Enrollment, however, is a major part of the plans for the gift.

The $30 million donation would be paid over the next seven years in the form of full scholarships for about 57 entering students for each of the next five academic years. The plan would shore up flagging enrollment since 2010 that has resulted in a $1.9 million deficit in the law school’s budget.

The law school is struggling, Butler said. Its national rankings are slipping, and it “cannot expect to be subsidized by the university indefinitely.”

“We’re in the doldrums right now, and we want to bust out in a big way,” he said.

Alison H. Price, associate dean for law admissions and enrollment, said the cost of a legal education has risen while the market for new lawyers has declined nationally — in-state tuition has climbed from $15,000 a year to $25,000. Prospective students have become more price-sensitive, and GMU has lagged behind competitors in scholarship money, she said.

In 2014, GMU awarded $980,000 in law scholarships, compared with the University of Richmond’s $3.9 million, she told the council.