Report on Distance Education J.D. Programs Offered by ABA-Approved Law Schools (Feb. 2025):
Fall 2024 was the first time the Council required all law schools with an ABA-acquiesced in distance education (“DE”) J.D. program to submit their annual reports through a new section of the Annual Questionnaire. Prior to 2024, law schools fulfilled their annual reporting requirement by submitting individual narrative reports. As of January 2025, nineteen law schools have received acquiescence pursuant to Standard 105(a)(12)(i)[1] to offer a distance education J.D. program. Seventeen2 of these law schools were required to submit an annual report on the status of their program by January 15, 2025. This report summarizes the information reported by these seventeen law schools.
A. Makeup of Distance Education Programs
Of the seventeen reporting law schools, five operate their distance education J.D. programs fully online. Twelve programs offer hybrid learning models. Fifteen offer part-time only. None of the programs offer only full-time. Two law schools offer distance education programs with both part-time and full-time options. Two law schools offer optional residential components in their otherwise fully online part-time programs.
The report also includes data on:
- Admissions – Applications, Applicants, and Admit Rates
- Standardized Test Usage
- Comparison: First Year Enrollment (By Gender, People of Color By Gender, By Gender and Program Type)
- Academic Profile of First Year Students (LSAT (Range, Average), UGPA (Average), GRE (Average)
- Demographic Profile of First Year Students: Age
- Demographic Profile of First Year Students: Military Status
- Demographic Profile of Distance Education Students: Student Location
- Courses Offered, Generally
- Reasons for Enrolling in Distance Education Programs
[1] Eight ABA-approved law schools have received acquiescence under 105(a)(12)(iii) and are not subject to annual reporting requirements.
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