Penn State Law welcomes class of 2018 to University Park

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Faculty, administrators, and upper-level students welcomed the Penn State Law class of 2018 to campus on August 18. The 138 students make up Penn State Law's first class since the American Bar Association granted the law school separate accreditation from its sister school in Carlisle, Pa., and the largest class to enroll at University Park in four years.

“It was a real pleasure to welcome the first separate Penn State Law class to University Park,” said Interim Dean James W. Houck. “As a class, they are an impressive group of students, and the entire law school is looking forward to seeing the contributions they will make in the classroom, on campus, and in the legal profession." 

The class of 2018 is one of the most diverse classes in the history of Penn State Law and has one of the largest contingents of Penn State undergraduate alumni. 

Other aspects of the class include:

• Fourteen percent graduated from Penn State, and overall, members of the class of 2018 earned their degrees from 105 different colleges and universities.

• They represent 32 different undergraduate majors, with political science being the most common bachelor’s degree among the group.

• About 30 percent of the class is from Pennsylvania. The remaining 70 percent includes students from 25 other states, Puerto Rico, and nine countries other than the United States: Canada, China, Croatia, Israel, Kenya, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan.

• Other than English, members of the class are fluent in Croatian, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, and Taiwanese.

• Six members of the class are either current or former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, and others have served in the military in South Korea and Singapore. Some have spent time in deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.   

• Thirty percent of the class identifies with a group underrepresented in the practice of law and 21 students have expressed an interest in OutLaw, an organization committed to studying legal issues in the LGBTQ community.

• Of the students with prior careers, they include several nurses, teachers, and journalists as well as a compliance manager, a naval ship operator, a civil engineer, an electrician, and an EMT.

• Members of the class have worked and/or interned in the private sector with Apple and The Walt Disney Co., and in the public sector for The White House and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, among others.

• Service-focused students have served in the Peace Corps, joined Teach for America, and interned at the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. 

• Many have interned for judges, prosecutors, and law firms.

“This class has a lot of students with impressive leadership experience, from serving in their local community to serving their country overseas,” said Amanda DiPolovere, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid. “We can’t wait to see what they do with the opportunities that await them at Penn State Law.”