Decline in law school enrollment leads to "survival of the fittest," according to law prof

Thinking of law school in the Midwest (aka "Rust Belt" states?) Your potential law school is working hard to get your tuition dollars, and that is because enrollment in law school is way, way down.  Some law schools have opted not to admit students for certain terms (in other words, forcing a larger class in September and January, but have no new students in May). Others have lowered admission standards, and some have done both.

Article here (via aba journal).

Many law schools in the region (of the "Rust Belt") are trying to survive by admitting larger numbers of lesser qualified applicants, theorizing they need to hold on until conditions return to normal. But the new normal consists of “shrinkage, adaptation and inter-law school competition that is likely to become even more challenging over the next five to 10 years,” Barnhizer writes.
Barnhizer cites six “critical factors” affecting law schools. They are:

1) The Great Lakes and Midwest region is economically depressed. Any partial recovery “will fall short of recreating the base of manufacturing activity that produced a strong upwardly mobile middle class of the kind that sustains high-level educational activity.”