Law school has increased enrollment, diversity, alumni giving, and class strength
CONCORD, NH – University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law is thrilled to announce the reappointment of Megan Carpenter as dean. Carpenter joined the institution in 2017 and is also a tenured professor in the law school.
Under Dean Carpenter’s leadership over four years, the school has grown total enrollment by 243% percent, from 210 to 512 students, and increased the number of minority students four-fold, with a current incoming class at 21% diversity in ethnicity and race. Due to Dean Carpenter’s efforts and focus, the law school is the most diverse school in the University of New Hampshire System, which also includes University of New Hampshire Durham, University of New Hampshire Manchester, Plymouth State College, Keene State College, and Granite State College.
Since Carpenter’s appointment in 2017, the law school has steadily increased not just in quantity of students but credentials: the most recent incoming class had the highest credentials in UNH Franklin Pierce history, consisting of 219 students with a median LSAT of 158 and undergraduate GPA of 3.50. Under Dean Carpenter’s leadership, the law school has seen a 400% increase in net tuition revenue for entering classes over the last four years.
Dean Carpenter’s tenure has been strongly focused on innovation, which resulted in the launch of the first-in-the-nation Hybrid JD in Intellectual Property, Technology, and Information Law. The ABA-approved, mostly online law program allows students to keep their jobs while attending one of the top intellectual property programs in the US, bringing top-flight IP legal education to working professionals wherever they are located.
“With creativity and a passion for the law community, Megan’s leadership in finding new approaches to unbundle legal education is bringing national and international visibility to the law school,” says Wayne Jones, Provost of the University of New Hampshire.
Carpenter is an internationally recognized thought-leader in intellectual property, innovation, and education, actively speaking at organizations and events around the world. She has built innovative programs at law schools across the country, including West Virginia University, Texas Wesleyan, and Texas A&M University. She founded Texas A&M’s Center for Law and Intellectual Property, which is now nationally ranked.
As part of her focus, Dean Carpenter reinvigorated the law school’s Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property, spearheading new programming and hiring a new director. With more than half the faculty having experience in IP-related subjects, UNH Franklin Pierce has risen to the number four spot for intellectual property in the US News & World Report specialty rankings since the dean’s appointment and boasts some of the most robust resources in intellectual property, including the only academic IP library in the Western Hemisphere.
Since Dean Carpenter’s appointment, the school has also benefitted from a 62% increase in giving and an alumni participation rate that has more than doubled since she started—the highest ever increase in alumni giving in the law school’s history. This benefaction has resulted in the establishment of scholarship funds to support access to legal education, including the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship Fund to support the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body.
“I am absolutely delighted by the continued opportunity to serve as dean of UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law,” Carpenter said. “I am grateful for the strong support from President Dean and Provost Jones, as well as our community of talented faculty and staff and generous alumni. Bolstered by our recent successes, I am excited for what is to come. UNH Franklin Pierce’s future is bright.”
About University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law
Accredited by the American Bar Association, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law is located in Concord, New Hampshire, and is ranked as one of the nation’s top 100 law schools and, for the 30th year in a row, a top-10 school for the study of intellectual property law.
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