By Joe Esposito 

Applications for the fall semester at law schools across the nation have increased about 14 percent since last year, according to the Law School Admissions Council. At Fordham Law, applications have risen a little more than 20 percent over this time last year, according to Kathryn Espiritu, the director of admissions at Fordham Law.

Stephen Brown, assistant dean of enrollment at Fordham Law School, said he has seen applicants reacting to the political world around them.

“Students are passionate, more so than ever before,” Brown said.

After a downward trend in applicants coinciding with the economic crisis of 2008, law schools are beginning to see a trend of increasing applicants, partly attributed to the country’s political atmosphere, according to The Wall Street Journal.

One reason for this uptick in applicants is due to an increase in students’ interest in America’s political atmosphere and the legal topics that come with it, the Journal notes. Some believe that Trump’s presidency and its handling of the law is one such reason students have become attracted to the field.

However, this awareness is not merely a reaction to the Trump presidency, according to Brown.

Brown said, “calling it a Trump bump gives the president too much credit.”

According to Brown, college students have been more politically cognizant over the past five years. While some may be influenced by more recent changes, Brown has seen colleges becoming more politicized even before Trump took office.

However, in the wake of this politicization, Brown said he has found that students are looking to make a difference. “Prospective students looking to become agents of change are looking to law,” he said.

In particular, matters such as Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, President Trump’s travel ban and sanctuary cities have caught people’s interest. Some students, like Dounea Elbroja, FCRH ’19, hope that becoming a lawyer will allow them to take on these issues.

While the past presidential election did not drastically change Elbroja’s plans, she said politics played a key role. “I knew I wanted to go to law school before the election, but after studying politics here at Fordham, I have more of a desire to do so,” she said.

The Trump presidency has caused her to further plan her career, as immigration law has become one possible field of practice for her. “My parents were immigrants, so working in this field would allow me to do work that’s worth it,” said Elbroja.

This interest in public service has been an area of commitment for Fordham Law, according to Espiritu. “While our applicants cite a variety of reasons for their interest in law school, many personal statements we’ve read express a strong interest in the ways law school will empower them to be agents of change as advocates and policymakers,” she said.

However, the political atmosphere has discouraged some students from seeking a J.D. for the sake of politics. For Nicolas Florio, FCRH ’19, the current political climate has lessened his interest in the field.

“I came into school as a political science major, but the politicization of America has turned me away from politics and more toward other fields, like business,” said Florio.

While he still plans on attending law school, politics is no longer his motivator. Rather, Florio wants to go to law school to pursue a career in public service.

Like students’ increased political awareness, their appreciation for the rule of law is not new, according to Brown. “These phenomena have been evident over the past several years,” he said.

Brown also noted that employment is up in the field of law, especially in the private sector.

Law schools have not had such a surge in applicants since before the financial crisis, according to the Wall Street Journal. The same council reported in early December that around 18,000 people submitted a little over 100,000 applications. Furthermore, 23 law schools have seen at least a 40 percent uptick in applications.

According to the Wall Street Journal, while schools are seeing a positive shift, their statistics are still not as strong as they were before the 2008 financial crisis.

Dean of Fordham Law School Matthew Diller told the Wall Street Journal that more students are applying to law school because they recognize the significance of law and lawyers in our American democracy. Dean Brown said he stands behind Diller’s belief, as he is seeing more and more students coming to recognize and respect the rule of law.