Roughly a third of students at leading law schools in the U.S. now have reported disabilities, a significant increase compared to just a few years ago. By spring 2026, around 378 students at UC Berkeley School of Law were part of the campus’s disability services program. Data from the program indicated that it supported 4,153 students during the 2020-2021 academic year, and that number rose to 5,711 by 2024-2025. The most frequently reported conditions were psychological and emotional issues, accounting for 2,443 students, with ADD/ADHD following at 1,666. In contrast, physical disabilities related to motor skills, hearing, and vision were significantly lower.
One law school graduate, Andrew Testerman, analyzed these statistics and expressed concern that they might indicate misuse rather than genuine need. He noted that Berkeley Law has more students identifying as disabled than the number of male students enrolled. Testerman contended that it’s hard to believe that elite law students are more likely to be disabled than the elderly population in the U.S., where approximately 24% report disabilities. He predicted that by 2021, about 37.5% of Berkeley Law students would be utilizing accommodations, in stark contrast to just 3% of graduate students at the university.
The rise in reported emotional disorders among Berkeley Law students has raised eyebrows. The benefit of these designations is clear—the extension of exam times. The Disabled Students Program anticipates a jump in supervision requests, increasing from 3,822 in the 2021-2022 year to 14,103 in 2024-2025. Berkeley isn’t an outlier. At Stanford University, for instance, 38% of students are registered with the Accessibility Office, and 24% seek academic or housing support. As reported by The Atlantic, Harvard University had 21% of its undergraduates registered, while Amherst College reported 34%.
Data from federal studies show that between 2000 and 2016, disability classifications more than tripled. Wealthy high school students were found to be more than twice as likely to qualify for extended testing time compared to their lower-income counterparts. Some experts attribute the increase to better access to mental health care and less stigma surrounding these issues. Berkeley School of Law’s Dean Irwin Chemerinsky stated to Testerman that the school merely complies with legal regulations regarding accommodations and does not control them directly.
