Accreditation Council Announces Special Open Session to Vote on Standard 206

CHICAGO, Aug. 21, 2026 – The Accreditation Council will convene for a virtual special open session on Tuesday, Sept. 8, to vote on whether to repeal Standard 206. If the Council votes to repeal in that meeting, the decision will be final, and the repeal will be effective immediately.

The Council’s rules of procedure require a 30-day deliberation period following a non-concurrence from the practicing bar, so the Council has called this special meeting following the expiration of the 30 days to act on Standard 206.  

Standard 206 is currently suspended and has not been enforced since 2024. For more information about the rationale for considering a repeal of Standard 206, please see the Standards Committee’s recommendation memo issued in May.

The memo states in relevant part:

Comments Received: Fifty comments were submitted, with 48 opposing the repeal and 2 supporting the repeal. Comments were submitted primarily by legal academics, as well as lawyers, organizations, ABA sections and entities, and 26 current and former law school deans.

Those comments are in a PDF separate from this memo.

Many of the comments opposing the repeal echoed a number of common themes: that repeal is not necessary to comply with existing law; that diversity and inclusion is necessary for quality legal education and competence in the legal profession; that the Standard is necessary to address the legal profession’s history of exclusion; and that the Standard is necessary to protect goals fundamental to a multiracial democracy and the rule of law. Some comments recommend ways
to revise and strengthen Standard 206. A number of comments assert that the repeal demonstrates capitulation to the current federal administration and demonstrates a lack of integrity and courage.

Recommendation: The Committee has carefully considered the Comments, the Council’s unique, essential role as an accreditor in a national system of accreditation and the current legal landscape, including developments that have occurred following the issuance of the Council’s decision on February 20, 2026. Taking all these things into account, the Standards Committee recommends that the Council give final approval to the repeal of Standard 206.

The rational part of the memo concludes that “Recent developments have led the Standards Committee to conclude that this national system of accreditation — and the Council’s role as an accreditor — would be imminently threatened if Standard 206 is not repealed.”