HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Law School Applicants Decline, Especially Among Graduates of Elite Colleges. “Across the board, the number of people applying to matriculate in fall 2012 was 67,700, down about 17 percent from the number who applied to matriculate in fall 2008 (82,000). The average decline in applicants who graduated from the ‘elite’ schools was 28 percent.”