LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center’s admissions are down 30 percent from this time last year, part of a national trend attributed to the poor economy, according to LSU Law Assistant Director of Admissions Daphne James.

In 2012, the Law Center had 1,416 applications, 21 fewer than the previous year and 237 fewer than in 2010.

“When the economy goes down, there are less jobs and higher tuition,” James said. “As parents get laid off, many children choose to go directly into the job field instead of pursuing graduate school.”

In 2003, there were about 98,300 applications nationwide, James said. It has been going down steadily since then, and last year there were only about 68,000.

“The law school application trend this year has been down nationally about 23 percent from this time last year,” James said.

James said another drastic change was in the number of Louisiana residents who have applied to LSU Law this year, which is down 21 percent.

LSU had been following the national decline until 2010, when it experienced a spike to 1,653 applications, according to James.

Justin Mannino, LSU Law Student Bar Association President and law school student, said LSU Law is one of the best “bang for your buck” law schools.

“LSU is 11th in a new poll that examined employment rate and cost of education,” Mannino said. “Fortunately, LSU, especially for in-state students, provides good education for a good job opportunity and not as much debt as people in private law schools or big state law schools.”

He said the national decline puts LSU in a position to attract law school students because of its economic value.

“Nationally, there is an economic downturn for lawyer jobs in general,” Mannino said. “It’s a changing business and law world. There are new competitors to traditional law, like technologies that are basically online law firms. Add that with tuition rate, which at LSU is around $20,000 — and we are on the low end of the spectrum — and it can be tough to go through law school.”