 | University of Colorado (Boulder) | CO | 81.8 | 71.04 | 10.76 |
30 | University of Connecticut | CT | 85.1 | 71.97 | 13.13 |
60 | University of District of Columbia | DC | 38.5 | 35.64 | 2.86 |
27 | University of Florida (Levin) | FL | 73.4 | 58.31 | 15.09 |
12 | University of Georgia | GA | 84.2 | 58.64 | 25.56 |
56 | University of Hawaii | HI | 29.2 | 24.75 | 4.45 |
2 | University of Houston | TX | 80.9 | 47.38 | 33.52 |
39 | University of Idaho | ID | 93.7 | 85.37 | 8.33 |
34 | University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) | IL | 73.1 | 63.34 | 9.76 |
73 | University of Iowa | IA | 83.3 | 90.31 | -7.01 |
50 | University of Kansas | KS | 85.3 | 79.42 | 5.88 |
54 | University of Kentucky | KY | 92.7 | 87.92 | 4.78 |
58 | University of Louisville (Brandeis) | KY | 91.4 | 87.92 | 3.48 |
66 | University of Maine | ME | 95.3 | 95.89 | -0.59 |
20 | University of Maryland | MD | 77 | 57.39 | 19.61 |
36 | University of Memphis | TN | 86.5 | 76.96 | 9.54 |
62 | University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) | MI | 77.8 | 76.04 | 1.76 |
72 | University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) | MN | 81.2 | 85.46 | -4.26 |
4 | University of Mississippi | MS | 90.4 | 58.84 | 31.56 |
41 | University of Missouri (Columbia) | MO | 89.6 | 81.78 | 7.82 |
47 | University of Missouri (Kansas City) | MO | 88.6 | 81.78 | 6.82 |
46 | University of Montana | MT | 95.6 | 88.26 | 7.34 |
45 | University of Nebraska–Lincoln | NE | 91.6 | 84.13 | 7.47 |
19 | University of Nevada | NV | 80.2 | 59.02 | 21.18 |
11 | University of New Mexico | NM | 65.2 | 39.54 | 25.66 |
29 | University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill | NC | 80.3 | 66.81 | 13.49 |
70 | University of North Dakota | ND | 87.2 | 90.21 | -3.01 |
25 | University of Oklahoma | OK | 86.6 | 71 | 15.6 |
44 | University of Oregon | OR | 86.4 | 78.83 | 7.57 |
38 | University of Pittsburgh | PA | 89.9 | 81.42 | 8.48 |
6 | University of South Carolina | SC | 93 | 64.33 | 28.67 |
61 | University of South Dakota | SD | 88.4 | 86.59 | 1.81 |
37 | University of Tennessee (Knoxville) | TN | 85.7 | 76.96 | 8.74 |
3 | University of Texas (Austin) | TX | 79.1 | 47.38 | 31.72 |
35 | University of Toledo | OH | 92.3 | 82.64 | 9.66 |
48 | University of Utah (S.J. Quinney) | UT | 89.6 | 82.78 | 6.82 |
23 | University of Virginia | VA | 83.4 | 66.74 | 16.66 |
63 | University of Washington | WA | 75.4 | 75.24 | 0.16 |
74 | University of Wisconsin (Madison) | WI | 75.6 | 85.21 | -9.61 |
55 | University of Wyoming | WY | 91.7 | 87.17 | 4.53 |
49 | Washburn University | KS | 85.8 | 79.42 | 6.38 |
43 | Wayne State University | MI | 83.7 | 76.04 | 7.66 |
71 | West Virginia University | WV | 91 | 94.1 | -3.1 |
24 | William and Mary Law School | VA | 83.1 | 66.74 | 16.36 |