Accreditation & Standards

For second time, ABA Legal Education Section seeks public comment on diversity accreditation standard

Standard 206, which is at the center of the discourse, requires that law schools provide full opportunities for students from underrepresented groups in the profession and have diverse faculty and staff in regards to gender, race and ethnicity.

Nov 22, 2021 12:02 PM CST

More law school applicants with high LSAT scores are getting rejected, admissions officers say

Law school admissions officers are becoming choosier amid a surge in law school applicants. In a survey by educational services company Kaplan, 72% of law school admissions officers said they rejected more applicants with what they consider to be high scores on the Law School Admission Test than they did in the previous cycle.

Nov 8, 2021 3:08 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: US renews ABA status as law school accreditor; lawyer gets NBA scoring gig

Law school accreditor status of ABA recognized for another five years The ABA was approved for renewal of recognition as the accreditor of law schools, the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday. The recognition is for five years. The council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to…

Oct 29, 2021 2:16 PM CDT

Law school dinged for noncompliance with ABA standard addressing financial conditions

Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law has been found to be out of compliance with an ABA accreditation standard focused on program resources.

Sep 7, 2021 11:02 AM CDT

Teach-out plan for Florida Coastal approved; classes will end after summer term

Following the U.S. Department of Education recently pulling federal financial aid at the Florida Coastal School of Law, a teach-out plan has been approved, with current students finishing courses at other ABA-approved law schools.

Jun 9, 2021 11:40 AM CDT

Law school noncompliance with diversity standard should require public notice, ABA legal ed section says

Proposed revisions to strengthen law school accreditation standards addressing diversity, inclusion and nondiscrimination were approved Friday by the council of the ABA's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

May 17, 2021 3:26 PM CDT

2020 law school grads having harder time finding jobs, data shows

For 2020 graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, 77.4% had long-term, full-time jobs that required or preferred bar passage, compared to 80.6% for the class of 2019.

Apr 20, 2021 3:57 PM CDT

As Florida Coastal tries to get student loan funds reinstated, ABA seeks teach-out plan

The U.S. Department of Education has terminated the Florida Coastal School of Law’s access to federal student financial aid, and the for-profit school has been directed to file a teach-out plan with the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

Apr 6, 2021 12:51 PM CDT

4 more law schools found to be in compliance with ABA’s new bar passage standard

Of the 10 law schools that did not meet an accreditation standard in the summer of 2020 requiring a 75% bar passage rate, six have now demonstrated that they are in compliance.

Mar 1, 2021 3:25 PM CST

California releases bar exam results, and like many jurisdictions sees increase in pass rates

Out of the 9,301 people who sat for California’s online bar exam in October, the pass rate was 60.7%, according to a Jan. 8 news release from the State Bar of California.

Jan 11, 2021 12:49 PM CST

Pandemic problems may be defense for law schools not meeting bar passage standard

Law schools now must report the number of recent graduates admitted by diploma privilege in their annual questionnaires in addition to those who took and passed a bar exam.

Nov 23, 2020 8:53 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: 3 online law schools get state accreditation; cop immobilization maneuver can be fatal

3 fully online law schools get California accreditation On Friday, California accreditation was given to three online law schools—the Concord Law School at Purdue University Global, the Northwestern California University School of Law and the St. Francis Law School. Two other online schools, the California School of Law and the…

Aug 25, 2020 4:13 PM CDT

2 law schools dinged for bar pass standard are now found to be in compliance

Of the 10 law schools to receive public notice in May that they were out of compliance with Standard 316, Florida Coastal School of Law and the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law are the first to demonstrate compliance.

Aug 25, 2020 3:14 PM CDT

ABA Legal Ed council addresses reporting requirements amid law schools’ COVID-19 concerns

Going forward, the ABA's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar will review fewer law school files with individual student information for purposes of employment outcomes reporting.

Aug 17, 2020 1:25 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Judge admonishes state AG for ignored voting order; court upholds law school’s $2.6M settlement

Judge admonishes Tennessee attorney general’s office for ignoring absentee voting order Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle chastised attorneys from the Tennessee attorney general’s office Thursday for not following the temporary injunction that she issued last week to allow state voters who were concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic to vote…

Jun 12, 2020 4:14 PM CDT