August 31, 2006

Cooley Set to Welcome Largest Incoming Class Ever; Approximately half of incoming students are honors scholars

The largest class ever to enter law school will begin studies at Thomas M. Cooley Law School on Tuesday, Sept. 5. Nearly 1,100 people from throughout the United States and 12 foreign countries will make up the new class, surpassing all previous enrollment records set by the nation’s largest law school.

Of the students set to begin classes on Tuesday:
* 1,098 are seeking a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree
* 897 will take classes at Cooley’s Lansing location
* 201 students will attend classes at Cooley’s two other locations (101 students at Cooley’s campus at Oakland University in Rochester and 100 students at Cooley’s downtown Grand Rapids location).
* Nine students are seeking master of laws (LL.M.) degrees
* Five students will begin studies at Cooley after transferring from another institution
* One is a guest student
* One is a lawyer student

Cooley’s enrollment at its Grand Rapids and Rochester campuses is dramatically higher than years past due to the announcement of the American Bar Association’s decision in July 2006 that Cooley could offer J.D. degrees at each of the school’s locations.

Incoming students set to begin classes on Sept. 5 come from 48 states, the District of Columbia and 12 foreign countries. The following chart breaks down the enrollment by geographic area:

“This September 2006 class profile is a beautiful composite of our world, with variety in ages, ethnicity, citizenship, backgrounds, and occupations,” Assistant Dean of Admissions Stephanie Gregg said. “The students range in age from 19 years to 59 years, with 24 years the median age. We have local people from cities in Michigan as well as students who traveled more than 4,500 miles to study at Cooley Law School.”

Diversity continues to be a hallmark of Cooley classes. Of those students beginning class on Sept. 5, 98 students identified themselves as African American, 82 as Asian American/Pacific Islander, 38 as “other Hispanic,” 21 as Mexican American, four as Native American/Alaskan Native, and one as Puerto Rican. Another 2.4 percent identified themselves as multi-racial. Forty-seven percent of the incoming class is female.

There are 44 international students in the new class. Canada has 25 freshmen in the class, while seven students are from South Korea. The People’s Republic of China and Jamaica each have two students at Cooley, while the countries of Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands Antilles, Palau, Taiwan, Turkey, Zimbabwe, as well as the Virgin Islands, each have one student starting at Cooley this fall.

Founded in 1972, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country. Cooley has the largest enrollment in African-American students of any law school and the second highest number of minorities overall in the United States. Cooley has three campuses across Michigan; its main campus in downtown Lansing, its downtown Grand Rapids campus in west Michigan, and its Rochester/Oakland University campus in southeast Michigan. In addition to the J.D. program, students at Cooley can also pursue an LL.M. in Tax or Intellectual Property