Trump Administration Weighs Ending ABA's 74-Year Federal Recognition for Law School Accreditation
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 18
Trump Administration Weighs Ending ABA's 74-Year Federal Recognition for Law School Accreditation
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 18
Summary
Late December is the expected deadline for the Trump administration to decide whether to revoke federal recognition for the ABA’s law-school accrediting arm after Education Department staff urged denial and a federal advisory panel deadlocked in September.
1952 is when the ABA first gained that status, but losing it would not automatically void ABA accreditation, rewrite state bar-admission rules or cut off most students’ federal loans.
About 15 standalone law schools could face federal-aid complications, while university-based law schools would likely keep loan access through their parent institutions’ broader accreditation, according to legal education experts.
Texas and Florida already moved this year to allow non-ABA pathways, and Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama and Washington have explored similar changes that a federal break with the ABA could accelerate.
26 federal recognition criteria were cited by Education Department staff in recommending denial, while the ABA has disputed those findings and already voted 10-6 to repeal a diversity rule under pressure.