Update: Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, Notice of Law School Demonstrating Compliance with Standard 316 and Removal of Probationary Status (Nov. 2025):
At its November 13-14, 2025, meeting, the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association (the “Council”) considered the status of Cooley Law School (the “Law School”) regarding its noncompliance with Standard 316.
Following consideration of the record in the matter and the Law School’s response to the Council’s August 2025 Decision Letter, the Council concluded that the information provided by the Law School is sufficient to demonstrate compliance with Standard 316. In accordance with Rule 17(c), the Council removed the Law School from probation. Cooley Law School remains an approved law school.
ABA Journal, Cooley Law School Returns To Compliance With ABA Accreditation Standard
Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, Notice of Probation: Cooley Law School (Aug. 2025):
[T]he Council concluded … that the Law School’s noncompliance with Standard 316 [“At least 75 percent of a law school’s graduates in a calendar year who sat for a bar examination must have passed a bar examination administered within two years of their date of graduation” Managing Director’s Guidance Memo: Standard 316] is sufficiently serious that it raises concerns about the quality of the student learning experience provided by the Law School. …
President and Dean of the Law School shall appear at a hearing before the Council at its February 2026 meeting, at a day and time to be identified, to show cause why its accreditation status should not be withdrawn and to demonstrate that the Law School can provide a quality student learning experience by coming into compliance with Standard 316.
Cooley Law School’s two-year bar passage rates:
- Class of 2019: 59.6%
- Class of 2020: 61.0%
- Class of 2021: 55.9%
- Class of 2022: 57.5%
TaxProf Blog, Six Law Schools Fell Short of 75% Accreditation Threshold (Class of 2022) (March 13, 2025)
ABA Journal, Cooley Law School Found Noncompliant With ABA Accreditation Standard:
Dean James McGrath told the ABA Journal in an email that he “was surprised” by the probation after telling the council at their August 2025 meeting that “79.2% of Cooley’s 2024 graduates who have taken a bar examination have passed,” and those numbers could increase after results from the Florida bar exam are released.
“While we cannot predict the future, Cooley is confident that when the nationwide results of the July 2025 bar examination are known, Cooley will be able to definitively prove compliance with Standard 316,” he added. “Our program is solid, and our improved bar exam results are just one metric to prove it.”
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